Understanding how public policy is made and managed is a key component in studying the disciplines of public management and administration. Such are the complexities associated with this topic, a deeper understanding is vital to ensure that practising public managers excel in their roles. This textbook synthesizes the key theories, providing a contemporary understanding of public policy and how it relates to private and other sectors. It integrates this with the management and implementation of public policy, including outlines of organizations, practices and instruments used. Pedagogical features include chapter synopses, learning objectives, boxed international cases and vignettes and further reading suggestions. This useful, concise textbook will be required reading for public management students and all those interested in public policy.
A unique guidebook, this collection of discussions on South African public policy focuses on the implementation and management of sound policies in addition to the traditional talks on the creation of such guidelines. An examination of the introduction of South African public policies that can be sustained over a long period of time is also included.
The Public Policy Process is essential reading for anyone trying to understand the process by which public policy is made. Explaining clearly the importance of the relationship between theoretical and practical aspects of policy-making, the book gives a thorough overview of the people and organisations involved in the process. Fully revised and updated for a sixth edition, The Public Policy Process provides
To understand public policy decisions, it is imperative to understand the capacities of the individual actors who are making them, how they think and feel about their role, and what drives and motivates them. However, the current literature takes little account of this, preferring instead to frame the decisions as the outcomes of a rational search for value-maximising alternatives or the result of systematic and well-ordered institutional and organisational processes. Yet understanding how personal and emotional factors interact with broader institutional and organisational influences to shape the deliberations and behaviour of politicians and bureaucrats is paramount if we are to construct a more useful, nuanced and dynamic picture of government decision-making. This book draws on a variety of approaches to examine individuals working in contemporary government, from freshly-trained policy officers to former cabinet ministers and prime ministers. It provides important new insights into how those in government navigate their way through complex issues and decisions based on developed expertise that fuses formal, rational techniques with other learned behaviours, memories, emotions and practiced forms of judgment at an individual level. This innovative collection from leading academics across Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom and North America will be of great interest to researchers, educators, advanced students and practitioners working in the fields of political science, public management and administration, and public policy.
Fully revised for a second edition, this essential guide provides a concise and accessible overview of the public policy process: agenda-setting, policy formulation, decision-making, implementation, and evaluation. The book provides an introduction to the key policy functions, the challenges they entail, and how the challenges may be addressed by policy actors. Written from a comparative perspective, the authors include examples from a diverse range of countries at different stages of development, highlighting key principles and practices through which policy actors can effectively manage their policy processes and outcomes. Key features of the second edition: fully updated and revised content throughout; expanded references and further reading; more guidance towards understanding the key concepts in public policy. This important tool offers students of public policy and policy practitioners guidance on how to make, implement, and evaluate public policies in ways that improve citizens' lives.
Bringing the major current insights in implementation research and theory together, Public Policy, Implementation and Governance reviews the literature on public policy implementation, relating it to contemporary developments in thinking about governance. The text stresses the continuing importance of a focus upon implementation processes and explores its central relevance to the practice of public administration. In light of the changing nature of governance, Hill and Hupe suggest strategies for both future research on and management of public policy implementation. Their basic approach is two-fold: firstly, to understand the process of implementation and secondly, to address how one might control and affect this process. Re-exploring the state of the art of the study of implementation as a sub-discipline of political science and public administration, this book will be essential reading for students and researchers in public policy, social policy, public management, public adminstration and governance. `This is an excellent and much needed book. Hill and Hupe have provided a well written and highly accessible account of the development of implementation studies which will be immensely valuable to everyone concerned with understanding implementation in modern policy making.' - Professor Wayne Parsons, University of London
A typical image of the making and administration of policy suggests that it takes place on an incremental basis, involving public servants, their ministers and, to a more limited extent, a variety of interest groups. Yet, much policy making is based on similar policy developed in other jurisdictions and in the major international organizations such as the WTO and the OECD. In other words, significant aspects of nationally developed policies are copied from elsewhere in what is described as a process of policy transfer and learning. Hence, studies of policy transfer have pointed to a distinct limitation in most existing theoretical and empirical explanations as to how policy is made and implemented through their neglect of the role of policy transfer and learning. Moreover, policy transfer is not only a concern of academics, but a growing concern for governments. The latter are concerned to improve the performance of their policy and several have placed a greater, more systematic focus on policy transfer as a means to increasing performance. This book presents a variety of cases from differing national and international contexts that enable a valuable, comparative analysis that is absent from most literature currently available and that suggest a number of exciting research directions with implications for policy making, transference and implementation in the future.
Context in Public Policy and Management will prove insightful to academics, as well as to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in government, public policy, public management, public administration and political science.
This is part of a ten volume set of reference books offering authoritative and engaging critical overviews of the state of political science. This work explores the business end of politics, where theory meets practice in the pursuit of public good.
A unique approach to policy implementation with essential guidance and useful tools Effective Implementation in Practice: Integrating Public Policy and Management presents an instrumental approach to implementation analysis. By spanningpolicy fields, organizations, and frontline conditions in implementation systems, this book provides a robust foundation for policy makers, public and nonprofit managers and leaders. Detailed case studies enable readers to identify key intervention points, become more strategic, and improve outcomes. The engaging style and specific examples provide a bridge to practice, while diagrams, worksheets, and other tools included in the appendix help managers apply these ideas to team meetings, operational planning, and program assessment and refinement. Policy and program implementation is fraught with challenges as public and nonprofit leaders juggle organizational missions and stakeholder expectations while managing policy and program impact and effectiveness. Using their own experience in practice, teaching, and research, the authors empower policy and program implementers to recognize their essential roles within the workplace and help them cultivate the analytical and social skills necessary to change. Understand how program or policy technology constitutes the core of implementation Study a conceptual framework encompassing power dynamics, culture, relationships in the field and the rules that are operating during program and policy implementation Discover a multilevel approach that identifies key points of strategic action at various levels and settings of the implementation system and assesses implementation success The integration of policy and management mindsets gives readers an insightful yet accessible understanding of implementation, allowing them to achieve the potent results desired by the public. For those in senior positions at federal agencies to local staff at nonprofit organizations, Effective Implementation in Practice: Integrating Public Policy and Management provides an invaluable one-stop resource.
