Introduction to the conceptual foundations of policy analysis including the basics of the welfare-economics paradigm and cost-benefit analysis.

"This book provides a wise and engaging how-to guide that meets the central challenge of policy analysis: combining scientific evidence and social goals to craft practical, real-world solutions." —Thomas S. Dee, Barnett Family Professor of Education, Stanford University Drawing on more than 40 years of experience with policy analysis, best-selling authors Eugene Bardach and Eric M. Patashnik use real-world examples to teach students how to be effective, accurate, and persuasive policy analysts. The Sixth Edition of A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis presents dozens of concrete tips, new case studies, and step-by-step strategies for the budding analyst as well as the seasoned professional.

Introduction to data analysis; Predictions and projections: some issues of research design; Two-variable linear regression; Multiple regression.

What kind of policy analysis is required now that governments increasingly encounter the limits of governing? Exploring the new contexts of politics and policy making, this book presents an original analysis of the relationship between state and society, and new possibilities for collective learning and conflict resolution. The key insight of the book is that democratic governance calls for a new deliberatively-oriented policy analysis. Traditionally policy analysis has been state-centered, based on the assumption that central government is self-evidently the locus of governing. Drawing on detailed empirical examples, the book examines the influence of developments such as increasing ethnic and cultural diversity, the complexity of socio-technical systems, and the impact of transnational arrangements on national policy making. This contextual approach indicates the need to rethink the relationship between social theory, policy analysis, and politics. The book is essential reading for all those involved in the study of public policy.

From formulation to implementation, an approach to the analysis of social policy through the lens of research Analyzing Social Policy prepares professionals and students to make better informed decisions related to identifying and understanding the intricacies and potential impact of social policymaking and enactment on their organization as well as their individual responsibilities, goals, and objectives. Authors Mary Katherine O'Connor and F. Ellen Netting thoroughly examine various approaches to the analysis of social policies and how these approaches provide the knowledge, multiple perspectives, and other resources to understand and grasp the nuances of social policy in all its complexity. Comprehensive and based on research, Analyzing Social Policy explores: An overview of the practice of social policy analysis The role of research in guiding policy analysis The idea of policy analyses as research Themes, assumptions, and major theories that undergird rational models of policy analysis Nonrational themes, assumptions, and major theories informing nontraditional interpretive and critical approaches to policy analysis Strategies for applying selected models and approaches when engaging in policy analysis as research Providing practitioners and students with a set of tools that can be used to enhance an understanding of what constitutes policy as well as acceptable standards for critical analysis of policy, this resource enables policy advocates—regardless of their level—to be political, strategic, and critical in their work.

American monetary policy is formulated by the Federal Reserve and overseen by Congress. Both policy making and oversight are deliberative processes, although the effect of this deliberation has been difficult to quantify. In this book, Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey provides a systematic examination of deliberation on monetary policy from 1976 to 2008 by the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) and House and Senate banking committees. Her innovative account employs automated textual analysis software to study the verbatim transcripts of FOMC meetings and congressional hearings; these empirical data are supplemented and supported by in-depth interviews with participants in these deliberations. The automated textual analysis measures the characteristic words, phrases, and arguments of committee members; the interviews offer a way to gauge the extent to which the empirical findings accord with the participants' personal experiences --

Updated in its 3rd edition, Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning presents quickly applied methods for analyzing and resolving planning and policy issues at state, regional, and urban levels. Divided into two parts, Methods which presents quick methods in nine chapters and is organized around the steps in the policy analysis process, and Cases which presents seven policy cases, ranging in degree of complexity, the text provides readers with the resources they need for effective policy planning and analysis. Quantitative and qualitative methods are systematically combined to address policy dilemmas and urban planning problems. Readers and analysts utilizing this text gain comprehensive skills and background needed to impact public policy.

Genuinely international in scope and drawing on a wide range of examples from around the world, this important new text provides an accessible introduction to the key elements of foreign policy analysis. Analyzing Foreign Policy examines the wide range of factors that explain why states and other actors behave in the way they do. Showing how theory can illuminate practice, Derek Beach explores how different theoretical approaches - including structural realism, liberalism and constructivism - can be applied to deepen our understanding of events and actions. The book covers all aspects of the policy process - from what states want and how decisions are made through to what states actually do across security, economic and diplomatic policies. Derek Beach also assesses whether we are witnessing a fundamental shift in the nature of foreign policy as a result of globalization and the rise of new non-state actors. The concluding chapter introduces readers to the various research methods available for the study of foreign policy. Engagingly written, this text is the ideal starting point for all who wish to understand and explain the drivers of contemporary foreign policy.

Manski argues that public policy is based on untrustworthy analysis. Failing to account for uncertainty in an uncertain world, policy analysis routinely misleads policy makers with expressions of certitude. Manski critiques the status quo and offers an innovation to improve both how policy research is conducted and how it is used by policy makers.

Many books instruct readers on how to use the tools of policy analysis. This book is different. Its primary focus is on helping readers to look critically at the strengths, limitations, and the underlying assumptions analysts make when they use standard tools or problem framings. Using examples, many of which involve issues in science and technology, the book exposes readers to some of the critical issues of taste, professional responsibility, ethics, and values that are associated with policy analysis and research. Topics covered include policy problems formulated in terms of utility maximization such as benefit-cost, decision, and multi-attribute analysis, issues in the valuation of intangibles, uncertainty in policy analysis, selected topics in risk analysis and communication, limitations and alternatives to the paradigm of utility maximization, issues in behavioral decision theory, issues related to organizations and multiple agents, and selected topics in policy advice and policy analysis for government.