Public policy : politics, analysis, and alternatives / Michael E. Kraft and Scott R. Furlong

Includes bibliographical references and index

Public policy textbooks need to give students a thorough explanation of the policy process, but why do so many relegate policy analysis to a single, final chapter or not cover it at all? In the third edition of their innovative text, Kraft and Furlong take a decidedly different tack. They introduce and integrate an evaluative approach to policy throughout their text, encouraging critical and creative thinking on issues ranging from economic policy and the financial bailout to homeland security and natural disasters. Public Policy starts with the basics and concisely reviews institutions, policy actors, and major theoretical models. The authors then discuss the nature of policy analysis and its practice, and show students how to employ evaluative criteria in six substantive policy areas. At its core, Public Policy guides students through policy alternatives, arming them with analytic tools for understanding how the motivations of policy actorsboth within and outside of governmentinfluence a complex, yet comprehensible, policy agenda

Public Policy and Politics -- Government Institutions and Policy Actors -- Understanding the Politics of Public Policy -- Policy Analysis: An Introduction -- Public Problems and Policy Alternatives -- Assessing Policy Alternatives -- Economic and Budgetary Policy -- Health Care Policy -- Welfare and Social Security Policy -- Education Policy -- Environmental and Energy Policy -- Foreign Policy and Homeland Security -- Politics, Analysis, and Policy Choice