Public policy making: process and principles - 1. edición

This brief text identifies the issues, resources, actors, and institutions involved in public policy making and traces the dynamics of the policymaking process, including the triggering of issue awareness, the emergence of an issue on the public agenda, the formation of a policy commitment, and the implementation process that translates policy into practice. Throughout the text, which has been revised and updated, Gerston brings his analysis to life with abundant examples from the most recent and emblematic cases of public policy making. At the same time, with well-chosen references, he places policy analysis in the context of political science and deftly orients readers to the classics of public policy studies. Each chapter ends with discussion questions and suggestions for further reading. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Preface to the Third Edition 10 Chapter 1 The Context of Public Policy 14 Chapter 2 Triggering Mechanisms: Catalysts for Public Policies 33 Chapter 3 The Public Agenda: Focal Point for Policy Decisions 59 Chapter 4 The Policy Makers: Roles and Realities 81 Chapter 5 Implementation: Converting Policy Commitments 101 Chapter 6 Evaluation: Assessments and Directions 123 Chapter 7 Public Policy Making in an Evolutionary Context 138 Notes 146 Index 162 About the Author 172

Gerston (San Jose State U.) presents an undergraduate-textbook on the origins, formation, and implementation of public policy in the United States. Over the course of seven chapters he discusses the institutional context of public policy, triggering mechanisms of policy initiatives, the public agenda as a barometer of issues that have reached the attention of policy makers, the roles of policy makers, implementation, and evaluation. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Bringing the analysis to life and helping to demystify the process are discussions of recent and historic cases of policy making. Updated for this edition, these examples illustrate the diverse pressures, conflicting values, and competing political objectives that are at play in actual policy-making situations and that often produce what seem to be unnecessarily complicated outcomes Identifies the issues, resources, actors, and institutions involved in public policy making and traces the dynamics of the policymaking process, including the triggering of issue awareness, the emergence of an issue on the public agenda, the formation of a policy committment, and the implementation process that translates policy into practice. The context of public policy Triggering mechanisms : catalysts for public policies The public agenda : focal point for policy decisions The policy makers : roles and realities Implementation : converting policy commitments into practice Evaluation : assessments and directions Public policy making in an evolutionary context. Throughout the text, well-chosen references place policy analysis in the context of political science and deftly orient readers to the classics of public policy studies. Each chapter ends with discussion questions and suggestions for further reading. --Book Jacket