The Public Policy Theory Primer
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The Public Policy Theory Primer
Kevin B. Smith University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Christopher W. Larimer University of Northern Iowa
Westview Press A Member of the Perseus Books Group
Copyright © 2009 by Westview Press Published by Westview Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Group All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Westview Press, 2465 Central Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301. Find us on the World Wide Web at www.westviewpress.com. Every effort has been made to secure required permissions to use all images, maps, and other art included in this volume. Westview Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, x5000, or e-mail
[email protected] Designed by Pauline Brown Set in 10.5-point Minion by the Perseus Books Group Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data CIP TK ISBN: 978-0-8133-4381-5 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Preface 00 1
Public Policy as a Concept and a Field (or Fields) of Study
00
2
Does Politics Cause Policy? Does Policy Cause Politics?
00
3
Who Makes Decisions? How Do They Make Decisions? Actors and Institutions
00
4
Where Does Policy Come from? The Policy Process
00
5
What Should We Do? The Field of Policy Analysis
00
6
What Have We Done? Impact Analysis and Program Evaluation
00
7
How Does It Work? Policy Implementation
00
8
Whose Values? Policy Design
00
9
New Directions in Policy Research
00
Do the Policy Sciences Exist?
00
10
References 00 Index 00
v
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PREFACE
This book has its origins in the challenges of introducing upper-division undergraduates and beginning graduate students to the field of policy studies. Advanced survey courses in public policy are a standard curricular component of graduate programs in political science, public administration, and other fields, and similar courses are increasingly common for upper-division undergraduates. The field of publi