This book explains how public policy is made, the types of models which could be used to make/evaluate a public policy, and an overview of how public policymaking fits into the American government process.
Since most people have only learned about the three branches of government, they may not be certain how passed laws are enacted. Lacking the time and expertise needed to implement these laws, legislators at the federal, state, and local levels delegate authority to agencies to make the policy which will implement these laws.
The chief benefit of this text is the qualitative approach which Birkland personally prefers (although he does warn that other approaches use an economics-based approach) and clear explanations. It also contains an annotated bibliography of influential works and a dictionary of key terms used in the public policymaking process.
Birkland’s text is written so that it can be used either by students or public policy practitioners. Instead of bogging down the reader in minutiae and personal liberty, he wanted to emphasize how important public policy is.
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There are a number of books “out there” on the nature of the public policy process. This is one of the better textbooks on the subject.
The book begins with a solid chapter on the nature of public policy and how we study the phenomenon. This flows into the second chapter, which focuses on the history of public policy (going back to Constitutional design) and culminates with a discussion (albeit brief) of the fragmentation of the policy process.
The next two chapters explore key actors–official governmental actors like the President and Congress and unofficial actors such as media and think tanks.
Thereafter, the text focuses on the various “stages” of the policy process–from agenda setting to policy types to policy design and the toolbox of policies to implementation.
The volume concludes with an examination of several theories of the policy process.
This book isn’t the best of the lot; however, it is a good, serviceable introduction to the policy process.
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Birkland’s book, “An Introduction to the Policy Process,” has made its way into many introductory classes to public policy. After reading the book, one can see why that’s so: its easy-to-read language covers all the basic principles of public policy, and introduces the different parameters of which our elected officials, their appointees, and government agency workers operate on. However, I found this book to be a little redundant in some areas, and a bit shallow in others. Over all, it’s a good book to skim through when learning about public policy, though I’m certain you could find other books that give you more information for the same money.
So, we come to the question of the day: should you buy this book?
If you have to buy it for class, then yes, you should buy this book. It’s cheap enough and will require much highlighting, and you won’t be too disappointed with it… thus, I’d advise buying a hard copy before I’d advise downloading it on pdf.
If you don’t have to buy this book, then I believe you’re better off looking at other public policy texts out there.
Hope this helps- please comment if you have any other questions/concerns.
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A clear public policy book…it is possible!,
Since most people have only learned about the three branches of government, they may not be certain how passed laws are enacted. Lacking the time and expertise needed to implement these laws, legislators at the federal, state, and local levels delegate authority to agencies to make the policy which will implement these laws.
The chief benefit of this text is the qualitative approach which Birkland personally prefers (although he does warn that other approaches use an economics-based approach) and clear explanations. It also contains an annotated bibliography of influential works and a dictionary of key terms used in the public policymaking process.
Birkland’s text is written so that it can be used either by students or public policy practitioners. Instead of bogging down the reader in minutiae and personal liberty, he wanted to emphasize how important public policy is.
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|Solid introduction to the policy process,
The book begins with a solid chapter on the nature of public policy and how we study the phenomenon. This flows into the second chapter, which focuses on the history of public policy (going back to Constitutional design) and culminates with a discussion (albeit brief) of the fragmentation of the policy process.
The next two chapters explore key actors–official governmental actors like the President and Congress and unofficial actors such as media and think tanks.
Thereafter, the text focuses on the various “stages” of the policy process–from agenda setting to policy types to policy design and the toolbox of policies to implementation.
The volume concludes with an examination of several theories of the policy process.
This book isn’t the best of the lot; however, it is a good, serviceable introduction to the policy process.
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|Easy to read,
So, we come to the question of the day: should you buy this book?
If you have to buy it for class, then yes, you should buy this book. It’s cheap enough and will require much highlighting, and you won’t be too disappointed with it… thus, I’d advise buying a hard copy before I’d advise downloading it on pdf.
If you don’t have to buy this book, then I believe you’re better off looking at other public policy texts out there.
Hope this helps- please comment if you have any other questions/concerns.
0
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