This book is an English version of a successful text* on public policy analysis originally written for policy practitioners in Switzerland and France. It presents a model for the analysis of public policy and includes examples of its application in everyday political-administrative situations. This English version introduces supplementary illustrations and examples from the United Kingdom. Structured and written accessibly for readers who may not have an academic background in the social sciences, Public Policy Analysis applies key ideas from sociology, political science, administrative science and law to develop an analytical framework that can be used to carry out empirical studies on different public policies. British scholars, practitioners and students are introduced all too rarely to ideas from the Francophone world, and this book will contribute to remedying that. It will be particularly relevant for students and practitioners of public administration.

Biotechnology is one of the most important new issues to emerge in the knowledge economy. The Politics of Biotechnology in North America and Europe provides analysts with a perspective on policy-making in scientifically advanced countries that integrate the insights of several approaches and that display a particular sensitivity to the complexity of policy-making conjectures. This perspective allows going beyond the simplistic understandings of biotechnology policy currently prevailing. This volume provides a rigorous analysis and detailed information on biotechnology policy in nine countries. The essays included here present the results of in-depth empirical research in the area of biomedicine and agro-food biotechnology. The book is, therefore, not only of interest to policy-makers and policy analysts, but also to anyone with an interest in biotechnology.

This book is an English version of a successful text* on public policy analysis originally written for policy practitioners in Switzerland and France. It presents a model for the analysis of public policy and includes examples of its application in everyday political-administrative situations. This English version introduces supplementary illustrations and examples from the United Kingdom. Structured and written accessibly for readers who may not have an academic background in the social sciences, Public Policy Analysis applies key ideas from sociology, political science, administrative science and law to develop an analytical framework that can be used to carry out empirical studies on different public policies. British scholars, practitioners and students are introduced all too rarely to ideas from the Francophone world, and this book will contribute to remedying that. It will be particularly relevant for students and practitioners of public administration.

Biotechnology is one of the most important new issues to emerge in the knowledge economy. The Politics of Biotechnology in North America and Europe provides analysts with a perspective on policy-making in scientifically advanced countries that integrate the insights of several approaches and that display a particular sensitivity to the complexity of policy-making conjectures. This perspective allows going beyond the simplistic understandings of biotechnology policy currently prevailing. This volume provides a rigorous analysis and detailed information on biotechnology policy in nine countries. The essays included here present the results of in-depth empirical research in the area of biomedicine and agro-food biotechnology. The book is, therefore, not only of interest to policy-makers and policy analysts, but also to anyone with an interest in biotechnology.

The Public Policy Process is essential reading for anyone trying to understand the process by which public policy is made. Explaining clearly the importance of the relationship between theoretical and practical aspects of policymaking, the book gives a thorough overview of the people and organisations involved in the process.

Fully revised and updated for an eighth edition, The Public Policy Process provides:

Clear exploration, using many illustrations, of how policy is made and implemented;

Examines challenges to effective policy making in critical areas – such as inequality and climate change – including the influence of powerful interests and the Covid-19 pandemic;

New material on unequal democracies, interest groups influence, behavioural policy analysis, global policies and evidence-based decision making;

Additional European and comparative international examples.

This text is essential reading for students of public policy, public administration and management, as well as more broadly highly relevant to related courses in health and nursing, social welfare, environment, development and local government.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Policy Theories

1. Studying the policy process

2. Theories of power and the policy process

3. Interests and groups

4. Institutional theory

5. Comparative policy process studies

6. Integrating theoretical approaches

Part 2: Analysis of the Policy Process

7. Policy and politics

8. Agenda setting

9. Policy formulation

10. Implementation: an overview

11. Bureaucracy: organisational structures and processes

12. Discretion, rules and street-level bureaucracy

13. The policy process in the age of governance

14. Conclusion: evaluation and accountability