Applying the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) to a global range of case studies, this pioneering Modern Guide addresses how policymakers decide what issues to attend to and which choices to make or implement. In doing so it outlines that, far from being the exception, ambiguity and timing are integral parts of every comparative explanation of the policy process. Considering the MSF at the theoretical level, contributors assess the assumptions, structure and logic of the framework before examining the scope of reforms, multilevel influence and interaction, coupling as a process, and the motives of policy entrepreneurs. Using a diverse array of cases from around the world at sub-national, national, and international levels of governance, chapters apply the framework to such diverse topics as climate policy in Europe, soil pollution laws in China, pandemic management in Turkey and Bolsonaro’s gun liberalization agenda in Brazil. Ultimately, the Modern Guide demonstrates that public policy is a process replete with bias, language and symbols among interacting policy actors who generate conflicting messages in staged settings of political power. Situating the framework within broader debates of the policy process, this innovative Modern Guide will be vital to students and scholars of political science, public policy, and public administration and management. With empirical practical applications which advance the MSF, it will also be of use to policymakers globally.

This book explores the reasons behind the variation in national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, it furthers the policy studies scholarship through an examination of the effects of policy styles on national responses to the pandemic. Despite governments being faced with the same threat, significant variation in national responses, frequently of contradictory nature, has been observed. Implications about responses inform a broader class of crises beyond this specific context. The authors argue that trust in government interacts with policy styles resulting in different responses and that the acute turbulence, uncertainty, and urgency of crises complicate the ability of policymakers to make sense of the problem. Finally, the book posits that unless there is high trust between society and the state, a decentralized response will likely be disastrous and concludes that while national responses to crises aim to save lives, they also serve to project political power and protect the status quo. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of public policy, public administration, political science, sociology, public health, and crisis management/disaster management studies.

This book explores the reasons behind the variation in national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, it furthers the policy studies scholarship through an examination of the effects of policy styles on national responses to the pandemic. Despite governments being faced with the same threat, significant variation in national responses, frequently of contradictory nature, has been observed. Implications about responses inform a broader class of crises beyond this specific context. The authors argue that trust in government interacts with policy styles resulting in different responses and that the acute turbulence, uncertainty, and urgency of crises complicate the ability of policymakers to make sense of the problem. Finally, the book posits that unless there is high trust between society and the state, a decentralized response will likely be disastrous and concludes that while national responses to crises aim to save lives, they also serve to project political power and protect the status quo. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of public policy, public administration, political science, sociology, public health, and crisis management/disaster management studies.

The Routledge Handbook of European Public Policy provides an in-depth and systematic understanding of EU policies. It covers theoretical approaches on the policy process and the various stages of public policy formulation and decision making, and discusses key questions of contemporary European governance. The handbook introduces major concepts, trends, and methodologies in a variety of comparative settings thereby providing the first systematic effort to include theoretical and substantive analyses of European public policies in a single volume. The handbook is divided into four sections: Concepts and approaches in EU policymaking; Substantive policies of the EU, including economic and social, fiscal and monetary, areas of freedom, security, and justice, and external policies; Elements of the policy cycle; Themes ranging from crisis and resistance to controversies in education. This handbook will be an essential reference for students and scholars of the European Union, public policy, social policy, and more broadly for European and comparative politics.

The book advances the state of the European Union's policy theory by taking stock of seven promising frameworks of the policy process, systematically comparing their limitations and strengths, and offering a strategy to develop robust research agendas. Frameworks may constitute competing policy explanations depending on assumptions they make about EU institutional and issue complexity. The frameworks include detailed analyses of multi-level governance, advocacy coalitions, punctuated equilibrium, multiple streams, policy learning, normative power Europe, and constructivism. Besides generating a fertile dialogue that transcends the narrow confines of EU policy, contributions highlight the value of intellectual pluralism and the need for clear and rigorous explanations of the policy process. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.

The Routledge Handbook of European Public Policy provides an in-depth and systematic understanding of EU policies. It covers theoretical approaches on the policy process and the various stages of public policy formulation and decision making, and discusses key questions of contemporary European governance. The handbook introduces major concepts, trends, and methodologies in a variety of comparative settings thereby providing the first systematic effort to include theoretical and substantive analyses of European public policies in a single volume. The handbook is divided into four sections: Concepts and approaches in EU policymaking; Substantive policies of the EU, including economic and social, fiscal and monetary, areas of freedom, security, and justice, and external policies; Elements of the policy cycle; Themes ranging from crisis and resistance to controversies in education. This handbook will be an essential reference for students and scholars of the European Union, public policy, social policy, and more broadly for European and comparative politics.

The book advances the state of the European Union's policy theory by taking stock of seven promising frameworks of the policy process, systematically comparing their limitations and strengths, and offering a strategy to develop robust research agendas. Frameworks may constitute competing policy explanations depending on assumptions they make about EU institutional and issue complexity. The frameworks include detailed analyses of multi-level governance, advocacy coalitions, punctuated equilibrium, multiple streams, policy learning, normative power Europe, and constructivism. Besides generating a fertile dialogue that transcends the narrow confines of EU policy, contributions highlight the value of intellectual pluralism and the need for clear and rigorous explanations of the policy process. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.

The past decade has witnessed a worldwide and more or less irreversible shift away from state ownership. This "megatrend" is expected to last well into the next millennium. Given policymakers' previous strong inclination toward nationalization and state ownership, one must ask: Why change now? Markets, States, and Public Policy concentrates on the experience of Britain and France, two pioneers of privatization, and draws specifically on detailed case studies of three sectors: oil, telecommunications, and railroads. The book shows that privatization is brought about by the interplay of three factors at critical junctures of time: available policy alternatives, the ideological complexion and strategy of the governing parties, and widening government budget deficits. Thus, privatization is a politically forged decision to forego direct control over markets in favor of indirect control. Zahariadis applies the multiple streams approach, extending the theory in two important ways: first, by giving it an explicitly comparative focus and, second, by broadening its explanatory reach to cover policy adoption in addition to agenda setting. In doing this, the author strikes a unique balance between theoretical analysis and empirical rigor. Zahariadis's novel way of comparatively examining the dynamics of policy choice and his use of literature that cuts across the fields of comparative politics, public policy, and political economy will attract the interest of students of political science, public administration, economics, and sociology.