This book assesses a range of contemporary scholarly approaches to public policy. Bringing together leading scholars in policy studies, each chapter addresses a different theoretical approach to policy design and implementation, drawn from the fields of political science, economics and behavioral science. These include the advocacy coalition framework, discursive approaches, institutional analysis, punctuated equilibrium theory, and multiple streams approaches. The book examines how these approaches were born, their limitations, and the theoretical and research problems they pose.

This newly revised edition also considers how the field of policy studies has evolved over the last decade, and includes two new chapters examining the narrative policy framework and policy transaction approaches. It concludes with a discussion of fundamental issues of democracy in public policy. It is an essential resource for all those involved in teaching, researching and studying public policy.

Autorentext

B. Guy Peters is Professor Emeritus of American Government at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, and President Emeritus of the International Public Policy Association.

Philippe Zittoun is Research Professor of Political Science at LAET-ENTPE, University of Lyon, France and Secretary General of the International Public Policy Association.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. The Advocacy Coalition Framework: An Approach for the comparative Analysis of Contentious Policy Issues.- 3. Discursive Approaches to Public Policy: Politics, Argumentation and Deliberation.- 4. Institutionalism and Public Policy.- 5. Institutions and The Policy Process 2.0: Implications of the IAD Framework.- 6. The Transformation of Ideas: The Origin and Evolution of Punctuated Equilibrium Theory.- 7. Behavioral Approaches: How Nudges Lead to More Intelligent Policy Design.- 8. Tools Approaches.- 9. Bounded Rationality and Garbage Can Models of Policy-Making.- 10. Narrative Policy Framework. A Storied Understanding of the Policy Process.- 11. Policy Transaction Approach.- 12. Conclusion.