From William N. Dunn, Public Policy Analysis: An Introduction, Prentice-Hall,
1981, pp. 7-33 The social sciences have developed very largely through the
criticism of proposals for social improvements or, more precisely, through
attempts to find out whether or not some particular economic or political action is
likely to produce an expected, or desired, result. Karl R. Popper, The Poverty of
Historicism (1960) In its most general sense, policy analysis may be understood
as the process of ...
Hank C. Jenkins-Smith From Hank C. Jenkins-Smith, Democratic Politics and Policy Analysis, Brook/Cole, 1990, pp. 9 38 What is it that is praised and criticized
as policy analysis? How can it be characterized in a way that renders
examination of the implications of its use for American politics - if not a
straightforward exercise - at least a manageable problem? What are the
characteristics of the analysis and advice provided that make it distinctive from,
for example, the prescriptions for ...
Penetrating the voluminous literature on the science of public policy, this set offers a comprehensive collection of papers on this significant discipline. Published in two parts, areas covered include the historical development, basic philosophies, approaches, methods and problems of the policy sciences and new sciences of public policy. With new introductions to the individual volumes by the editor, this collection provides the reader with an expansive and detailed source of reference, making this set an invaluable tool for anybody researching aspects of this interdisciplinary area.
A conceptual understanding of the policy process is fundamentally important to
an analysis of public policy. The public policy process refers to all the
mechanisms through which the decision making and the implementation of
public policy are made in our society. It is a process in the sense that it involves a
linked series of activities and events oriented to the achievement of one or more
specific objectives. The policy process characterizes how a political system goes
about transforming ...
