Public Policy An Evolutionary Approach

PUBLIC POLICY: AN EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH, 3E, examines how the substance and process of public policy and our understanding of it have evolved in America. After providing an analytic, historic and contextual framework for viewing public policy in the U.S., the text offers a comprehensive look at the various elements of the governing process, including agenda setting and problem definition; policy formation; implementation; program evaluation; and policy change and termination. The authors pay particular attention to the range of theories that have been offered to explain how, why, and with what effects governments act. They look at three critical policy areas -? environment, education, and welfare -? to further illustrate how governing proceeds in the U.S. The text focuses on actual policy examples, including recent efforts to reform education and welfare, and the war in Iraq.