Public policy : an introduction to the theory and practice of policy analysis / Wayne Parsons. (Text)

Reprint. Originally published: 1995.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 617-651) and index.

Part 1. Meta analysis: Introduction -- 'Public' and 'policy' as concepts -- The development of the policy approach -- Kinds of policy analysts and policy analysis -- Varieties of analytical frameworks -- Philosophical frameworks -- Analysis and the policy process -- Models, maps and metaphors -- Paradigms lost and found: shifts in the focus and frameworks of policy analysis -- Stages and cycles: mapping the policy process -- The arrangement of parts Two, Three and Four -- Part 2. Meso analysis: Introduction -- Social problem approaches -- Public opinion and public policy -- Theories of agenda control -- Typologies of policy issues -- Pluralism, non-decision-making and the third dimension of power -- Neo-Marxist and critical approaches -- Knowledge and the policy agenda -- Policies and problems as symbols -- Networks, streams, advocacy coalitions and punctuated equilibrium -- Analysing the boundaries -- Globalization and policy-making : the international parameters -- Part 3. Decision analysis: Introduction -- Decision-making : frameworks and disciplinary contexts -- Power approaches to decision-making -- Rationality and decision-making -- The public choice approach to decision-making -- Institutional approaches -- Personality, cognition and information processing in decision-making -- Policy analysis and public decisions -- Rational decision-making and the quest for knowledgeable governance -- Critiques of policy analysis Part 4. Delivery analysis: Introduction -- The arrangement of part Four -- Implementation -- Delivery systems -- Evaluation -- Change and continuity in policy-making -- Promise and performance: evaluating impact and outcomes -- Conclusions: Beyond delivery and towards democratization.