Handbook of Policy Formulation (Handbooks of Research on Public Policy series)

This Handbook represents a pioneering effort to consolidate the state of knowledge on policy formulation. An invaluable resource for scholars and students of policy studies, this Handbook provides a set of analytical discussions that help scholars, students and practitioners better understand the multiple dimensions of what policy formulation has come to mean in contemporary public policy-making and governance. In attempting to resolve pressing public problems, governments devise, deploy and develop policy tools in many different ways in different sectors and jurisdictions. Knowledge of these processes has been fragmented, however, spanning a multitude of different approaches, perspectives and case studies. By critically and systematically analysing both the processes and agents of policy formulation, this Handbook provides the first comprehensive overview of the formulation activities that are undertaken by governments in order to match their policy goals with the means of achieving them. The Handbook unites a wide range of expert contributors who examine the roles played by policy actors, institutions and ideas in answering fundamental questions about policy formulation such as who undertakes it, how, when, where and why. Through seven thematic sections this Handbook discusses a wide range of topics related to formulation such as the nature of policy design, instrument choice, policy appraisal, policy advice and the politics of defining and resolving policy problems. Contributors include: C. Adelle, J. Bandola-Gill, R. Burroughs, C. Eichbaum, M. Galizzi, A. Gunn, H. Gunter, M.P. Howlett, H.M. Ingram, D.S.L. Jarvis, G.F. Johnson, P.D. Jorgensen, J. Kohoutek, C. Koski, M. Lehtonen, D. Linders, C. Lyall, L. Ma, M. Maor, C. Matheson, P.J. May, J.G. McGann, I. Mukherjee, S. Nair, M. Nekola, J. Rayner, A.L. Schneider, J. Scott, R. Shaw, A. Simons, N. Stramp, H. Strassheim, M. van der Steen, A. Veselý, J.-P. Voß, S. Weiland, M. Wilder, A.R. Zito Front Matter Copyright Contents List of contributors PART I INTRODUCTION: POLICY FORMULATION AND THE POLICY PROCESS 1. Policy formulation: where knowledge meets power in the policy process 2. The central conundrums of policy formulation: ill-structured problems and uncertainty 3. Policy formulation as policy work: developing options for government 4. Positive and negative feedback in policy formulation PART II WHAT IS FORMULATED: CHOOSING POLICY INSTRUMENTS AND POLICY GOALS 5. Problem delimitation in policy formulation 6. Policy tools and their role in policy formulation: dealing with procedural and substantive instruments 7. Patching versus packaging in policy formulation: assessing policy portfolio design 8. The elements of effective program design: a two-level analysis PART III FORMAL AND INFORMAL ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES IN POLICY FORMULATION 9. Formal policy appraisal techniques and policy formulation 10. Operationalizing information: measures and indicators in policy formulation 11. Anticipation tools in policy formulation: forecasting, foresight and implications for policy planning 12. The role of public participation and deliberationin policy formulation PART IV POLICY ADVICE AND THE POLICY FORMULATION PROCESS 13. Policy advice and policy advisory systems in policy formulation 14. The organization of policy formulation 15. Knowledge brokers and policy advice in policy formulation 16. Policy entrepreneurs and policy formulation PART V FORMULATING POLICY PROBLEMS 17. Issue expertise in policymaking 18. Expert networks and epistemic communities: articulating knowledge and collective entrepreneurship 19. Framing the target in policy formulation: the importance of social constructions 20. Consultants and policy formulation PART VI FORMULATING POLICY SOLUTIONS 21. Policy instrument constituencies 22. Think tanks, politics and the policy-making process: catalysts for ideas and action 23. Exogeneity and convergence in policy formulation: contested theories, approaches and perspectives 24. Behavioral aspects of policy formulation: experiments, behavioral insights, nudges PART VII THE POLITICS OF POLICY FORMULATION 25. Policy paradigms and the formulation process 26. The politics of policy formulation: overcoming subsystem dynamics 27. The impact of political parties, executives and political staff on policy formulation 28. Mechanisms of influence: interest groups, lobbyists and policy formulation PART VIII TRENDS AND PATTERNS OF POLICY FORMULATION 29. Trends towards the externalization and politicization of policy advice in policy formulation 30. Trends towards evidence-based policy formulation 31. The changing role of the public in policy formulation: from mass media to social media 32. Policy overreaction doctrine: from ideal-type to context-sensitive solution in times of crisis Index "This Handbook represents a pioneering effort to consolidate the state of knowledge on policy formulation. An invaluable resource for scholars and students of policy studies, this Handbook provides a set of analytical discussions that help scholars, students and practitioners better understand the multiple dimensions of what policy formulation has come to mean in contemporary public policy-making and governance. In attempting to resolve pressing public problems, governments devise, deploy and develop policy tools in many different ways in different sectors and jurisdictions. Knowledge of these processes has been fragmented, however, spanning a multitude of different approaches, perspectives and case studies. By critically and systematically analysing both the processes and agents of policy formulation, this Handbook provides the first comprehensive overview of the formulation activities that are undertaken by governments in order to match their policy goals with the means of achieving them. The Handbook unites a wide range of expert contributors who examine the roles played by policy actors, institutions and ideas in answering fundamental questions about policy formulation such as who undertakes it, how, when, where and why. Through seven thematic sections this Handbook discusses a wide range of topics related to formulation such as the nature of policy design, instrument choice, policy appraisal, policy advice and the politics of defining and resolving policy problems" -- Provided by publisher Policy Formulation Relies Upon The Interplay Of Knowledge-based Analysis Of Issues With Power-based Considerations, Such As The Political Assessment Of The Costs And Benefits Of Proposed Actions, And Its Effects On The Partisan And Electoral Concerns Of Governments. Policy Scholars Have Long Been Interested In How Governments Successfully Create, Deploy And Utilise Policy Instruments, But The Literature On Policy Formulation Has, Until Now, Remained Fragmented. This Comprehensive Handbook Unites Original Scholarship On Policy Tools And Design, With Contributions Examining Policy Actors And The Roles They Play In The Formulation Process.