About the Book
Volume One of the Classics of Comparative Policy Analysis, "Theory and Methods in Comparative Policy Analysis Studies" includes chapters that apply or further theory and methodology in the comparative study of public policy, in general, and policy analysis, in particular. Throughout the volume the chapters engage in theory building by assessing the relevance of theoretical approaches drawn from the social sciences, as well as some which are distinctive to policy analysis. Other chapters focus on various comparative approaches based on developments and challenges in the methodology of policy analysis. Together, this collection provides a comprehensive scholastic foundation to comparative policy analysis and comparative policy studies.
"Theory and Methods in Comparative Policy Analysis Studies" will be of great interest to scholars and learners of public policy and social sciences, as well as to practitioners considering what can be learned or facilitated through methodologically and theoretically sound approaches.
The chapters were originally published as articles in the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis which in the last two decades has pioneered the development of comparative public policy. The volume is part of a four-volume series, the Classics of Comparative Policy Analysis including Theories and Methods, Institutions and Governance, Regional Comparisons, and Policy Sectors. Each volume showcases a different new chapter comparing domains of study interrelated with comparative public policy: political science, public administration, governance and policy design, authored by the JCPA co-editors Giliberto Capano, Iris Geva-May, Michael Howlett, Leslie A. Pal and B. Guy Peters.
Table of Contents:
Foreword Laurence E. Lynn, Jr. Part 1: Introduction to the book series and volume one Why the Classics of Comparative Policy Analysis Studies Iris Geva-May, Guy B Peters, Joselyn Muhleison Part 2: Comparing field of study: What lesson can be drawn? Two Ships in the Night: Comparative Politics and Comparative Policy Analysis - Making the Linkage Guy B. Peters and Iris Geva-May Part 3: The Classics 1. Comparative policy analysis: Déjà vu all over again? Peter Deleon, Phyllis Resnick‐Terry 2. Compared to What? The Multiple Meanings of Comparative Policy Analysis Beryl A. Radin, David L. Weimer 3. The Problem of Policy Problems Guy B. Peters 4. Twenty Years of Comparative Policy Analysis: A Survey of the Field and a Discussion of Topics and Method Iris Geva‐May, David Hoffman, Joselyn Muhleisen 5. Comparative logic versus problem logic? An introduction Monika Steffen 6. Comparing complex policies: Lessons from a public health case Monika Steffen 7. Understanding Policy Change as an Epistemological and Theoretical Problem Giliberto Capano 8. The Dependent Variable Problem in the Study of Policy Change: Understanding Policy Change as a Methodological Problem Michael Howlett, Benjamin Cashore 9. Mechanisms of Policy Change: A Proposal for a Synthetic Explanatory Framework José Real-Dato 10. The Matching Problem within Comparative Welfare State Research: How to Bridge Abstract Theory and Specific Hypotheses Sabina Stiller, Kees van Kersbergen 11. The Dependent Variable Problem within the Study of Welfare State Retrenchment: Defining the Problem and Looking for Solutions Christoffer Green-Pedersen 12. Policy Innovations: Towards an Analytic Framework Sami Mahroum 13. Exploring the Concept of Governability Jan Kooiman 14. The Role and Impact of the Multiple-Streams Approach in Comparative Policy Analysis Daniel Béland, Michael Howlett 15. Differences That Matter: Overcoming Methodological Nationalism in Comparative Social Policy Research Scott Greer, Heather Elliott, Rebecca Oliver 16. Europeanization as a methodological challenge: The case of interest groups Sabine Saurugger 17. How to construct a robust measure of social capital: Two contributions Gert Tinggaard Svendsen, Christian Bjornskov 18. Cultural theory: The neglected variable in the craft of policy analysis Iris Geva‐May 19. Cultures of public policy problems Robert Hoppe 20. Toward cultural analysis in policy analysis: Picking up where Aaron Wildavsky left off Brendon Swedlow 21. Metachoice in policy analysis Aidan R. Vining, Anthony E. Boardman 22. Introduction: The OECD and Policy Transfer: Comparative Case Studies Leslie A. Pal 23. Learning Transferable Lessons from Single Cases in Comparative Policy Analysis Amanda Wolf, Karen Baehler
About the Author :
Iris Geva-May has been recognized by Thomson Reuters for having pioneered the field of comparative policy analysis since 1998, when she founded the now high indexed Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis. She serves as its Founding Editor. She is President of the International Comparative Policy Analysis Forum Scholarly Society. She has published among others The Logic and Methodology of Policy Analysis, An Operational Approach to Policy Analysis (with Wildavsky), International Library of Policy Analysis, Routledge Handbook of Comparative Policy Analysis, and Policy Analysis as a Clinical Profession. She is currently a Honorary Visiting Professor at SPPA, Carleton University, Ottawa, and the Wagner School NYU; and Professor Emerita, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver.
B. Guy Peters is Maurice Falk Professor of Government at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, and Honorary Editor of the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis. He is also the Founding President of the International Public Policy Association and Editor of the International Review of Public Policy. He has been honored as the recipient of the Fred Riggs Award for Lifetime Achievement in Public Administration, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from NISPAcee. Among his seminal publications are: Comparative Politics Theory and Methods, Institutional Theory In Political Science0, The Politics of Bureaucracy: A Comparative Perspective, and An Advanced Introduction to Public Policy, The Next Public Administration.
Joselyn Muhleisen serves as the Awards Coordinator for the International Comparative Policy Analysis Forum and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis. She is a Doctoral Lecturer at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, Baruch College, City University of New York (CUNY). She earned her doctorate in political science from The Graduate Center, CUNY. She is the former Assistant Director of the European Union Studies Center, CUNY, New Yorkp. She has published work about the development of comparative policy analysis and its relationship to international studies.
Review :
"It is evident throughout the four volumes that the comparative perspective is producing the kinds of intellectual capital that may be of unique value in policy formulation and design. Lesson drawing is increasingly appropriate in an era of worldwide reinventing of governance. Through the publication of this series, and through papers accepted for publication in future volumes of the JCPA, the journal and the Classics of Comparative Policy Analysis will continue to be a pilot light for imaginative and pathbreaking research that sustains the momentum of the development of comparative policy studies."
Laurence E. Lynn, Jr., Sydney Stein, Jr. Professor of Pubic Management Emeritus, The University of Chicago, USA
"Merriam Webster’s definition of "classic" provides the reader of the Classics of Comparative Policy Analysis Series with a challenging situation. The terms used in the definition are traditional, enduring, classical, authentic, authoritative and typical. This series meets all these definitions. But, as the pages of the four volumes unfold, it also offers a sense of the relevance in responding to the turbulence of the world in which we live as well as of the future potential of this complex and ever-changing field."
Beryl A. Radin, Georgetown University, Washington DC., Former President of the Association of Public Policy and Management (APPAM)
