Studying Public Policy: An International Approach

This unique book is the first to explore the public policy process through 19 contributions from diverse scholars from all over the world. It uses empirical material to demonstrate how many of the key theories and concepts may be applied to its analysis. These are linked by substantive commentary from the editor, Michael Hill, a renowned policy process expert, and organised into five sections: Stability and Change, Agenda Setting, Policy Formulation, Implementation and Governance and Globalism. This important new resource for policy process teaching uses cases from many policy areas and countries to bring to life for students the reality of the policy-making process using tools that help with understanding the real world.These tools help with the interpretation of the policy process. The book can be used in its own right and to accompany textbooks in the field and will be of value for masters and advanced undergraduate courses, as well as policy analyses and policymakers in public organisations.

Table of Contents:
Part One: Introduction; Part Two: Stability and Change; Introduction; How policies change? Clean air policy in France and Greece ~ Chloe A. Vlassopoulos; When a Solution becomes the Problem: Policy Reversals in Korea and Japan ~ Gyu-Jin Hwang; Stability with Change: Work-Family Balance Policies in Taiwan ~ Pei-Yuen Tsai; Understanding the Political Context of Nuclear Energy Policy Change in Sweden ~ Daniel Nohrstedt; Part Three: Agenda Setting; Introduction; Agenda Setting in a Parliamentary Federation: Universal Medicare in Canada ~ Gregory P. Marchildon; Flood Mitigation Policy in the United States ~ Kristin O’Donovan; Focusing events, priority problems and governance arrangements: Regulatory reforms in health and eldercare sector in Sweden and Japan ~ Naonori Kodate; The evolution of gender equality policy in New Zealand ~ Jennifer Curtin; Part Four: Policy Formulation; Introduction; Canadian Disability Policy Formulation: Social Movement Preferences and Federal Government; Choices of Instrument Design ~ Michael J. Prince; Defining Ecological Restoration Policy in Sweden ~ Anna Zachrisson and Katarina Eckerberg; The role of local actors in water and flood management in France: between policy formulation and policy implementation ~ Corinne Larrue and Marie Fournier; Think tanks and policy networks in English education ~ Sonia Exley; Part Five: Implementation; Introduction; Agency Preferences and Political Conflict: Policy Implementation in the Netherlands ~ René Torenvlied; Local histories and local sensemaking: a case of policy implementation in the English National Health Service ~ Anna Coleman, Kath Checkland, and Stephen Harrison; Implementation of the structural development policy of Finnish higher education ~ Turo Virtanen; Part Six: Governance and globalism; Introduction; Minimum unit pricing of alcohol in Scotland ~ Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi and Katherine E Smith; The role of national and international policy actors and influences in crisis times: the case of Ireland ~ Mairéad Considine and Fiona Dukelow; Policy responses to climate change in Australia: contestation, complexity and uncertainty ~ Paul Burton; Cross border healthcare in the European Union; EU governance and national responses in healthcare ~ Dorte Sindbjerg Martinsen and Nikolay Vasev.

About the Author :
Michael Hill, after a brief period as a civil servant, has had a long academic career in which he taught public and social policy in the universities of Bristol, Newcastle and London. His book The Public Policy Process (Pearson, 2009) is now in its sixth edition and he and Peter Hupe are just completing a third edition of their book Implementing Public Policy (Sage, 2012) and in 2007 he published Pensions (Policy Press), all of which enjoy wide international sales. He is also editor of the Policy Press Policy and Politics in the 21st Century debate book series.

Review :
"The book offers a fascinating range of policy domains and countries as case studies making it a valuable resource that students and lecturers can use to find cases to illustrate the policy process." Professor Bruce Stafford, University of Nottingham