A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving

In the Fifth Edition of A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving, Eugene Bardach and new co-author Eric Patashnik draw on more than 40 years of experience teaching students to be effective, accurate, and persuasive policy analysts. This bestselling handbook presents dozens of concrete tips, interesting case studies, and step-by-step strategies that are easily applicable for the budding analyst as well as the seasoned professional.

In this new edition, Bardach and Patashnik update many examples to reflect the shifting landscape of policy issues. A new section with advice on how to undertake policy design in addition to making policy choices makes the book even more engaging. Readers will also appreciate a sample document of real world policy analysis, suggestions for developing creative, "out-of-the-box" solutions, and tips for working with clients.



About the Author :
Eugene Bardach has been teaching graduate-level policy analysis workshop classes since 1973 at the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, in which time he has coached some 500 projects. He is a broadly based political scientist with wide-ranging teaching and research interests. His focus is primarily on policy implementation and public management, and most recently on problems of facilitating better interorganizational collaboration in service delivery (e.g., in human services, environmental enforcement, fire prevention, and habitat preservation). He also maintains an interest in problems of homeland defense, regulatory program design and execution, particularly in areas of health, safety, consumer protection, and equal opportunity. Bardach has developed novel teaching methods and materials at Berkeley, has directed and taught in residentially based training programs for higher-level public managers, and has worked for the Office of Policy Analysis at the US Department of Interior. He is the recipient of the 1998 Donald T. Campbell Award of the Policy Studies Organization for creative contribution to the methodology of policy analysis, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This book is based on his experience teaching students the principles of policy analysis and then helping them to execute their project work. Eric M. Patashnik is Julis-Rabinowitz Professor of Public Policy and Political Science, and Director of Brown's Master of Public Affairs program in the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. He is also Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Before coming to Brown, Patashnik held faculty positions at University of Virginia (UVA), UCLA, and Yale University. During his time at UVA, he served as associate dean and acting dean at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Patashnik's research focuses on the politics of American national policymaking, especially health policy, the welfare state, and the reform process. He is the author or editor of seven books. Patashnik has twice won the Louis Brownlow Book Award of the National Academy of Public Administration and has also won the Don K. Price Book Award of the American Political Science Association. Patashnik received his MPP and Ph.D from the University of California, Berkeley. Earlier in his career, Patashnik was a legislative analyst for the US House Subcommittee on Elections.

Review :
"Bardach and Patashnik's Practical Guide has become a genuine classic of policy analysis because it offers a versatile framework for confronting policy issues of all types, from persistent, long-standing problems to new, emergent challenges. Like every classic work, it contains different layers of insight for different readers. Junior analysts can use the 8 basic elements as a primer. Intermediate analysts can add the design principles. Experienced analysts can deepen their practice by applying the 8-fold path to more and more complex problems. I wouldn't think of teaching policy analysis at any level without this elegant guide to our craft."--Karen Baehler, PhD

"A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis remains the most accessible and practical guide for those learning the craft of policy analysis. It offers convincing reasoning for and a clear roadmap of the required steps to conduct policy analysis, provides a terrific list of useful resources and helpful hints, and offers very practical illustrations and examples. The newly added section on design problems broadens discourse to include not only knowledge on how to improve analysis of discrete policy choices, but also on how to generate effective strategies to change the design parameters of policy problems. It should be required reading for all students in public affairs type undergraduate major and graduate level programs."

"I have used Bardach's A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis in several editions over many years to instruct masters in public policy students in the skills and insights required of an effective policy practitioner. I like the book for its conciseness, its concreteness, its practicality and its accessibility. It provides a nice framework and set of concepts that can be developed and applied in case studies to structure an effective policy analysis course. I welcome the new edition, which clarifies and updates the material and adds a helpful new section on policy design, while keeping the structure and down-to-earth writing style of previous editions."