Public Policy: The Essential Readings

This collection of 46 key classic and contemporary readings explores the environment within which public policy is made and the actual policy-making process. KEY TOPICS: This book includes readings that are among the most frequently cited or that highlight the link between theory and practice particularly well. It groups readings into four major sections which parallel both the majority of policy texts and the way many courses are designed: the nature of public policy — including theories and models of public policy making, the making of policy — the sequential stages that policies pass through, the players — both institutional and non-institutional, policy making as a game — the rules, strategies, and culture of the policy game. Each section begins with an overview essay.

The essays here range from everything from philosophy of public policy (Dahl's article) to the tidbits of implementation (Sabatier & Mazmanian's article); from the really well-written (Majone and Wildavsky) to real snoozers (Rubin). With all this variance, the one thing I didn't get is any conflict in views presented. I'm no expert, but I'm sure that public policy experts don't actually agree on as much as these contributors seem to. I can't help getting the feeling that the editors views are amply reflected in these pages.

The other complaint is lack of structure. In particular, the section on "The Players" is put after "Making Public Policy." In retrospect, this made much of the latter-mentioned section harder to understand. Of course, this is easily remedied. If you do buy this collection (and I would hesitatingly reccomend it) read section 3 before section 2.


Uneven - there is a better alternative   April 26, 2002
 14 out of 15 found this review helpful

I agree with the previous reviewer. The anthology is good in principle. Too few students read the original texts. Too many are fed with more or less adequate second-hand versions of what different scholars are saying.

BUT:
- While this anthology contains many classics, there is also a lot of less influential, or totally outdated texts that you should not waste your time on
- A good anthology requires good synthesizing chapters to make it more than the sum of its parts. The introductory chapters in this one are too brief and not very thrilling.
- The texts are too short. You only get little snippets.
- Many texts feel outdated, while much of the current litterature is missing.

There is a MUCH better public policy anthology which meets all these requirements: Daniel C. McCool (1995) "Public Policy Theories, Models, and Concepts" Prentice Hall. I would recommend that book instead, no doubt. Better, longer, more relevant and up-to-date texts, and very good comments by the editor. Have a look at that book instead of this one!


A thorough, if uneven, reader   September 12, 2000
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

While selecting textbooks for a public policy theory course, I ran across this reader. It should serve well for a public policy course given a couple limitations. First, the chapters are heterogeneous and uneven. You will need to spend some time deciding what readings are worthwhile and how to organize the readings you wish to keep. Second, the readings will require explicit integration in to lectures and core textbooks. The articles are not very well integrated. In the end, I think this collection of essays will make an excellent resource for instructors who take the time to incorporate some of the excellent chapters. If you want to include original articles from political scientists in a policy course, this is a good place to turn.