Policy Analysis as Problem Solving: A Flexible and Evidence-Based Framework

ISBN-13: 9781138630178 / Angielski / Miękka / 2018 / 312 str.

Alex Schwartz; Rachel Meltzer

Opis

Drawing extensively from actual cases, Policy Analysis and Evidence-Based Decision-Making helps students develop the analytic skills necessary to advise government officials and nonprofit executives on a wide range of policy issues. The book provides succinct but thorough discussions of the key elements of the policy-analytic process, including problem definition, objectives and criteria, development of alternative policy options, and analysis of these alternatives. The text also integrates policy implementation into policy analysis, and it draws on insights from behavioral economics in discussing key aspects of policy analysis. The authors use realistic examples drawn from policy analyses conducted for clients in government and the nonprofit sector to illustrate all aspects of policy analysis. Unlike other texts, Policy Analysis and Evidence-Based Decision-Making employs a pragmatic, heterodox approach to the field. Whereas most texts on policy analysis are anchored in microeconomics, emphasizing economic efficiency, this book takes a broader view. It emphasizes that the criteria analysts use to evaluate policy options are inherently flexible and can be defined differently depending on the values and ideological disposition of the analyst and his or her clients. Ultimately, the book shows how policy analysis combines argumentation and evidence to compare alternative ways of addressing a problem and to support the recommended course of action. The book achieves this by presenting foundational theoretical frameworks alongside actual cases and decision-making scenarios--this is a theme that runs throughout the text.

Spis treści

Introduction; Chapter 1: What is Policy Analysis? Mainstream and Alternative Perspectives; Chapter 2: Defining the Problem and Setting the Stage; Chapter 3: Devising Alternative Policy Options; Chapter 4: Objectives and Criteria; Chapter 5: Technical Aspects of Policy Analysis: Discounting, Cost-Benefit Analysis and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis; Chapter 6: Analysis and Making Recommendations; Chapter 7: Research and Policy Analysis; Chapter 8: Policy Analysis in Practice; Chapter 9: Epilogue

O autorze

Rachel Meltzer is Associate Professor of Urban Policy and Chair of the Public and Urban Policy master’s degree program at the New School. She regularly teaches Policy Analysis, advises student teams in the Urban Policy Lab, and runs a doctoral seminar on theories of the policy-making process. Her research is broadly concerned with urban economies and how market and policy forces can shape disparate outcomes for neighborhoods. She focuses on issues related to housing, land use, economic development, and local public finance.

Alex Schwartz is Professor of Urban Policy at the New School, where he has taught Policy Analysis since 1993. He directs the New School’s Urban Policy Lab, in which teams of graduate students advise government agencies and nonprofit organizations on a wide array of policy and management issues. His research focuses primarily on housing and community development. He is the author of Housing Policy in the United States (3^rd edition) (Routledge, 2014) and is the Managing Editor for North America for the international journal Housing Studies.