For courses in Public Policy
An introduction to public policy that helps students learn how to think critically about politics.
Understanding Public Policy provides an introduction to the study of public policy, as well as an overview of the models that political scientists use to describe and explain political life. Offering students the tools needed to analyze public policy, author Thomas Dye highlights why governments pursue particular policies, and helps students understand the consequences of these policy choices. The fifteenth edition has been updated to reflect the key issues that have defined President Obama’s second term, with plenty of examples drawn from the headlines to help students see how public policy affects their own lives.
• Author Thomas Dye provides brief descriptions of
eight analytic models in political science, and explains the potential contribution of each to the study of public policy.
• Process model
• Institutional model • Rational model
• Incremental model • Group model
• Elite model• Public choice model
• Game theory model
Each of these models focuses on separate elements of politics, and helps students understand different things about political life.
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Understanding Public Policy highlights the processes of policymaking, as well as current issues, in
eleven domestic areas.
• Criminal justice
• Energy and environment • Welfare and inequality
• Civil rights • Health care
• Defense policy• Education
• Homeland security• Economic policy
• International trade and immigration• Tax policy
This breadth of coverage encourages students to think critically about policymaking, including causes and consequences, in these distinct substantive areas.
• Using an engaging writing style, author Thomas Dye approaches politics as conflict: the struggle for power. Politics is never dull, and
Understanding Public Policy reflects this with
coverage of controversial issues that is both direct and fair.
• Author Thomas Dye
frames key concepts through examples of current events that touch students’ everyday lives. By helping students view public policy through the lens of their own experiences, Understanding Public Policy empowers them to analyze the impact and results of policymaking in today’s world.
• The fifteenth edition has been fully updated to cover the
key policy issues confronting President Barack Obama during his second term in the White House. Important policy issues benefiting from new and updated coverage include:
• NEW! The rise of inequality in recent years, as well as the perseverance of the income mobility that characterizes American society.• NEW! The implementation of and challenges surrounding the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), the signature political achievement of the Obama administration.
• NEW! The current state of the national economy, after the near-collapse of the banking industry in 2008–2009 and the subsequent “Great Recession.”• NEW! The revival of federalism, as evidenced by states leading the way in medicinal use of marijuana, same-sex marriage, and banning racial preference.
• NEW! The issues surrounding tax policy that have divided Congress along party lines.• NEW! Current immigration policy, and the attempts to reform immigration laws and practices.
• NEW! Climate change and recent developments in energy production.• NEW! Changes in defense policy, including President Obama’s drawdown of U.S. military forces and the increasing proliferation of drone warfare
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A four-color design featuring a vibrant photo program engages students from the first page, providing visual representations of key concepts and theories.
