Understanding Public Policy, 15th edition

Published by Pearson (January 5, 2016) © 2017

  • Thomas R. Dye Florida State University

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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.
    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
A four-color design featuring a vibrant photo program engages students from the first page, providing visual representations of key concepts and theories.
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:
• The rise of inequality in recent years, as well as the perseverance of the income mobility that characterizes American society.
• The implementation of and challenges surrounding the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), the signature political achievement of the Obama administration. • The current state of the national economy, after the near-collapse of the banking industry in 2008—2009 and the subsequent “Great Recession.”
• The revival of federalism, as evidenced by states leading the way in medicinal use of marijuana, same-sex marriage, and banning racial preference.• The issues surrounding tax policy that have divided Congress along party lines.
• Current immigration policy, and the attempts to reform immigration laws and practices.• Climate change and recent developments in energy production.
• Changes in defense policy, including President Obama’s drawdown of U.S. military forces and the increasing proliferation of drone warfare

Brief Contents

  1. Policy Analysis: What Governments Do, Why They Do It, and What Difference It Makes
  2. Models of Politics: Some Help in Thinking About Public Policy
  3. The Policymaking Process: Decision-Making Activities
  4. Policy Evaluation: Finding Out What Happens After a Law Is Passed
  5. Federalism and State Policies: Institutional Arrangements and Policy Variations
  6. Criminal Justice: Rationality and Irrationality in Public Policy
  7. Welfare: The Search for Rational Strategies
  8. Health Care: Attempting a Rational-Comprehensive Transformation
  9. Education: Group Struggles
  10. Economic Policy: Challenging Incrementalism
  11. Tax Policy: Battling the Special Interests
  12. International Trade and Immigration: Elite—Mass Conflict
  13. Energy and the Environment: Externalities and Interests
  14. Civil Rights: Elite and Mass Interaction
  15. Defense Policy: Strategies for Serious Games
  16. Homeland Security: Terrorism and Nondeterrable Threats
Thomas R. Dye, Emeritus McKenzie Professor of Government at Florida State University, regularly taught large introductory classes in American politics. He received his B. A. and M. A. degrees from Pennsylvania State University and his Ph. D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous books and articles on American government and public policy, including The Irony of Democracy; Politics in States and Communities; Understanding Public Policy; Who’s Running America?; American Politics in the Media Age; Power in Society; Politics, Economics, and the Public; and American Federalism: Competition Among Governments. His books have been translated into many languages, including Russian and Chinese, and published abroad. Dye has served as president of the Southern Political Science Association, president of the Policy Studies Organization, and secretary of the American Political Science Association. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Georgia, and served as a visiting scholar at Bar-Ilan University, Israel; the Brookings Institution in Washington, D. C.; and elsewhere. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi and is listed in most major biographical directories.

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