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American Public Policy Promise and Performance

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ISBN-10: 1452218714

ISBN-13: 9781452218717

Edition: 9th 2013 (Revised)

Authors: B. Guy Peters

List price: $84.00
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Description:

Voting and elections may often be cited as the most entertaining aspect of political theatre, however, it is the arena of public policy that has the most direct impact on the lives of the citizenry. And as we have seen played out in recent debates over healthcare reform, policy changes can be dramatic, sweeping, and often hotly contested. Known for providing a trusted and comprehensive overview of the policy process, B. Guy Peters returns with the ninth edition of American Public Policy: Promise and Performance. Beyond walking students through the governmental structures and policy-making procedures, Peters efficiently covers a wide swath of policy areas, and then concludes with a look at…    
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Book details

List price: $84.00
Edition: 9th
Copyright year: 2013
Publisher: CQ Press
Publication date: 12/11/2012
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 608
Size: 5.75" wide x 8.75" long x 1.00" tall
Weight: 1.584
Language: English

B. Guy Peters is Maurice Falk Professor of American Government at the University of Pittsburgh. He has written extensively in the areas of public administration and public policy, both for the United States and comparatively. Among his recent publications are the Handbook of Public Administration and The Quest for Control: Politicization of the Public Service.

Tables and Figures
Preface
The Nature of Public Policy
What Is Public Policy?
Defining Public Policy
The Instruments of Public Policy
Law
Services
Money
Taxes
Other Economic Instruments
Suasion
The Effects of Tools
The Environment of Public Policy
Conservatism
Participation
Pragmatism
Wealth
Diversity
World Leadership
Summary
The Structure of Policymaking in American Government
Federalism
Separation of Powers
Subgovernments
Public and Private
The Size and Shape of the Public Sector
Summary
Explaining Policy Choices
Power and Public Policy
The Policy Process-The Stages Model
Institutional Models of Policy
Advocacy-Coalition Framework
Policy Causes Politics
Policy Styles
Policy Instruments
Bounded Rationality, Multiple Streams, and Incrementalism
The Private Sector, Iron Triangles, and Networks
Optimal Decision Making
Constructivist Models
Summary
The Making of Public Policy
Agenda Setting and Public Policy
Agenda Setting
Kinds of Agendas
Who Sets Agendas?
Pluralist Approaches
Elitist Approaches
State-Centric Approaches
From Problem to Issue: How to Get Problems on the Agenda
The Effects of the Problem
Analogous and Spillover Agenda Setting
Relationship to Symbols
The Absence of Private Means
The Availability of Technology
Policy Formulation
Who Formulates Policy?
How to Formulate Policy
Aids for Policy Formulation
Policy Design
Summary
Legitimating Policy Choices
Legislative Legitimation
Regulations and the Administrative Process
Public Access to the Regulatory Process
The Processes of Writing Regulations
The Courts
Popular Legitimation
Summary
Organizations and Implementation
Dramatis Personae
Implementation
The Legislation
Policy Issues
Political Setting
Interest Group Liberalism
The Organizational Setting
Organizational Disunity
Standard Operating Procedures
Organizational Communication
Time Problems
Horseshoe-Nail Problems and Public Planning
Interorganizational Politics
Vertical Implementation Structures
Horizontal Implementation Structures
From the Bottom Up?
The Third Generation?
Summary
Budgeting: Allocation and Public Policy
Characteristics of the Federal Budget
An Executive Budget
The Line Item
An Annual Budget
The Budget Cycle
Setting the Parameters: The President and His Friends
Agency Requests
Executive Review
Congressional Action
Budget Execution
Budget Control
Problems in the Budget Process
The Deficit
Uncontrollable Expenditures
Backdoor Spending
The Overhang
Intergovernmental Budget Control
Reprogramming and Transfers
The Defense Budget
Supplemental Appropriations
Earmarks
Assessing the Outcomes: Incrementalism or What?
Critiques of Incrementalism
Reforming Budgeting: Large-Scale Approaches in the 1960s and 1970s
Program Budgeting
Zero-Base Budgeting
From Scalpels to Axes: Budget Reform from the 1980s to the 2000s
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings
The Balanced Budget Amendment
The Line-Item Veto
Decrementalism
Summary
Evaluation and Policy Change
Problems in Evaluating Public Programs
Goal Specification and Goal Change
Measurement
Targets
Efficiency and Effectiveness
Values and Evaluation
Politics
Increasing Requirements for Evaluation
Summary
Policy Change
Summary
Substantive Policy Issues
Economic Policy
Background
The Goals of Economic Policy
Economic Growth
Full Employment
Stable Prices
A Positive Balance of Payments
Structural Change
The Instruments of Economic Policy
Fiscal Policy
Monetary Policy
Regulations and Control
Public Support for Business
Public Ownership
Public Support for Labor
Incentives
Moral Suasion
Summary
Tax Policy
Background
Public Opinion and Taxation
Fairness
Value for Money
Choices in Tax Policy
Collectibility
Fiscal Neutrality
Buoyancy
Distributive Effects
Visibility
The Politics of Tax Reform
The Tax Reform Act of 1986
Tax Reform in the 1990s
Tax Reform in the George W. Bush Administration
Tax Reform in the Obama Administration
Proposals for Further Fundamental Tax Reform
Summary
Health Care Policies
Problems in Health Care
Access to Medical Care
Cost
Quality
The Affordable Care Act of 2010
Public Programs in Health Care
Medicare
Medicaid
Health Maintenance Organizations: Managing Managed Care
Health Care Regulation
Hospital and Physician Costs
Health Care Quality
Drug Regulation
The Pursuit of National Health Insurance
"Play or Pay"
Canadian-Style Comprehensive Coverage
Past Attempts at National Health Care Reform
Summary
Income Maintenance: Social Security and Welfare
Social Insurance
Problems in Social Security
Social Security and the Economy
Financing Social Security
Reforming Social Security
Means-Tested Programs
AFDC and the Origins of Welfare
The Family Support Act
The 1996 Reforms and PRWORA
Implementing Workfare
Alternatives for Further Reform of Income Support
The War on Poverty
Other Means-Tested Programs
The Persistence of Poverty in the United States
The Homeless
Private Social Programs
Summary
Education Policy
The Federal Government's Role in Education
Local Financing and the Federal Role
Higher Education
Elementary and Secondary Education
Issues of Education Policy
Quality of Education
Vouchers and Choice
Competency Testing
Testing Teacher Competence
School Facilities
The Separation of Church and State
Unionization and Management
Equalization of Resources
Desegregation and Busing
Higher Education Costs
Summary
Energy and the Environment
Background
Energy Sources
Oil
Natural Gas
Coal
Nuclear Power
Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources
The Formation of Energy Policy
Federal Energy Policy
The States and Energy Policy
Environmental Policies
The Politics of Pollution
Environmental Legislation
Implementation of Environmental Controls
Alternatives to Regulation
Summary
Protective Policies: Defense and Law Enforcement
Background
Defense Policy
The Environment of Defense Policy