Making policy in theory and practice

Description

This unique book combines both academic and practitioner perspectives to provide critical consideration of contemporary policy-making and highlight examples of good practice at all levels of government. In Professional Policy Making for the Twenty-First Century the Cabinet Office's Strategic Policy Making Team identified nine 'competencies' as the key features of 'modern policy making': forward-looking; outward-looking; innovative, flexible and creative; evidence-based; inclusive; joined-up; open to review; open to evaluation; and capable of learning lessons. Using these to structure the book, nine central chapters - each written by a pair of co-authors, one primarily an academic, and the other primarily a policy maker or practitioner - examine the competencies in turn. Accompanying case studies provide lessons or pointers to good practice, together with guidance on how to access further information. Set in the context of New Labour's emphasis on 'modernisation', and reflecting the growing emphasis on policy making as a skill, the book will appeal to a range of audiences, including undergraduate and postgraduate students on courses that draw upon approaches to public administration and public policy, and social researchers, policy officers and others involved in the development and analysis of policy making at all tiers of government.

Hugh Bochel is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Lincoln.Sue Duncan is the Government's Chief Social Researcher and head of the Government Social Research Service, based in HM Treasury.

"This book is a valuable review of progress in improving and professionalising policy making in government and represents in itself an exemplary collaboration between academics and practitioners." Eleanor Goodison, National School of Government"This book will become a key text in the field. It locates the current themes and issues in UK public policy-making within broader historical and international perspectives. The editors are to be congratulated for assembling an authoritative range of contributors and adopting a unique approach to the subject based on thematic chapters providing focused and cogent analyses which blend academic and practitioner perspectives." Professor Robert Pyper, Professor of Government and Public Management, Head of Division of Public Policy, Caledonian Business School