The Public Policy Primer (Routledge Textbooks in Policy Studies)

Fully revised for a second edition, this essential guide provides a concise and accessible overview of the public policy process: agenda-setting, policy formulation, decision-making, implementation, and evaluation.

The book provides an introduction to the key policy functions, the challenges they entail, and how the challenges may be addressed by policy actors. Written from a comparative perspective, the authors include examples from a diverse range of countries at different stages of development, highlighting key principles and practices through which policy actors can effectively manage their policy processes and outcomes.

Key features of the second edition:

• fully updated and revised content throughout;
• expanded references and further reading;
• more guidance towards understanding the key concepts in public policy.

This important tool offers students of public policy and policy practitioners guidance on how to make, implement, and evaluate public policies in ways that improve citizens' lives.

Xun Wu is Professor in the Division of Public Policy and the Division of Social Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

M. Ramesh is UNESCO Chair of Social Policy Design in Asia at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

Michael Howlett is Burnaby Mountain Professor in the Department of Political Science at the Simon Fraser University, Canada, and Yong Pung How Chair Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

Scott A. Fritzen is Associate Professor at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington.