Steps in the policy process

Agenda setting and the democratization of policy analysis

Policy analysis as an extension of rational decision making

Role of policy analysts in the policy process

Steps in process of policy analysis

Blackboard readings

Handout - Lobbyists (Washington Post 8/24/09)

Should President Obama approve the Keystone XL  Pipeline?  See this interesting article on the politics surrounding the approval of the pipeline project  that illustrate concepts from the readings (download article) (11/11).

Want to be the head of EPA?  You better have a thick skin.  See this article about some recent criticisms from both the left and the right that the EPA administrator has had to endure (Government Executive 10/11).

See this somewhat disturbing article from the Washington Post about how Alaska native corporations are being used to get large government contracts at the expense of the tribes they often purport to represent (Washington Post 9/10)

Download as an adobe acrobat file

Figures - Policy process

Urban Institute

Heritage Foundation

Brookings Institution

American Enterprise Institute

CATO Institute

Resources for the Future

John Locke Foundation

National League of Cities

National Association of Counties (NaCo)

National Governor's Association

Sabatier, Paul A. 1999. (ed.) Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Brewer, Garry D. and Peter deLeon. 1983. The Foundations of Policy Analysis. Homewood, IL: The Dorsey Press.

Cobb, Roger W. and Charles D. Elder. 1983. Participation in American Politics: The Dynamics of Agenda-Building. Second Edition. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press.

Kingdon, J. W.. 1984. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. Boston, MA: Little Brown.

Jones, Charles O.. 1977. An Introduction to the Study of Public Policy. Second Edition.

Lasswell, Harold D.. 1956. The Decision Process. College Park, MD: University of Maryland Press

Dye, T. R.. 1976. Policy Analysis: What Governments Do, Why They Do It, and What Difference it Makes. University of Alabama Press.