Collaboration between government agencies, an old joke goes, is an unnatural act committed by nonconsenting adults. Eugene Bardach argues that today's opinion climate favoring more results-oriented government makes collaboration a lot more natural--though it is still far from easy.
This book provides a wise and engaging how-to guide that meets the central challenge of policy analysis: combining scientific evidence and social goals to craft practical, real-world solutions. -Thomas S. Dee, Barnett Family Professor of Education, Stanford University
Drawing on more than 40 years of experience with policy analysis, best-selling authors Eugene Bardach and Eric M. Patashnik use real-world examples to teach you how to be effective, accurate, and persuasive policy analysts. The Sixth Edition of A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis presents dozens of concrete tips, new case studies, and step-by-step strategies for the budding analyst as well as the seasoned professional.
The U.S. medical system is touted as the most advanced in the world, yet many common treatments are not based on sound science. Treatments can go into widespread use before they are rigorously evaluated, and every year patients are harmed because they receive too many procedures--and too few treatments that really work. Unhealthy Politics sheds new light on why the government's response to this troubling situation has been so inadequate, and why efforts to improve the evidence base of U.S. medicine continue to cause so much political controversy and public trepidation. This critically important book draws on public opinion surveys, physician surveys, case studies, and political science models to explain how political incentives, polarization, and the misuse of professional authority have undermined efforts to tackle the medical evidence problem and curb wasteful spending. It paints a portrait of a medical industry with vast influence over which procedures and treatments get adopted, and a public burdened by the rising costs of health care yet fearful of going against "doctor's orders." The book shows how the government's efforts to promote evidence-based medicine have become mired in partisan debates. It also proposes sensible solutions that can lead to better, more efficient health care for all of us
"While government policies can build supportive coalitions, they can also mobilize powerful opposition forces. What causes backlashes in the American political system? Why do some policies generate resistance among political elites and mass publics? Drawing on case studies of key issues from immigration and trade to healthcare and gun control, Eric Patashnik explores how policies stimulate backlashes by imposing losses, overreaching, or challenging existing arrangements to which people are strongly attached. He argues that backlash politics is fueled by polarization, changes in American culture and society, and the negative feedback from activist government itself. Countermobilization shows that backlashes arise when policy motives, constituency means, and political opportunities converge, and debunks the claim that backlash politics is exclusively a right-wing phenomenon. It is essential reading for scholars and practitioners of U.S. politics and public policy, offering practical lessons for anyone who wishes to identify backlash risks-and design against them"--