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• CHAPTERS
• 1. What is Public Policy?
• 2. The Structure of Policymaking in American Government
• 3. Agenda Setting and Public Policy
• 4. Legitimating Policy Choices
• 5. Organizations and Implementation
• 6. Budgeting: Allocation and Public Policy
• 7. Evaluation and Policy Change
• 8. Economic Policy
• 9. Tax Policy
• 10. Health Care Policies
• 11. Income Maintenance: Social Security and Welfare
• 12. Educational Policy
• 13. Energy and the Environment
• 14. Protective Policies: Defense and Law Enforcement
• 15. Culture Wars in American Politics: Regulating Social Life
• 16. Cost-Benefit Analysis
• 17. Ethical Analysis of Public Policy
• OTHER LINKS
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3. Agenda Setting and Public Policy

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Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Policy Agendas Project at the Center for American Politics and Public Policy at the University of Washington tracks government attention to approximately 225 public policy issue areas including having recorded data for over 70,000 congressional hearings, which are organized by date, the policymakers present, and the topic. The Policy Agendas Project also includes databases from a host of sources; all organized around the referenced 225 public policy issue areas. This Web site also includes a link to the Comparative Agendas Project which includes links to similar studies in Canada, Belgium, Denmark, and England.

 

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Principle Investigators of the Advocacy and Public Policymaking Project interviewed a sample of lobbyists and asked them to describe their activities on the most recent issue on which they were active in dealing with the federal government during the 106th and 107th Congresses. Issues for which the Web site provides links include: agriculture; macroeconomics and taxation; health; labor, employment and immigration; education, environment; energy; transportation; law, crime and family; banking finance and domestic commerce; defense/national security; space, science, technology and communications; foreign trade; social welfare; and government operations.

 

The state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG) are a network of independent, state-based, citizen-funded organizations that advocate for the public interest. Established in 1970, the state PIRGs focus on issues that foster a fair and sustainable economy and promote a responsive democratic government. While each state PIRG is independently operated, this network of organizations attempts to identify government action inconsistent with its goals through investigative research, media exposure, grassroots efforts, advocacy, and litigation. This Web site provides links to all state PIRGs.

 

The Pew Research Center (Pew Center) is a nonpartisan think tank, which the Pew Center terms a “fact tank.” Pew provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping American policymaking by conducting polling and social science research, by reporting news and analyzing news coverage, and by holding forums and briefings. The Pew Center’s work is carried out by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press ; the Project for Excellence in Journalism ; the Pew Internet & American Life Project ; the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life ; the Pew Hispanic Center ; and the Pew Global Attitudes Project .

 

For more information on the Keynesian revolution in economics visit the History of Economic Thought Web site maintained by the New School for Social Research in New York.