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Public policy textbooks need to give students a thorough explanation of the policy process, but why do so many relegate policy analysis to a single, final chapter—or not cover it at all? In the third edition of their innovative text, Kraft and Furlong take a decidedly different tack. They introduce and integrate an evaluative approach to policy throughout their text, encouraging critical and creative thinking on issues ranging from economic policy and the financial bailout to homeland security and natural disasters.

Public Policy starts with the basics and concisely reviews institutions, policy actors, and major theoretical models. The authors then discuss the nature of policy analysis and its practice, and show students how to employ evaluative criteria in six substantive policy areas. At its core, Public Policy guides students through policy alternatives, arming them with analytic tools for understanding how the motivations of policy actors—both within and outside of government—influence a complex, yet comprehensible, policy agenda. Professors will appreciate its authoritative, balanced approach, and its accessibility will engage students and keep them reading.

Important features for enhanced readability include:

• Working with Sources and Steps to Analysis feature boxes that help students apply evaluative criteria;
• Policy scenario chapter openers;
• End-of-chapter discussion questions, suggested readings and websites, and keyword lists; 
• A wealth of tables, figures, charts, and photos; and 
• A helpful keyword glossary in the appendix.

In addition to updating throughout all chapters to account for recent events, issues, and policy debates through the end of the Bush presidency, the third edition includes expanded and new coverage of: 

• the mortgage crisis, financial bailout, and ensuing recession;
• the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; 
• the use of private contractors for military support and operations; 
• homeland security and its implications for civil liberties; 
• national energy policy and high gasoline prices, including proposals for increased offshore drilling;
• climate change issues and politics; 
• the government’s capacity to handle natural disasters, such as Hurricanes Katrina, Gustav, and Ike; and
• immigration controversies, including construction of fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Every chapter ends with a conclusion, discussion questions, suggested readings, suggested websites, and keyword lists.

PART I. THE STUDY OF PUBLIC POLICY

1. Public Policy and Politics
What Is Public Policy?
Defining Basic Concepts
The Contexts of Public Policy
The Reasons for Government Involvement
Why Study Public Policy?
The Practice of Policy Analysis

2. Government Institutions and Policy Actors
Growth of Government
Government Institutions and Policy Capacity
Federalism
Separation of Powers
Informal Policy Actors and Policy Capacity
Improving Policy Capacity

3. Understanding the Politics of Public Policy
Theories of Politics and Public Policy
The Policy Process Model
Instruments of Public Policy
Policy Typologies

PART II. ANALYZING PUBLIC POLICY

4. Policy Analysis: An Introduction
The Nature of Policy Analysis
Steps in the Policy Analysis Process
Types of Policy Analysis
What Kind of Analysis Is Needed?

5. Public Problems and Policy Alternatives
Problem Analysis
How to Find Information
Constructing Alternatives
Creative Thinking about Policy Action

6. Assessing Policy Alternatives
Evaluative Criteria for Judging Policy Proposals
Using the Methods of Policy Analysis
Economic Approaches
Decision Making and Impacts
Political and Institutional Approaches
Ethical Analysis

PART III. ISSUES AND CONTROVERSIES IN PUBLIC POLICY

7. Economic and Budgetary Policy
Background
Goals of Economic Policy
Tools of Economic Policy
The Budget Process and Its Effect on Economic Policy
Economic Policy: Successes and Failures
Future Economic Issues and Challenges
Focused Discussion: How to Address the Budgetary Shortfall

8. Health Care Policy
Background
Major Government Health Care Programs
Rising Health Care Costs
Managed Care Organizations
Reducing Health Care Costs: Beyond HMOs
Quality of Care
Focused Discussion: Should There Be Greater Emphasis on Preventative Health Care?

9. Welfare and Social Security Policy
Background
Social Security
Welfare
Focused Discussion: We've Reformed Welfare, Now What? Addressing Poverty

10. Education Policy
Background
Problems Facing Education
Higher Education Issues
Education Policy Reforms
Focused Discussion: School Testing and Educational Quality 

11. Environmental and Energy Policy
Background
The Evolution of Environmental and Energy Policy
From Consensus to Conflict in Environmental Policy
Major Federal Environmental Policies
Energy Policies
Focused Discussion: Climate Change and Energy Policy Alternatives

12. Foreign Policy and Homeland Security
Background and Policy Evaluation
Selected Issues in Homeland Security
Focused Discussion: Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism

PART IV. CONCLUSIONS

13. Politics, Analysis, and Policy Choice
Public Policies and Their Impacts
Policy Analysis and Policy Choices
Citizen Participation in Decision Making
Conclusions

“I have enjoyed using all editions of Kraft and Furlong’s Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives in my policy classes. It is by far the best textbook on the American public policy making process and on the history and politics of all the major domestic policies in the U.S. The authors combine academic knowledge about policy making with an impressive expertise about domestic policies. My students have found Kraft and Furlong's book to be engaging timely, and highly readable.”

Public Policy’s emphasis on policy analysis is unique and encourages students to begin thinking as analysts. In a subtle way, it shifts the burden of evaluation to students and encourages them to become more active in the course. I also found the accompanying web site very helpful, most notably the online exercises which require the students to get involved in the issues in ways that a standard lecture format do not allow.”

“Kraft and Furlong’s Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives is the core text in my introductory public policy course. It is written in language that is cogent and concise, and helps to establish a common universe of discourse among students with varied backgrounds in policy. One of its major strengths is the emphasis on critical thinking; the list of web sites in each chapter gives students sources for current and reliable information.”

Michael E. Kraft is professor of political science and public affairs and Herbert Fisk Johnson Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. He is the author of, among other works, Environmental Policy and Politics, 5th Edition. In addition, he is coeditor of Environmental Policy: New Directions for the Twenty-First Century, 7th Edition, with Norman J. Vig; Business and Environmental Policy, with Sheldon Kamieniecki; and Toward Sustainable Communities: Transition and Transformations in Environmental Policy, 2nd Edition, with Daniel A. Mazmanian. He has taught courses in environmental policy and politics, public policy analysis, and Congress for over thirty years.

Scott R. Furlong is the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of political science and public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. He has published extensively in the areas of regulatory policy, rulemaking, and the role of interest group participation in the executive branch. His articles have appeared in such journals as the Journal of Public Administration, Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, Administration Policy Quarterly, and Policy Studies Journal. He has taught classes in public policy, regulatory policy, and American government for over fourteen years.