Research

 

You will find a complete range of our monographs, muti-authored and edited works including peer-reviewed, original scholarly research across the social sciences and aligned disciplines. We publish long and short form research and you can browse the complete Bristol University Press and Policy Press archive of over 1500 titles.

Policy Press also publishes policy reviews and polemic work which aim to challenge policy and practice in certain fields. These books have a practitioner in mind and are practical, accessible in style, as well as being academically sound and referenced.
 

Books: Research

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 117 items for :

  • Public Policy and Administration x
  • Access: All content x
Clear All Modify Search

The latest edition in the International Library of Policy Analysis series explores a comprehensive overview of policy analysis in Argentina. It explores theoretical frameworks, views of the State, the development of the field and current paradigms before examining knowledge produced at different levels (federal, provincial, and local); the application of the discipline by ‘Internal Policy Advisory Councils, Consultants, and Committees’; the role of think tanks, NGOs, and political parties; and the developments provided by university teaching and research.

Analysing the conceptual frameworks and methodologies used from a meta-theoretical perspective, it provides a panoramic picture of the perspectives and challenges of policy analysis in Argentina.

Restricted access
Models and Agency in Global Knowledge Governance

This book introduces the concept of ‘knowledge alchemy’ to capture the generic process of transforming mundane practices and policies of governance into competitive ones following imagined global gold standards. Using examples from North America, Europe and Asia, it explores how knowledge alchemy increasingly informs national and institutional policies and practices on economic performance, higher education, research and innovation.

The book examines how governments around the world have embraced global models of world-class university, human capital and talent competition as essential in ensuring national competitiveness. Through its analysis, the book shows how this strongly future-oriented and anticipatory knowledge governance is steered by a surge of global classifications, rankings and indicators, resulting in numerous comparisons of various domains that today form more constraining global policy scripts.

Restricted access
The Added Value of Design Thinking for Public Administration and Public Policy

Design approaches to policymaking have gained increasing popularity among policymakers in recent years.

First published as a special issue of Policy & Politics, this book presents original critical reflections on the value of design approaches and how they relate to the classical idea of public administration as a design science. Contributors consider the potential, challenges and applications of design approaches and distinguish between three methods currently characterising the discipline: design as optimisation, design as exploration and design as co-creation.

Developing the dialogue around public administration as a design science, this collection explores how a more ‘designerly’ way of thinking can improve public administration and public policy.

The articles on which Chapters 4, 5 and 6 are based are available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence.

Restricted access

The subject of policy analysis in Thailand is less examined than in Western societies. This is the first English language book to engage in a detailed, comprehensive and current study of policy analysis in Thailand.

Providing a broad view of the history, styles and methods of policy analysis in Thailand, it examines policy analysis both within and beyond executive government, revealing the role of parties, military, and interest groups.

It will be a valuable resource for policy analysis researchers and practitioners and as a comparison with other volumes in the International Library of Policy Analysis series.

Restricted access
Lessons and Insights from an Evidence Movement

The last decade has seen a growing focus on producing evidence-based policy and practice in governments around the world – with a specific focus on causal evidence of the impacts of a particular policy on outcomes for citizens. The UK is a key example of this, with the establishment of 14 What Works Centres which collate, create and translate evidence in different policy and practice domains.

In this book, leaders, researchers and practitioners from these institutions share insights to help understand what has worked so far in the Centres, and what could be done better in future. It offers guidance to policy makers and funders looking to establish new centres, and for academics looking to create similar institutions that can have a practical impact on the improvement of the world around us.

Restricted access
Local Taxation and the Social Contract in America
Author:

Carrie Manning’s illuminating book examines how policies to limit taxation at state and local levels in the U.S. have direct and lasting consequences for equity, accountability, and ultimately for democracy.

Tax structures embed, and reproduce, an implicit social contract between government and citizens, creating path-dependent outcomes that produce unintended consequences that are rarely traced back to state and local revenue models. This book combines historical American political development with the study of state formation. It provides a clear-eyed investigation into the past, present, and future of the social contract between America’s local governments and citizens.

Restricted access
A Contemporary Introduction

Dive inside this textbook for an accessible guide to the discipline of public services.

Perfect for students, it offers a comprehensive account of core public service topics and explains the fundamental elements of working in the public services. Outlining their role in the welfare state, it explores the policies, providers and legalities shaping the context in which public services operate.

Students will study concepts of organisational change, strategy, management, leadership and funding, and engage with timely discussions around contemporary public issues such as equality, sustainability and climate change. Key features to support student learning include:

  • objectives at the beginning of each chapter;

  • case studies and examples;

  • end of chapter summaries;

  • reflective questions;

  • further reading recommendations and resources.

Bringing together authors with expertise in politics and public policy, social policy and law, this book is essential reading for everybody studying public services.

Restricted access

The industrialisation and modernisation in South Korea that followed the Second World War resulted in rapid progress in economic development, public administration, social service provision and the establishment of modern public policy.

Bringing together outstanding researchers, this book is the first to examine the theory and practice of policy analysis in South Korea. The volume explores the historical development of policy analysis, and procedures for decision making at different levels of government. Drawing on case studies, contributors consider the issues and players that affect executive and legislative branch policy analysis, as well as policy design and analysis in the public arena and the shifting role of policy and research institutes, think tanks and post-secondary institutions.

Restricted access
Interdisciplinary and International Research

EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

This important book offers practical advice for using evidence and research in policymaking. The book has two aims. Firstly, it builds a case for ethics and global values in research and knowledge exchange, and secondly, it examines specific policy areas and how evidence can guide practice.

The book covers important policy areas including the GM debate, the environment, Black Lives Matter and COVID-19. Each chapter assesses the ethical challenges, the status of evidence in explaining or describing the issue and possible solutions to the problem. The book will enable policymakers and their advisors to seek evidence for their decisions from research that has been conducted ethically and with integrity.

Open access
Integrating MENA Countries in a Globalized Economy

This volume analyses the impact of globalization on civil service systems across the Middle East and North Africa.

A collaboration between practitioners and academic public policy experts, it presents an analytical model to assess how globalization influences civil servants, illustrated by case studies of countries where there has been an increased engagement with international actors. It demonstrates how this increased interaction has altered the position of civil servants and traces the shifting patterns of power and accountability between civil servants, politicians and other actors.

It is an original and important addition to debate about globalization’s role in transnational public administration and governance.

Restricted access