This is a book about making choices based on the evaluation of alternatives. The outcomes of choices are often worse than people expect. This book discusses the major problems in evaluating courses of action and examines the political contexts in which decisions are made. The subject matter of this book is at the crossroads of policy and research methodology. How can information derived from empirical research benefit a policy-maker or decision maker, and how should this information be incorporated in the decision-making process?

This edited book reports recent research results and provides a state-of-the-art on intelligent decision support systems applications, lessons learned and future research directions. The book covers a balanced mixture of theory and practice, including new methods and developments of intelligent decision support systems applications in Society and Policy Support. Its main objective is to gather a peer-reviewed collection of high quality contributions in the relevant topic areas.

This unique volume brings together key writings from experts drawn from the first ten years of the Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), launched in 1999 as a forum for encouraging better linkages between environmental assessment and management tools. The book is structured around four themes that focus on the characteristics of tools that influence their ability to link together effectively: The Nature of Tools; The Nature of Decision-Making and Institutional Context; The Nature of Engagement and The Nature of Sustainability. Edited and introduced by William Sheate, founding and present editor of JEAPM, the book provides an analysis of what makes for successful linking of assessment and management tools, supported by theoretical and practical examples. Key authors include Roland Clift, David Gadenne, Robert Gibson, Neils Faber, Thomas Fischer, David Lawrence, MNns Nilsson, Bronwyn Ridgway, and Frank Vanclay. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: The Evolving Nature of Environmental Assessment and Management: Linking Tools to Help Deliver Sustainability (10,216 KB). Contents: The Evolving Nature of Environmental Assessment and Management: Linking Tools to Help Deliver Sustainability (W R Sheate); The Nature of Tools: Choices for EIA Process Design and Management (D P Lawrence); The Project Cycle and the Role of EIA and EMS (B Ridgway); A Framework for Tool Selection and Use in Integrated Assessment for Sustainable Development (W De Ridder et al.); The Nature of Decision-Making and Institutional Context: A Systemic Framework for Environmental Decision-Making (R Van Der Vorst et al.); Decision Making and Strategic Environmental Assessment (M Nilsson & H Dalkmann); The Nature of Engagement: In It Together: Organizational Learning Through Participation in Environmental Assessment (P Fitzpatrick); Social and Environmental NGOs as Users of Corporate Social Disclosure (L Danastas & D Gadenne); The Nature of Sustainability: Organisational Sustainability: A Case for Formulating a Tailor-Made Definition (D J Kiewiet & J F J Vos); Beyond the Pillars: Sustainability Assessment as a Framework for Effective Integration of Social, Economic and Ecological Considerations in Significant Decision-Making (R B Gibson); and other papers. Readership: Natural scientists, social scientists, engineers, businesses and consultants interested in sustainability."

Calculating Political Risk is rich and illuminating, and much more than a political science treatise. Althaus draws on diverse literature, extensive interviews and intriguing case studies to offer interdisciplinary, practical and nuanced insight. This book provides new perspectives and more precise language for making sense of a critical dimension of politics, policy-making and public management. Evert Lindquist, Director and Professor, School of Public Administration, University of Victoria, Canada This powerful new book is the first ever examination of the hard edge of how political risk - something faced by all political actors innumerable times every day - is calculated and used in decision-making. It opens with an outline of the historical and linguistic origins of risk, the various disciplinary understandings of risk, the risk society concept, and how risk has come to be so prominent in the context of environmental disaster and terrorism. The book then defines political risk and looks at its manifestations in the public sector, from project to high-level political risk. It also looks at risk identification versus risk management and compares the concept of political risk with the private sector practice of risk management. Unique research findings from interviews with over 100 risk practitioners and politicians provide a detailed look at how political actors calculate political risk. Case study-based chapters look in-depth at neat and discrete examples: risk calculation in state development plans in Australia; political risk identification and management in the UK during the mad cow crisis; and US government risk calculation in the post-September 11 context. The final chapters draw together the experiences and lessons learned from the case studies and practitioner insights to formulate a better understanding of what political risk is and what its calculation means in political practice. The author shows how political risk calculation provides a fresh perspective on policy analysis and identifies how political risk is relevant to a broader understanding of politics and political science, as well as policy formulation and implementation on the ground.

Value of Information for Healthcare Decision-Making introduces the concept of Value of Information (VOI) use in health policy decision-making to determine the sensitivity of decisions to assumptions, and to prioritise and design future research. These methods, and their use in cost-effectiveness analysis, are increasingly acknowledged by health technology assessment authorities as vital. Key Features: Provides a comprehensive overview of VOI Simplifies VOI Showcases state-of-the-art techniques for computing VOI Includes R statistical software package Provides results when using VOI methods Uses realistic decision model to illustrate key concepts The primary audience for this book is health economic modellers and researchers, in industry, government, or academia, who wish to perform VOI analysis in health economic evaluations. It is relevant for postgraduate researchers and students in health economics or medical statistics who are required to learn the principles of VOI or undertake VOI analyses in their projects. The overall goal is to improve the understanding of these methods and make them easier to use.

This rigorous but very accessible guide to the main concepts and techniques of policy analysis is intended for students and in-service professionals who want to become more efficient and effective in their work. The book equips readers with a structured and disciplined step-by-step approach to decision making, defining issues and applying the powerful techniques of policy analysis - always in the context of uncertainty and limited discretion. Each chapter concludes with notes and a list of supplementary sources for further reading.

This book argues that records management can contribute to public sector reform and transformation in the new climate of austerity, without losing its essential characteristics. Over the last 15 years, records management has prospered, tackling problems of electronic information and building a strong case for information governance based on a model of regulation and management control. The public sector environment is now changing rapidly, with more emphasis on efficiency, flexibility and innovation, devolving control, loosening regulation, and cutting budgets. By linking practical ideas about the use and management of knowledge, the author will draw on insights from the study of policy-making and programme delivery to show how managing the relationship between records and knowledge, their creation and use, can not only make an important contribution to public sector innovation in itself, but also reconcile the demands of regulation through a wider concept of the governance of knowledge as well as information. - Draws on practical real-world examples - Focuses on how records management can respond to the challenges of transformation in this period of public sector retrenchment, as yet little discussed elsewhere - Integrates concepts from records and knowledge management in a coherent applied framework, and locates this within the context of policy-making and delivery, to achieve positive benefits

Understanding Foreign Policy Decision Making presents a psychological approach to foreign policy decision making. This approach focuses on the decision process, dynamics, and outcome. The book includes a wealth of extended real-world case studies and examples that are woven into the text. The cases and examples, which are written in an accessible style, include decisions made by leaders of the United States, Israel, New Zealand, Cuba, Iceland, United Kingdom, and others. In addition to coverage of the rational model of decision making, levels of analysis of foreign policy decision making, and types of decisions, the book includes extensive material on alternatives to the rational choice model, the marketing and framing of decisions, cognitive biases, and domestic, cultural, and international influences on decision making in international affairs. Existing textbooks do not present such an approach to foreign policy decision making, international relations, American foreign policy, and comparative foreign policy.

This book exposes the barriers to inclusive and effective public policy making, which are the current decision making paradigm and commonly held ideas that reduce public policy problems to scientific and technical ones. Through both environmental policy and other decision making examples, readers are shown the commonalities of all decision making. Solution-oriented practitioners and stakeholders will find this book filling a conceptual and methodological gap in existing policy literature and practice. The authors deftly guide readers from post-normal science, wicked problems, and uncertainty concepts to a conceptually-grounded, practical implementation of a new approach, the open solution approach. The Multi-criteria Integrated Resource Assessment (MIRA) is described as the first generation methodology that fulfills the expectations for the inclusive, transparent, and learning-based open solutions approach. MIRA is a holistic package of concepts, methods and analytical tools that is designed to assess Decision Uncertainty, the combined uncertainties that include data, problem formulation, expert judgments, and stakeholder opinions. Introduction of the Requisite Steps, the common steps found in all decision making, provides the yardstick for evaluating a variety of decision making processes, decision tools, and commonly found indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the Newsweek Green Ranking of corporations. The use of anecdotes, policy stories, and case examples makes this a very readable and practical book for citizens and experts. With this book, readers are prepared to critically evaluate these common indices for their personal use as well as challenge policy processes as a stakeholder. For policy practitioners, this guidebook will become a rubric to ensure an effective public policy making process and to critically evaluate decision support tools.

This Handbook provides students and researchers with a broad overview of existing literature in many areas of legal decision-making, including examples of decisions made by different professionals. Inspiring future research and practice, it will interest those in psychology, sociology, criminal justice, and more.