Getting beyond the traditional policy cycle discussed in most textbooks, the fully updated fourth edition of Politics and Public Policy offers a more comprehensive and realistic view of policymaking in the United States—one that looks beyond the jockeying between presidents and members of Congress, and explores the influence of corporate leaders, interest groups, bureaucrats, judges, and journalists. The book explores six distinct, yet connected, policy domains: Boardroom Politics (decisions by business leaders and professionals); Bureaucratic Politics (rule-making and adjudication by administrators); Cloakroom Politics (lawmaking by legislators); Chief Executive Politics (decision making by presidents, governors, mayors, and their advisers); Courtroom Politics (rulings by judges); and Living Room Politics (opinions expressed through the mass media, grassroots movements, political activists, and voters). The authors’ unique framework prepares students to evaluate the strategies of various political actors within each domain.

Many governments have effectively organized public project implementation systems in their jurisdictions. At the same time, many other countries remain at a less advanced level of public project management. Globally, there is a need for project management knowledge to be transferred between governments. However, no systematic review of these practices has been developed to date. Projects, Government, and Public Policy was written to fulfill this need and presents a review of project management practices in countries with developed project-based capabilities. This book uses its own rigorous model to present this review systematically. This book’s practical purpose is to give a structured overview of government-level project management practices. This knowledge can be used in the work of governments to improve the management of public projects and the implementation of public policies. Many professionals working in public institutions understand project management concepts differently than project management professionals. Therefore, this book begins with a chapter that describes the differences between the conceptual basis of public administration and project management. The body of this book has five parts. Part I is mainly intended for those involved in government and public administration who want to acquire or increase knowledge about project management. Part II provides an overview of the basic concepts from the theory of public administration, public policies, and development management. Part III describes what makes public projects unique and the success factors specific to projects of this sector. Knowledge about effective government project management practices is covered in Part IV. The concluding Part V begins with a general overview of the maturity model concept. Its main part covers the description of a maturity model showing ways to systematically improve the implementation of public projects. This book is written for governments and government administrators, including the most influential decision-makers, who craft policies to guide a country’s development as well as how to implement projects. This book is also intended for supporters and enthusiasts of project management in government and public administration by providing them with a description of the solutions used by project management in public administration. This book is intended, too, for all project management practitioners working for public projects: project managers, team members, sponsors, and middle-level executives of project-delivering private companies. By knowing public administration concepts, they can manage their projects better and use a common language with their clients.

The thoroughly revised Fifth Edition of California Politics: A Primer concisely explains how California’s history, political culture, rules, and institutions come together to shape politics today and how they will determine the state of affairs tomorrow. Author Renee B. Van Vechten begins with a brief political history of California, then walks through direct democracy, the legislature, executive branch, and court system. She covers local government and concludes with a discussion of the state’s budget process, campaigns and elections, political engagement, and policy issues. From the structure of the state's government to its local representatives, policies, and voter participation, California Politics: A Primer delivers the concepts and details students need. New to the Fifth Edition An emphasis on California’s place in the federal system provides you with context around the state leadership's resistance to Trump administration policies on things like California’s sanctuary state status, immigration, the environment, and more. Increased coverage of policy topics throughout the book helps you see how recent policy has impacted issues such as greenhouse gas emissions regulations, attempted “fixes” for water- and drought-related issues, new transportation projects, and prison reform. Extended discussions of elections-related innovations introduce you to recent elections-related topics such as the Top-Two Primary, efforts to increase voter registration, all vote-by-mail elections, and redistricting. New coverage of the “Five Californias” gives you a better understanding of California’s political geography and how distinct segments of the population are primed for political engagement or disaffection. New lists of key terms with clear definitions at the end of each chapter enable you to review the content more effectively. New and updated maps and graphics depict important topics such as California’s newly proposed high-speed rail project.

Hawai'i is of special interest as a state because its history differs so greatly from that of the other United States and because its social and political institutions are unique. It is, for example, the only state that has no incorporated villages, towns, or cities, and it has the most centralized system of governance of any U. S. state. This book addresses policy topics of importance to Hawai'i and other communities facing rapid growth, unsettling change, and a new economic environment. The authors describe the policy formation process characteristic of the island state, the formal institutional environment, and significant policy issues. The latter include social and ethnic dynamics, land use, housing, crime, natural resources, budgetary politics, and the situation of contemporary Hawai'ians. The chapters are tied together by the comparative, historical, and prospective approach that characterize each analysis, and by the interpretive comments of editors Smith and Pratt.

Underscoring the essentials, Van Vechten's concise text delivers on the concepts and details students need to understand how California's political system works. The thoroughly revised second edition retains all the strengths of the first edition.

The second edition of this highly regarded book provides a concise and accessible introduction to the principles and elements of policy design in contemporary governance. It examines in detail the range of substantive and procedural policy instruments that together comprise the toolbox from which governments choose tools to resolve policy problems and the principles and practices that lead to their use. Guiding readers through the study of the many different kinds of instruments used by governments in carrying out their tasks, adapting to, and altering, their environments, this book: Discusses current trends in instrument use linked to factors such as globalization and the increasingly networked, digital and collaborative nature of modern society; Considers the principles and practices behind the selection and use of specific types of instruments in contemporary government and the future research agenda of policy design studies and practices; Evaluates in detail the merits, demerits and rationales for the use of specific organization, regulatory, financial and information-based tools and the trends visible in their use including recent efforts to develop and deploy new tools such as nudges and choice architectures, co-production and crowd-sourcing; Addresses the issues surrounding not only individual tools but also concerning the evolution and development of instrument mixes, their relationship to policy styles and the challenges involved in their (re)design. Providing a comprehensive overview of this essential component of modern governance and featuring helpful definitions of key concepts and further reading, this book is essential reading for all students of public policy, administration and management.

California: The Politics of Diversity examines the diverse and hyperpluralistic nature of California and its people. No other textbook on California politics offers as much coverage and in-depth analysis of the state's political development, institutions, and public policies that have shaped the Golden State into what it is today.

With the right information, we can develop public policies that work better. Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives, Eighth Edition helps students understand how and why policy analysis is used to assess policy alternatives. The text encourages them to not only question the assumptions of policy analysts, but also recognize how various strategies are used in support of political arguments.