OXFORD HANDBOOK OF PUBLIC POLICY

PUBLIC POLICY IS THE BUSINESS END OF POLITICAL SCIENCE. IT IS WHERE THEORY MEETS PRACTICE IN THE PURSUIT OF THE PUBLIC GOOD. POLITICAL SCIENTISTS APPROACH PUBLIC POLICY IN MYRIAD WAYS. SOME APPROACH THE POLICY PROCESS DESCRIPTIVELY, ASKING HOW THE NEED FOR PUBLIC INTERVENTION COMES TO BE PERCEIVED, A POLICY RESPONSE FORMULATED, ENACTED, IMPLEMENTED, AND, ALL TOO OFTEN, SUBVERTED, PERVERTED, ALTERED, OR ABANDONED. OTHERS APPROACH PUBLIC POLICY MORE PRESCRIPTIVELY, OFFERING POLITICALLY-INFORMED SUGGESTIONS FOR HOW NORMATIVELY VALUED GOALS CAN AND SHOULD BE PURSUED, EITHER THROUGH PARTICULAR POLICIES OR THROUGH ALTERNATIVE PROCESSES FOR MAKING POLICY. SOME OFFER THEIR ADVICE FROM THE OLYMPIAN HEIGHTS OF DETACHED ACADEMIC OBSERVERS, OTHERS AS 'ENGAGED SCHOLARS' CUM ADVOCATES, WHILE STILL OTHERS SEEK TO INSTIL MORE REFLECTIVE ATTITUDES AMONG POLICY PRACTITIONERS THEMSELVES TOWARD THEIR OWN PRACTICES. THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF PUBLIC POLICY MINES ALL THESE TRADITIONS, USING AN INNOVATIVE STRUCT