Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives is a great intro to public policy book that has a heavy focus on environmental policy and does an excellent job covering market failures and reasons for government intervention. The thematic approach is great for an academic class that stresses objective research into public problems and their possible solutions. There is considerable emphasis on ... Read morecritically thinking about sources and the policy actors involved in the process. This book does a good job of taking some of the controversy out of politics by being very fact based and evidence driven while also encouraging analysis.
Katrina Taylor The strength of Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives is that it is a very well organized book that covers many different aspects of public policy, the policy process and policy analysis. It takes a very rational approach to the policy process, which it might be argued is often very irrational. This is a good introduction which provides a solid foundation. It covers all aspects from policy process to policy analysis. The chapters on the policy areas provide to students both historical insight and an understanding of current challenges in public policy.
Ellen Rogers Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives provides the most comprehensive coverage of the field of American public policy, including not just policy analysis, but also in-depth chapters on a variety of policy areas. It is very readable, and the terms are explained quite well.
Philip Nicholas Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives is a good introductory policy text that balances theory and issues, depth and breadth. I tried a number of other texts before landing on Kraft and Furlong. I wanted a text that balanced theory/process chapters and chapters on specific issues and that could be used by students with very little policy background. What I like best are the balance between theory and issues, and the accessible writing. The size and price are ideal for introductory students as well.
Bruce Nesmith Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives does a nice job of laying out the different competing models of public policy and then goes on and tackles topics in public policy one-by-one using whatever tools work best to make sense of the topic. The writing in this book is better than in most textbooks my students have, and students like to use this book.
Steven Maloney Public Policy: Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives by Kraft and Furlong is a fresh and comprehensive text on American public policy. The text is concisely written and the content easily promotes engagement and student interest. Strong organizational structure which readily lends to a precise understanding of the dynamics and nature of public policy, analyses and assessment. The substantive analyses of public policies contained in the book contributes to the richness of the text. Excellent academic work which fuses theory and practice in American public policy.
Dr. Linda Trautman Show Less