American Public Policy: An Introduction

Best-selling AMERICAN PUBLIC POLICY: AN INTRODUCTION engages student interest through its unique emphasis on specific, substantive issues of public policy. This text draws students into American public policies by presenting their historical context, prompting students to evaluate and discuss possible alternatives. The discussion kindled by AMERICAN PUBLIC POLICY: AN INTRODUCTION helps make public policy personal as students apply their knowledge to real-life policies. This new edition includes updated and expanded coverage on key policy issues: immigration, global climate change, health care reform, gay rights, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The authors present policy material step-by-step, building a picture of the existing policy that students can use to evaluate alternatives.

Clarke E. Cochran retired as Vice-President of Mission Integration at Covenant Health System in Lubbock, Texas, in 2013. He is also Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Texas Tech University, where he specialized in religion and politics, political philosophy, and health care policy. Dr. Cochran received his Ph. D. from Duke University in 1971 and taught at Texas Tech from 1970 to 2007. He is the author of four books and numerous journal articles. Dr. Cochran held the position of Research Fellow in the Erasmus Institute at the University of Notre Dame (1998-1999) and the Shannon Chair in Catholic Studies at Nazareth College (Spring 2001). His research interests include religious institutions and health care policy, Catholic social theory and health care reform, and church and state controversies. Dr. Mayer is Professor of Political Science at Texas Tech University specializing in Comparative Politics and the Politics of Advanced Western Democracy. In addition to AMERICAN PUBLIC POLICY: AN INTRODUCTION, he is the author of COMPARATIVE POLITICAL INQUIRY, THE POLITICS OF INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES, REDEFINING COMPARATIVE POLITICS: PROMISE VERSUS PERFORMANCE, COMPARATIVE POLITICS: NATIONS AND THEORIES IN A CHANGING WORLD, COMPARATIVE POLITICS: THE QUEST FOR THEORY AND EXPLANATION, CONFLICTING PERSPECTIVES IN COMPARATIVE POLITICS: A READER, IDENTITY POLITICS: THE EMERGENCE OF NEO VOLKISM IN ADVANCED WESTERN SOCIETIES, and THE CHANGING BASIS OF POLITICAL CONFLICT IN ADVANCED WESTERN DEMOCRACY. His current research is on the determinants of tolerance in western societies. T.R. Carr is Professor of Public Administration and Policy Analysis and Senior Research Fellow in the Institute for Urban Research at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He teaches primarily in the area of quantitative methods and policy analysis. In addition to AMERICAN PUBLIC POLICY: AN INTRODUCTION, he has published chapters and articles focusing on public management issues. He is active in academic and professional associations and has served in numerous offices in state and local chapters of the American Society for Public Administration. He serves as a Police Commissioner for St. Louis County, Missouri, and has served as the Mayor of Hazelwood, Missouri. N. Joseph Cayer is Professor Emeritus of Public Administration at Arizona State University. He received his Ph. D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a B.A. and M.P.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He also has taught at Lamar University, the University of Maine, Orono, and Texas Tech University. He is the author or coauthor of seven books and numerous chapters and articles on public management and policy, with an emphasis on issues of human resources management in the public sector. Books he has authored or coauthored include PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: SOCIAL CHANGE AND ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT, AMERICAN PUBLIC POLICY: AN INTRODUCTION, MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES, HANDBOOK OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR, and SUPERVISION FOR SUCCESS IN GOVERNMENT. Mark McKenzie is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Texas Tech University. He specializes in judicial politics, public opinion, and campaigns and elections. Dr. McKenzie received his Ph.D. in government from the University of Texas at Austin in 2007 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Texas School of Law in 1998. Between 1998 and 2001 he practiced general litigation in Texas at the law firm of Ross & Matthews. He has published articles in such journals as Judicature, Justice System Journal, Politics and Policy, and American Politics Research. Laura Peck is a Principal Scientist at Abt Associates and has over 18 years of experience evaluating social welfare and employment policies and programs, both in research and academic settings. Prior to joining Abt in 2011, Dr. Peck was a tenured Associate Professor at the Arizona State University School of Public Affairs, where she taught public policy analysis, program evaluation, and research methods; and served as Associate Dean for Barrett, The Honors College. At Abt Associates, Dr. Peck is the Principal Investigator, Co-PI, and Director of Analysis for several major national evaluations for the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development. She is well-published (and cited) on program evaluation topics in respected journals such as Evaluation Review, the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, the Policy Studies Journal, and the Journal of Poverty. Dr. Peck was elected to the Policy Council (2012-2015 term) for the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM); and recently completed her term as Associate Editor (2009-2013) for the American Journal of Evaluation.