The CQ Press Writing Guide for Public Policy

Winner of the 2019 Textbook Excellence Award ("Texty") from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA)

"At the heart of policy analysis is giving advice about public issues, and the key to persuasive advice is clear and credible communication. In the CQ Press Writing Guide for Public Policy, Andrew Pennock draws on his years of experience as a professor, committee staffer, and policy consultant to impart useful, practical lessons on how to write more effective issue briefs, legislative testimony, memos, policy histories and op/ eds. Pennock provides potent insights into how to create first drafts, how to sharpen prose, how to communicate about complicated tables and figures, and how to write for nontraditional formats such as email and social media. This terrific book presents dozens of concrete tips and step-by-step instructions that should be required reading for all student in public affairs undergraduate and graduate-level programs."
―Eric M. Patashnik, Brown University 

The CQ Press Writing Guide for Public Policy is loaded with rich real world examples that help students master the process of translating insightful policy analysis into clear policy recommendations. Known for his conversational writing style, author Andrew Pennock offers step-by-step instructions on how to write for a variety of genres in a style that policy makers expect. Focusing on an audience-centered approach, students first learn how to create and organize an argument based on the unique needs and expectations of policy makers. The book then moves onto the nuts and bolts of how to write for a policy audience, with special consideration of ethics and working with visual and technical material. Finally, the book provides practical guidance on writing in specific policy genres: policy memos, briefs, Op-Eds, press releases, written testimony, social media, and emails. 

Key Features: 

• Basic policy writing tasks help students write sentences, paragraphs and sections that make sense to readers (and to professors!). Students also learn how to create professional quality tables and figures that support their argument as well as how to package these components together effectively to communicate with policy makers.
• Six separate chapters for various public policy genres (issue briefs, legislative histories, decision memos, testimony, op-eds, and new media) provide students with an overview of the genre, several examples, and an analysis of each example.
• Current examples from across the field of public policy keep students engaged by connecting the concepts to current topics such as public health (the opioid epidemic, Native-American healthcare, lead poisoning), education (early childhood, school governance), criminal justice (sexting laws, ban-the-box), business regulation (AirBnB, renewable energy, drug pricing), security policy (cyber-security, foreign asset control), and social policy (physician assisted suicide).

Andy Pennock is an assistant professor at the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.  He teaches writing in his courses on leadership, policy analysis, political institutions, and Virginia politics and policy. Prior to joining the Batten School, he taught at Brown University where he was the Director of Graduate Studies and the Director of the Applied Social, Economic, & Regulatory Analysis (ASERA) Group which partnered with government institutions, non-profit organizations, and other entities to provide technical expertise, policy analysis, and program evaluation.  A seasoned instructor, Professor Pennock won multiple teaching awards during his time at Brown and UNC-Chapel Hill. Before completing his PhD in Political Science at UNC, Professor Pennock was a professional, non-partisan committee staffer at the North Carolina General Assembly.  He has continued his applied work through consulting with the Governor of Virginia, the United States Centers for Disease Control, the Rhode Island legislature, local school boards, and Serve Rhode Island, Rhode Island’s AmeriCorp home. Professor Pennock’s academic research examines public policy in the global economy as well as the scholarship of teaching and learning.  His work has been published in Perspectives on Politics, Economics & Politics, and PS: Political Science & Politics. Outside of Batten, he is the father of four small boys who wrestle with him all the time.  He and his wife, Charity, love to cook, read, garden, travel, and have good conversations with people whenever they can.