Theoretical Issues in Policy Analysis

Book excerpt: What is the relation between policy analysis and political decision-making? Is the policy analyst a handmaiden of democracy or an agent of technocracy? Do recent debates in the policy literature illuminate or obfuscate these issues? What analytic techniques are available to resolve such questions? This study considers the nature of policy inquiry in detail and explores norms and theoretical assumptions seldom subjected to scrutiny. The author demonstrates how conceptual presuppositions and methodological commitments have constricted our understanding of political problems and so hindered prescriptions for viable policy options. Proposed here is an alternative framework for policy inquiry that is both pragmatic and sophisticated. Hawkesworth considers the implications of this alternative model in a series of case studies that addresses important foreign and domestic policy issues. The epistemic and practical criticisms presented in this study provide new direction for the field of policy studies.