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Game theory is useful in understanding collective human activity as the outcome of interactive decisions. In recent years it has become a more prominent aspect of research and applications in public policy disciplines such as economics, philosophy, management and political science, and in work within public policy itself. Here Roger McCain makes use of the analytical tools of game theory with the pragmatic purpose of identifying problems and exploring potential solutions in public policy. In practice, the influence of game theory on public policy and related disciplines has been less a consequence of broad theorems than of insightful examples. Accordingly, the author offers a critical review of major topics from both cooperative and noncooperative game theory, including less-known ideas in noncooperative game theory and constructive proposals for new approaches. In so doing, he provides a toolkit for the analysis of public policy as well as a clearer understanding of the public policy enterprise itself. The author' s unique approach and treatment of game theory will be a useful resource for students and scholars of economics and public policy, as well as for policymakers themselves. --

Not solely the province of "prescientific" peoples, who created myths to explain the origins of their universe, myths are constructed by modern Western peoples in the arena of public policy to direct attention away from equally valued but contradictory societal principles. Policy myths & their related organizational myths are constructed at those points where the implementing agency is most vulnerable, ie, around actions undertaken to achieve goals that are publicly unspeakable because there is no explicit public consensus underlying them. Policy myths fill silences in discourse about public policy matters, & facilitate the tacit understanding of & communication about verboten goals. These points are illustrated in a case analysis of the Israel Corporation of Community Centers, an agency created to implement national social policies. 52 References. Adapted from the source document.

Built on the premise that all public policy is ultimately grounded in the philosophy of governance, Christopher A. Simon's second edition continues to approach policy by combining normative and empirical perspectives. This deeply revised second edition continues to expose students to the basis of preferences, policy-making processes, policy history, and current policy decisions and outcomes. Chapters conclude with a case studies engaging students in the application of their theoretical knowledge to the real world, and encouraging them to be informed and active citizens. Key Features: Alternate tables of content are included to provide professors and students with flexible, easy-to-implement options for approaching and assigning public policy. Case studies provide real-world examples that concretely illustrate theoretical concepts. End-of-Chapter questions reinforce key concepts and encourage students to think critically about the chapter topics. Each chapter ends with a two-part summary that offers a review of the major chapter concepts ("Lessons Learned") and puts them in context ("The Big Picture").

WE HAVE ENTERED UPON A NEW STAGE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE as well as in the study of world affairs, the stage of large-scale computer-based world models. These models became practicable because of three changes. First, thanks to the United Nations and many national governments, many more better quality statistical data have now become available. Secondly, because of the techniques of sampling and of interviewing, we now can have survey data from very many countries and groups of people. These survey data cover many different aspects of people's views and attitudes, or of their experiences, or of their reports of what they thought they did. We can then compare the number of people who say they have written a letter with the number of letters the post office says they sent or got; thus we can, as it were, cross-examine the statistical data critically. Thirdly, we now have large computers which can store, recall, tabulate and analyze large amounts of data, if somebody works out a suitable programme for them. The computers can then tirelessly and patiently do work in minutes which individuals could not have achieved in a lifetime. Thanks to these advances in the last twenty or thirty years–the greater availability of statistics, survey and sampling techniques, and computers–we now have world models.