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This Handbook provides a comprehensive global survey of the policy process. Written by an outstanding line up of distinguished scholars and practitioners, the Handbook covers all aspects of the policy process including: Theory - from rational choice to the new institutionalism Frameworks - network theory, advocacy coalition and development models Key stages in the process - Formulation, implementation and evaluation Agenda setting and decision making The roles of key actors and institutions This is an invaluable resource for all scholars, graduate students and practitioners in public policy and policy analysis.

"Traditional policy analysis approaches are characterized by a focus on system modeling and choosing among policy alternatives. While successful in many cases, this approach has been increasingly criticized for being technocratic and ignoring the behavioral and political dimensions of most policy processes. In recent decades, increased awareness of the multi-actor, multiple perspective, and poly-centric character of many policy processes has led to the development of a variety of different perspectives on the styles and roles of policy analysis, and to new analytical tools and approaches - for example, argumentative approaches, participative policy analysis, and negotiation support. As a result, the field has become multi-faceted and somewhat fragmented. Public Policy Analysis: New Developments acknowledges the variety of approaches and provides a synthesis of the traditional and new approaches to policy analysis. It provides an overview and typology of different types of policy analytic activities, characterizing them according to differences in character and leading values, and linking them to a variety of theoretical notions on policymaking. Thereby, it provides assistance to both end users and analysts in choosing an appropriate approach given a specific policy situation. By broadening the traditional approach and methods to include the analysis of actors and actor networks related to the policy issue at hand, it deepens the state of the art in certain areas. While the main focus of the book is on the cognitive dimensions of policy analysis, it also links the policy analysis process to the policymaking process, showing how to identify and involve all relevant stakeholders in the process, and how to create favorable conditions for use of the results of policy analytic efforts by the policy actors."

"World Without Oil was a serious alternate reality game in 2007, a massively collaborative simulation of a global oil crisis. Here's the 411. Peak oil people, checkit! More at www.worldwithoutoil.org. Video by Kiyash Monsef!"

Aggregation of as many city-related time-varying data sources as currently possible.

Welcome to the Participation Compass - your gateway to better participation. This tool provides practical information for those working to involve people. By registering you can add methods, cases, library resources, news and experts to our database.

An interesting look at how a political campaign tried and failed to use big data and web technologies to help reach and get out their supporters. Additional reporting at: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/11/orca-was-no-fail-whale-says-romneys-digital-director/ and http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/11/which-consultants-built-romneys-project-orca-none-of-them/

The purpose of the project is to create and convene an interdisciplinary network of thinkers and doers that could help with making the transition from closed-and-centralized to open-and-collaborative institutions of governance.

The Work Shop is a Lambeth Council project designed so we can talk more directly about how residents, the council, and its partners might work together in new ways. It is based on the high street, to be accessible within people's daily activities, and will host various activities designed to offer a real world experience of Coop Council and what it could become; we will map, question, talk, explore, and share plenty of cups of tea. We also hope that these honest, small-scale conversations will lead to some fresh ideas about how we overcome the challenges of collaboration.

The current research examined the effects of a critical thinking (CT) e-learning course taught through argument mapping (AM) on measures of CT ability. Seventy-four undergraduate psychology students were allocated to either an AM-infused CT e-learning course or a no instruction control group and were tested both before and after an 8-week intervention period on CT ability using the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment.

As today's policy challenges become more complex, it has become clear that American media - online news, television, radio, newspapers, and magazines - are not up to the task of explaining the problems underlying them or providing citizens with all the information they need to engage in public conversations about them. Democracy cannot function properly without those conversations. But one new medium - videogames - may well fill the gap. By their very nature, videogames can engage players in ways that enable players to make their way through the intricacies of policy problems. As players begin to understand them in all their complexity, games may well help their governments forge solutions.

The lack of shared expert knowledge capacity in the U.S. Congress has created a critical weakness in our democratic process.Along with bipartisan cooperation, many contemporary and urgent questions before our legislators require nuance, genuine deliberation and expert judgment. Congress, however, is missing adequate means for this purpose and depends on outdated and in some cases antiquated systems of information referral, sorting, communicating, and convening.

also saw that in PIN mailing list

I think it is important to remember that at the end of the day, policy is about influencing people. Influence often isn't found persuasive arguments or rhetoric, instead it can be found in the smallest of word choices and cues.

A pilot program that enables people to submit comments about certain District agencies and view how District residents graded those agencies. The goal is to help residents engage better with government and help government agencies improve the quality of their services.

A collection of tools and projects used for web-based participation, e-consultations, e-participation and online public engagement - with all of the content available now under a Creative Commons license.