Book Description
In recent years, there has been a great deal of interest in policy instruments in the field of public administration. Governments have a wide range of options at their disposal when they decide to intervene in a policy problem, this means both that there are many ways of achieving a desired outcome, and that there are many opportunities to fail. This book provides a state of the art study of policy instruments, combining insights taken from European and American experiences to provide a detailed exposition on the nature and use of policy instruments. The book first analyses the background of the instrumental approach and outlines its development in the field of public administration. It also provides an exposition of four alternative schools of thought about policy instruments, namely, the instrumentalist, proceduralist, contingentist and constitutivist schools. The effectiveness of regulatory, financial and communicative instruments is also discussed as is the criteria for choosing policy instruments. This volume also addresses the recent efforts by governments to restrict intervention in the economy. The final section provides a reassessment of the instruments literature and looks at the questions that will continue to face this perspective on public policy. This book will be of great use to academics and students of public policy and political science as well as policy makers.
About the author
B. Guy Peters, Maurice Falk Professor of American Government and Chair, University of Pittsburgh
