Books in the Cambridge Studies in Comparative Public Policy series

This volume offers a comprehensive set of approaches to understanding the changing dimensions of higher education governance, the structural, institutional, and regional-national drivers precipitating convergence and divergence in governance approaches, and maps the directions of change, their consequences and outcomes.

The work of early pluralist thinkers, from Arthur Bentley to Robert Dahl, inspired much optimism about democracy. They argued that democracy was functioning well, despite disagreements arising among the diversity of interests represented in policy-making processes. Yet it is unlikely that anyone paying attention to news coverage today would share such optimism. The media portray current policy-making processes as intractably polarized, devoid of any opportunity to move forward and adopt essential policy changes. This book aims to revive our long-lost sense of optimism about policy-making and democracy. Through original research into biotechnology policy-making in North America and Europe, Eric Montpetit shows that the depiction of policy-making offered by early pluralist thinkers is not so far off the present reality. Today's policy decision-making process - complete with disagreement among the participants - is consistent with what might be expected in a pluralist society, in sharp contrast with the negative image projected by the media.

This book presents a cutting-edge analysis of state-society transformation in Asia under globalisation. It includes an important set of sector and country-based case study chapters that look at processes of marketisation in countries including China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

A comprehensive investigation of shale gas policies in Eastern Europe, a region highly dependent on Russian gas imports. Appealing to academics, researchers and postgraduate students of comparative public policy, regulatory politics, energy and environmental policy and European studies, as well as policymakers working in the energy sector.

This book presents a cutting-edge analysis of state-society transformation in Asia under globalisation. It includes an important set of sector and country-based case study chapters that look at processes of marketisation in countries including China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Shows that the administrative bodies of international organizations can develop informal working routines that allow them to exert influence beyond their formal autonomy. It is relevant to all political scientists as well as broader audiences interested in the dynamics of global policy making and the role of public administrations therein.

This book analyses how policies to prevent diseases are related to policies aiming to cure illnesses by conducting a comparative historical analysis of Australia, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. It also demonstrates how the politicization of the medical profession contributes to the success of preventive health policy.

Many Western countries have seen an increase in the volume and importance of external consultants in the public policy process. This book investigates and compares the use of these consultants and explores the implications for the nature of the state and for democratically legitimized and accountable decision-making.

This book argues that democracies are increasingly unable to communicate, implement and evaluate the enormous amount of public policies they create. It is relevant to all political scientists as well as readers outside of academia who seek to understand the complexities of modern policy making.

Hyper-active governance is a new way of thinking about governing that gets beyond simplistic debates about whether the state is more or less powerful. It focuses on tensions between the need for expertise and its inherent contestability. The book develops a new typology of governing approaches, using innovative social theory.