The Work of Policy: An International Survey

H. K. Colebatch’s The Work of Policy provides an international perspective on the field of policy analysis. Colebatch collects voices from around the world to consider the applicability of policy models to the actual practice of policy work. International case studies demonstrate that policy work takes a variety of forms, and policy analysis plays only a small role. Claudia Scott addresses the changing nature of policy analysis in New Zealand due to changing priorities and a lack of well-funded think-tanks, while Zdravko Petak’s study of Croatia illustrates the development of policy analysis as part of a struggle to create a zone for critique outside the dominant central bureaucratic system. Other chapters, such as Kyungja Jung’s look at the development of women’s policy in South Korea, reveal the importance of understanding policy work in the context of the historical trajectory of the political process. These studies illustrate the importance of the institutional dimension in policy work: the organizational framework through which it takes place, the discourses in use, and the values that underlie both the discourses and the organization. Combining policy analysis with comparative politics, this unique collection should be read by scholars around the globe who are striving to gain a better understanding of the range of practice that makes policy.