PPOL 7350: APP Prep

The CQ Press Writing Guide for Public Policy is loaded with rich real world examples that help you master the process of translating insightful policy analysis into clear policy recommendations. Known for his conversational writing style, author Andrew Pennock offers step-by-step instructions on how to write for a variety of genres in a style that policy makers expect. Focusing on an audience-centered approach, you will first learn how to create and organize an argument based on the unique needs and expectations of policy makers. The book then moves onto the nuts and bolts of how to write for a policy audience, with special consideration of ethics and working with visual and technical material. Finally, the book provides practical guidance on writing in specific policy genres: policy memos, briefs, Op-Eds, press releases, written testimony, social media, and emails.  Key Features:  Basic policy writing tasks help you write sentences, paragraphs and sections that make sense to readers (and to professors!). You will also learn how to create professional quality tables and figures that support your argument as well as how to package these components together effectively to communicate with policy makers. Six separate chapters for various public policy genres (issue briefs, legislative histories, decision memos, testimony, op-eds, and new media) provide you with an overview of the genre, several examples, and an analysis of each example. Current examples from across the field of public policy keep you engaged by connecting the concepts to current topics such as public health (the opioid epidemic, Native-American healthcare, lead poisoning), education (early childhood, school governance), criminal justice (sexting laws, ban-the-box), business regulation (AirBnB, renewable energy, drug pricing), security policy (cyber-security, foreign asset control), and social policy (physician assisted suicide).

With his original eightfold approach, Eugene Bardach encapsulates more than 35 years of teaching students effective, accurate and persuasive policy analysis. This bestselling handbook presents dozens of concrete tips, interesting case studies and step-by-step strategies for the budding analyst as well as the seasoned professional. In this new edition, Bardach clarifies some of the book′s exposition, paying particular attention to "design problems" and the choice of a "base case". Up-to-date examples, including a new set of environmental problems, make the book even more engaging. Readers will also appreciate a sample document of real world policy analysis, a primer in how to "talk the talk" of policy analysis, and a cheat sheet of strategies for solving a host of policy problems.

"This useful guide educates students in the preparation of literature reviews for term projects, theses, and dissertations. The authors provide numerous examples from published reviews that illustrate the guidelines discussed throughout the book."

"This book shows researchers how to do comprehensive research on any topic. It explains the variety of search mechanisms available, so that the researcher can have the reasonable confidence that s/he has not overlooked something important."

"This is a book about responsible and evidence-based decision making written for those interested in improving the decisions that affect people's lives. It describes how to define policy research questions so that evidence can be applied to them, how to find and synthesize existing evidence, how to generate new evidence if needed, how to make acceptable recommendations that can solve policy problems without negative side effects, and how to describe evidence and recommendations in a manner that changes minds. The suggestions made throughout the book are based on the fundamental belief that evidence-based decision making is superior to decisions based purely on opinion, intuition, and emotion."