Policy formulation relies upon the interplay of knowledge-based analysis of issues with power-based considerations, such as the political assessment of the costs and benefits of proposed actions, and its effects on the partisan and electoral concerns of governments. Policy scholars have long been interested in how governments successfully create, deploy and utilise policy instruments, but the literature on policy formulation has, until now, remained fragmented. This comprehensive Handbook unites original scholarship on policy tools and design, with contributions examining policy actors and the roles they play in the formulation process.

This Handbook represents a pioneering effort to consolidate the state of knowledge on policy formulation. An invaluable resource for scholars and students of policy studies, this Handbook provides a set of analytical discussions that help scholars, students and practitioners better understand the multiple dimensions of what policy formulation has come to mean in contemporary public policy-making and governance.

In attempting to resolve pressing public problems, governments devise, deploy and develop policy tools in many different ways in different sectors and jurisdictions. Knowledge of these processes has been fragmented, however, spanning a multitude of different approaches, perspectives and case studies. By critically and systematically analysing both the processes and agents of policy formulation, this Handbook provides the first comprehensive overview of the formulation activities that are undertaken by governments in order to match their policy goals with the means of achieving them.

The Handbook unites a wide range of expert contributors who examine the roles played by policy actors, institutions and ideas in answering fundamental questions about policy formulation such as who undertakes it, how, when, where and why. Through seven thematic sections this Handbook discusses a wide range of topics related to formulation such as the nature of policy design, instrument choice, policy appraisal, policy advice and the politics of defining and resolving policy problems.

‘Policy formulation has traditionally been described as the policy stage that policy analysts know the least about. This very carefully assembled and edited Handbook directly addresses that lacunae in the literature and in so doing carves out a new sub-field of policy research. By systematically cataloguing and explaining the main actors, venues, tasks, tools and instruments of policy formulation, Howlett and Mukherjee demonstrate that what happens during the policy formulation process matters even more than we thought.’
– Andrew Jordan, University of East Anglia, UK

‘Handbook of Policy Formulation is an exceptional achievement. It carefully explains exactly what was composed by policy formulation, why it is so important both as a focus of research in its own right as well as an integral part of the policy process, and offers a number of avenues for new research in the field. Taken as a whole, this represents a wonderful example of the best a handbook has to offer.’
– Peter deLeon, University of Colorado, Denver, US

‘Formulation is the crucial aspect of the policy process in which social and political actors formulate, assess, and debate potential solutions to collective problems. In this Handbook of Policy Formulation, co-editors Michael Howlett and Ishani Mukherjee gather an outstanding team of contributors who tackle a wide array of policy implantation issues. This is the most comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the topic and must-read for students of policy formulation.’
– Daniel Béland, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, Canada

Contributors: C. Adelle, J. Bandola-Gill, R. Burroughs, C. Eichbaum, M. Galizzi, A. Gunn, H. Gunter, M.P. Howlett, H.M. Ingram, D.S.L. Jarvis, G.F. Johnson, P.D. Jorgensen, J. Kohoutek, C. Koski, M. Lehtonen, D. Linders, C. Lyall, L. Ma, M. Maor, C. Matheson, P.J. May, J.G. McGann, I. Mukherjee, S. Nair, M. Nekola, J. Rayner, A.L. Schneider, J. Scott, R. Shaw, A. Simons, N. Stramp, H. Strassheim, M. van der Steen, A. Veselý, J.-P. Voß, S. Weiland, M. Wilder, A.R. Zito

Contents:

Part I – Introduction: Policy Formulation and the Policy Process
1. Policy formulation: Where knowledge meets power in the policy process
Michael Howlett and Ishani Mukherjee

2. The central conundrums of policy formulation: Ill-structured problems and uncertainty
Sreeja Nair and Michael Howlett

3. Policy formulation as policy work: Developing options for government
Martin Nekola and Jan Kohoutek

4. Positive and negative feedback in policy formulation
Richard Burroughs

Part II – What is Formulated: Choosing Policy Instruments and Policy Goals
5. Problem delimitation in policy formulation
Arnošt Veselý

6. Policy tools and their role in policy formulation: Dealing with procedural and substantive instruments
Michael Howlett

7. Patching vs packaging in policy formulation: Assessing policy portfolio design
Michael Howlett and Jeremy Rayner

8. The elements of effective program design: A two-level analysis
Michael Howlett, Ishani Mukherjee and Jeremy Rayner

Part III – Formal and Informal Analytical Techniques in Policy Formulation
9. Formal policy appraisal techniques and policy formulation
Camilla Adelle and Sabine Weiland

10. Operationalizing information: Measures and indicators in policy formulation
Markku Lehtonen

11. Anticipation tools in policy formulation: Forecasting, foresight and implications for policy planning
M. (Martijn) van der Steen

12. The role of public participation and deliberation in policy formulation
Genevieve Fuji Johnson

Part IV – Policy Advice and the Policy Formulation Process
13. Policy advice and policy advisory systems in policy formulation
Jonathan Craft and Michael Howlett

14. The organization of policy formulation
Craig Matheson

15. Knowledge brokers and policy advice in policy formulation
Justyna Bandola-Gill and Catherine Lyall

16. Policy entrepreneurs and policy formulation
Andrew Gunn

Part V – Formulating Policy Problems
17. Issue expertise in policymaking
Peter J. May, Chris Koski and Nicholas Stramp

18. Expert networks and epistemic communities: Articulating knowledge and collective entrepreneurship
Anthony R. Zito

19. Framing the target in policy formulation: The importance of social constructions
Anne Schneider and Helen Ingram

20. Consultants and policy formulation
Helen M Gunter

Part VI – Formulating Policy Solutions
21. Policy instrument constituencies
Arno Simons and Jan-Peter Voß

22. Think tanks, politics and the policy-making process: Catalysts for ideas and action
James G. McGann

23. Exogeneity and convergence in policy formulation: Contested theories, approaches and perspectives
Darryl S.L. Jarvis

24. Behavioral aspects of policy formulation: Experiments, behavioral insights, nudges
Matteo M Galizzi

Part VII – The Politics of Policy Formulation
25. Policy paradigms and the formulation process
Matt Wilder

26. The politics of policy formulation: Overcoming subsystem dynamics
Paul Jorgensen

27. The impact of political parties, executives and political staff on policy formulation
Christopher Eichbaum and Richard Shaw

28. Mechanisms of influence: Interest groups, lobbyists and policy formulation
John C. Scott

Part VIII – Trends and Patterns of Policy Formulation
29. Trends towards the externalization and politicization of policy advice in policy formulation
Jonathan Craft and Michael Howlett

30. Trends towards evidence-based policy formulation
Holger Strassheim

31. The changing role of the public in policy formulation: From mass media to social media
Dennis Linders and Liang Ma

32. Policy overreaction doctrine: From ideal-type to context-sensitive solution in times of crisis
Moshe Maor

Index