Implementing Public Policy: An Introduction to the Study of Operational Governance / Michael Hill.

Reviews:

This text is essential reading for anyone interested in implementation. Hill and Hupe cover critical debates in their own distinctive voice, but also explore key avenues that make the study of implementation so essential in the context of the multiple crises of the state in the 21st century. This new edition deserves to be at the centre of any conversation about the future study and practice of implementation.

Martin Lodge
London School of Economics and Political Science
Hill and Hupe’s Implementing Public Policy remains a classic, indispensable, and useful reference for scholars of policy implementation. Providing an original perspective on the study of the operational side of public policy, the fourth edition contains many timely updates including two thoughtful chapters on populism and street-level bureaucracy.

Eva Thomann
University of Konstanz
This advances on earlier editions with a more explicit conceptualization of implementation in terms of governance. Two entirely new chapters have been added: addressing the consequences of populism and exploring the contribution of street-level bureaucracy to the study of implementation. Additionally the chapter on research stresses the need for it to have a comparative, particularly cross-national, character; and the concluding chapter explores the extent to which recent approaches such as the introduction of the notion of ‘implementation science' provide new insights.

Social Policy Association

PART I: Implementation as a Scholarly Theme
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Implementation Studies Positioned
Chapter 3: The Top-Down/Bottom-Up Debate and Comprehensive Approaches
Chapter 4: Implementation Theory: Constitutive Elements
PART II: Implementation as Government-In-Action
Chapter 5: The Policy-Implementation Paradigm: Historical Evolution
Chapter 6: Implementation and the Rise of Populism
Chapter 7: Implementation and the Quest for Appropriate Action
PART III: Implementation as Object of Research
Chapter 8: Implementation Research as Governance Analysis
Chapter 9: Street-Level Bureaucracy Research and Implementation Theory
Chapter 10: Doing Implementation Research
Chapter 11: The Policy-Implementation Paradigm: Present and Future

The only book to focus on implementing public policy, this state-of-the-art text offers a comprehensive and lively account of the major insights found in implementation theory and research. Its exploration of the field provides a reflective overview of work in the study of policy implementation worldwide. In doing so, the book reconceptualizes the policy process to highlight the essential role those implementing policy have in moulding, shaping and directing policy during their work.

Realizing policy goals may be the key to ballot box victory, while policies perceived as failures may symbolise declining trust and confidence in government and politics. As such, implementing policy is as crucial to the actors in power as it is for democracy. Policymakers respond to challenging problems in highly dynamic and pressurised contexts. From the global pandemic to climate change, financial regulation to education, effective policy has never been more important to governments and society – and the role of street-level bureaucrats in implementing policy never so crucial.

This is the seminal work in the field, used by thousands worldwide. Now fully revised and updated, the 20th anniversary edition includes substantial changes and additions. This edition features two entirely new chapters on the consequences of populism and the latest street-level bureaucracy research, as well as extensive examination of comparative cross-national work and a refined and more explicit conceptualization of implementation in terms of its role in governance throughout. The book concludes with an all-new chapter exploring emergent issues on implementation in practice and on the research agenda.

The text is essential reading for anyone interested in public policy, social policy, public administration, public management and governance.