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Definition
Politics is the means by which a community makes collective decisions about public issues.
Introduction
This article provides an overview of the relationship between politics and public policy. It will examine what politics is, why it exists, the venues in which it occurs, and the ways in which it can shape public policy. Politics is only one way of determining public policy decisions. Politics will be contrasted with the other ways of making public policy, namely, ideology, expertise, and authority. This article will also examine the sources of politics, the contrast between politics and rationality as sources of policy, and the question of how power is distributed in modern democracies.
Main Text
Public policy refers to the decisions and actions that are taken by the government when it addresses public issues or those that concern the entire community. Politics refers to the way in which...
Further reading
Beetham D (2005) Democracy: a beginner’s guide. Oneworld Publications, Oxford
Colebatch H (2002) Policy, 2nd edn. Open University Press, Buckingham
Crick B (2005) In defence of politics. Continuum, London
Heywood A (2013) Politics, 4th edn. Palgrave Macmillan, Houndmills
Lindblom C, Woodhouse EJ (1992) The policy-making process, 3rd edn. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs
Matheson C (2009) Understanding the policy process: the work of Henry Mintzberg. Public Adm Rev 69(6):1148–1161
Minogue K (2000) Politics: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford
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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
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Matheson, C. (2016). Politics and Public Policy. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1407-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1407-1
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Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5
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