Discussions of policy networks are becoming increasingly common in the analysis of public policy in the Western world. This book addresses the key theoretical issues surrounding policy networks.

The United States, Germany, and Japan, the world's three most powerful and successful free market societies, differ strikingly in how their governments relate to their economies. Comparing Policy Networks reports the results of collaborative research by three teams investigating the social organization and policymaking processes of national labor policy domains in the United States, Germany, and Japan during the 1980s. Through interviews with more than 350 key labor policy organizations in all three countries, the authors reveal similar conflict divisions between business and labor interests but also distinctive patterns within each nation.

This book examines how labor policies were made in the US, Germany, and Japan during the 1980s.

The study of comparative public policy reveals the intensely political nature of policy choices. While policy analysts often look to policy successes and failures outside their borders to draw valuable lessons and insights, cultural, economic, political, and institutional conditions vary from country to country and strongly affect how policy analysis is ultimately used. By combining a conceptual discussion of policy making with an examination of seven specific policy areas, Jessica Adolino and Charles Blake show how politics—in the realm of the environment, education, taxation, economics, immigration, health care, and social welfare—shapes policy choices. The second edition of Comparing Public Policies has been revised and updated to reflect the most recent political and policy developments. This new edition expands coverage of the internationalization of domestic policy making by including a European Union case study in each issue area, along with further discussion of the role of international interest groups in the policy process. The seven policy chapters have been revised and updated to examine current issues in the United States, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the European Union, such as: the heightened calls for immigration policy reform the return to higher budget deficits in several countries the efforts to lower tax rates in countries with falling expenditures and in countries with rising spending levels the often unsuccessful attempts to control increasing health care costs in countries with aging populations the spirited debate over the future role of the welfare state in an increasingly globalized economy the, at times, divergent education reform debates regarding the role of assessment and calls for decentralization the uneven environmental performance in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions Chapters include analyses of crossnational trends—past and present—and a final chapter reexamines the internationalization of public policy in industrialized countries. Useful pedagogical features have been incorporated throughout the text, including "In Depth" boxes that offer detailed discussion of the political process or analytical techniques, and "Country At-a-Glance" boxes that provide quick reference to political institutions. A wealth of recent data is displayed in numerous tables and a glossary gives students a practical guide to terminology.

This book summarizes recent advances in the work on agenda-setting in a comparative perspective. The book first presents and explains the data-gathering effort undertaken within the Comparative Agendas Project over the past ten years. Individual country chapters then present the research undertaken within the many national projects. The third section illustrates the possibilities and directions for new research in comparative public policy using the data presented in this book. All the data used and discussed in the book is moreover publicly available. The book represents a significant contribution to the study of comparative public policy. By introducing a unified research infrastructure it opens up new possibilities for both empirical and theoretical research in this area.

Table of Contents Tables, Figures, and Boxes ix Preface xi An Introduction to Comparative Public Policy 1 The Increasing Internationalization of Public Policy 4 The Organization of This Book 6 1 The Policy Process 1 The Study of the Policy Process 8 The Policy Process Revisited 28 2 Theories of Policy Making 31 The Cultural School 31 The Economic School 34 The Political School 38 The Institutional School 41 An Eclectic Approach to Examining Policy Theories 45 3 Political and Economic Dynamics in Industrialized Countries 47 Social Cleavage 47 Interest Groups 48 Political Parties and Party Systems 51 Voting Behavior 55 Electoral Systems 59 Executive-Legislative Relations 63 Intergovernmental Relations 67 The Bureaucracy 69 The Judiciary 70 Economic Dynamics 71 4 The Policy-making Context 77 The United States 77 Japan 80 Germany 83 France 86 The United Kingdom 89 Italy 92 European Union 95 5 Immigration Policy 100 Common Policy Problems 100 Major Policy Options 103 Explaining Policy Dynamics 104 International Policy Making 109 United States 111 Japan 118 Germany 123 France 129 United Kingdom 134 Italy 140 European Union 146 Cross-national Trends 150 6 Fiscal Policy 159 Common Policy Problems 159 Major Policy Options 161 Explaining Policy Dynamics 163 Internafional Policy Making 167 United States 169 Japan 174 Germany 177 France 180 United Kingdom 183 Italy 186 European Union 189 Cross-national Trends 192 7 Taxation Policy 198 Common Policy Problems 198 Major Policy Options 200 Explaining Policy Dynamics 203 International Policy Making 206 United States 207 Japan 211 Germany 214 France 217 United Kingdom 219 Italy 222 European Union 225 Cross-national Trends 229 8 Health Care Policy 234 Common Policy Problems 234 Major Policy Options 235 Explaining Policy Dynamics 239 International Policy Making 242 United States 243 Japan 249 Germany 253 France 257 United Kingdom 262 Italy 266 European Union 270 Cross-national Trends 273 9 Social Policy 278 Common Policy Problems 278 Major Policy Options 281 Explaining Policy Dynamics 283 International Policy Making 287 United States 287 Japan 293 Germany 296 France 301 United Kingdom 305 Italy 309 European Union 313 Cross-national Trends 315 10 Education Policy 321 Common Policy Problems 321 Major Policy Options 322 Explaining Policy Dynamics 326 International Policy Making 329 United States 329 Japan 334 Germany 338 France 342 United Kingdom 346 Italy 351 European Union 355 Cross-national Trends 358 11 Environmental Policy 364 Common Policy Problems 364 Major Policy Options 366 Explaining Policy Dynamics 369 International Policy Making 372 United States 373 Japan 379 Germany 383 France 388 United Kingdom 392 Italy 396 European Union 401 Cross-national Trends 405 12 Conclusion 412 Contemporary Trends 412 Learning Lessons by Comparing Policies 417 Glossary 419 References 429 Index 441.