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Doctoral Reading Lists for Public Policy & Administration: Ph.D. in Public Policy Reading List

Overview of Public Policy as a Field of Study

Policy Processes

A. Agenda Setting (Including Problem Definition)

B. Formulation (Within Political and Institutional Settings)

C. Policy Implementation (Organizational and Political Dimensions)

Analysis of Policy Options

A. Policy Instruments and Market and Non-Market Failures

B. Microeconomic Models

  • Friedman, Lee S. 1984. Microeconomic Policy Analysis. New York: McGraw Hill.

C. Benefit–Cost Analysis

D. Evaluation Research (Including Research Design)

  • Ferber, Robert, and Werner Z. Hirsch. 1982. Social Experimentation and Economic Policy. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Langbein, Laura Irwin. 1980. Discovering Whether Programs Work: A Guide to Statistical Methods for Program Evaluation. Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman, 1980.
  • O’Sullivan, Elizabethann, and Gary R. Rassel. 1995. Research Methods for Public Administrators. Second Edition. New York: Longman.
  • Weiss, Carol H. 1972. Evaluation Research: Methods for Assessing Program Effectiveness. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice–Hall.