Democracy and the Policy Sciences

Peter deLeon is Professor of Public Policy in the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado, Denver. He is the author of Thinking About Political Corruption; Advice and Consent: The Development of the Policy Sciences; and The Altered Strategic Environment: Towards the Year 2000.

"I read this book with enthusiasm and enjoyed its review of what's wrong with 'traditional' policy analysis. The author sets out to answer the important question of why the policy analysis process should incorporate more public participation, despite the obvious reasons why such participation might seriously complicate any given policy process. His theoretical framework reexamines the 'great and enduring division in American thought' between the Madisonian (representative) and Tocquevillean (participatory) visions of democracy and then uses this distinction to evaluate the current role of professional elites in the policy process. This creates a rationale for participatory policy analysis and leads to the conclusion that the policy sciences need to reflect greater verisimilitude and empathy." — Marie Danziger, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University"The book does a good job setting up—using a wide range of sources—the key issues concerning the relation of the policy sciences to democracy. This relationship is a crucial, cutting-edge issue in policy sciences (and the general field of public policy)." — Dan Durning, Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

• Preface 1. The Democratic Dream The American Body Politic...... And the Study of the Public SectorDemocracy and the Policy SciencesOrganization 2. Visions of American Democracy IntroductionDemocracy in AmericaMadisonian DemocracyDe Tocqueville and American DemocracyVisions of Democracy in Twentieth-Century AmericaThe Case for a Participatory DemocracyIn Summary 3. Democratic Foundations of the Policy Sciences IntroductionThe Utilitarian TraditionLiberal RationalismA Comparison 4. The Policy Sciences for Democracy IntroductionMultidisciplinary ApproachesNew Policy Research ParadigmsPostpositivismCritical TheoryIn Review 5. The Policy Sciences of Democracy: "Two Roads Diverged..." IntroductionAn American Democratic DreamThe Critical Policy SciencesParticipatory Policy Analysis"Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood..." Notes Bibliography Index