Making Public Policy Decisions

'For too long, the study of public policy-making has ignored the role of individual managers, politicians or community activists. This book brings them back into the frame. Importantly, it avoids the tendency to reduce everything to a question of super-heroic leadership skills and personal charisma. Instead, it takes the debate forward by analysing the ways in which the expertise and skill of individuals interact with their institutional settings and in the context of particular kinds of policy problems. This points towards a new agenda for research into the ways in which public policy is constructed, negotiated and realised.' - Chris Skelcher, Professor, University of Birmingham, UK 'Each chapter in this excellent collection helps clarify the situation with respect to a relevant set of actors; providing a careful assessment of their motivations and inter-relationships as a decision-making process unfolds. As a result, taken as a whole, the volume moves our understanding of this key phase of public policy-making a considerable ways forward.' - Michael Howlett, Professor, Simon Fraser University, Canada and National University of Singapore, Singapore

Dr Damon Alexander is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne. His research covers public policy decision making; innovation; political/policy networks; and local government reform. His previous book, Networks, Innovation and Public Policy, was published in 2009. Professor Jenny M. Lewis is Professor of Public Policy in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow for 2013-16. Jenny is a public policy expert, with particular interests in governance, policy influence, and the policy process. Her most recent book, Academic Governance: Disciplines and Policy, was published by Routledge in 2013.

1. Making Policy Decisions 2: Not Only What, But How: The Role of expertise in developing public sector leadership 3. How Governments Think: Skills, expertise, and experience in public policy making 4. A Matter of Personality? Stability and change in EU leaders' beliefs during the Euro-crisis 5. The Impact of Expertise on Crisis Management: Real-time evidence on response decisions by a public health agency during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic 6. Performing a Collaborative Self: Emotions, expertise and ethics in network decisions 7. Decision-Making at the Frontline: Exploring coping with moral conflicts during public service delivery 8. Policy Entrepreneurs, Creative Teamwork, and Policy Change 9. Prime Ministers Chiefs of Staff: Coping with wild treachery and weirdness 10. Leadership of Reforming Governments: The role of political tandems