Public Policy Analysis and Design

The range and scope of public policy interventions have been growing the world over, especially in the developing democratic societies, on account of market failures and the increasing compulsions of administering the welfare state. The Government of India, in particular, have of late, resorted to issuing public policy statements with greater frequency covering newer areas and broader spectrum of societal activity. As policy spaces have tended to become more crowded, public policy has come under greater scrutiny from the public as well as the experts. Perceived inadequacies in governments'' policy responses to chronic problems have led to an increased interest in policy debate. A Seminar on Public Policy Analysis and Design was organised by LBS National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie in the context of this increasing concern for public policy. It was structured around two themes with a view to explore certain sectoral policies and, more importantly, to demonstrate the utility of certain methodologies, already available as well as recently developed, for public policy analysis and design. This book has been accordingly, albeit somewhat arbitrarily, divided into two parts, namely Sectoral Policies and Methodologies. The two parts basically differ in terms of their approach and perspective rather than in substantive coverage of policy areas. With a view to facilitate better understanding of and put in perspective the themes explored in the book, the Proceeding of the Seminar have been included in this book. While a couple of papers presented at the Seminar could not be included in this book for copyright reasons, a few additional articles were commissioned in order to improve the range of policy areas covered. The book provides a wide coverage of public policy issues from different perspectives. It should, therefore, be of interest to public policy-makers, experts specialists, academicians, researchers as well as students and observers of public policy phenomenon. It should satisfy the palate of those concerned with different sectoral public policies as well as others interested in the policy-making process per se.