Power, Knowledge, and Politics: Policy Analysis in the States (American Governance and Public Policy series) [Paperback]

John A. Hird (Author)

Book Description

Series: American Governance and Public Policy series | Publication Date: March 29, 2005

If knowledge is power, then John Hird has opened the doors for anyone interested in public policymaking and policy analysis on the state level. A beginning question might be: does politics put gasoline or sugar in the tank? More specifically, in a highly partisan political environment, is nonpartisan expertise useful to policymaking? Do policy analysts play a meaningful role in decision making? Does policy expertise promote democratic decision making? Does it vest power in an unelected and unaccountable elite, or does it become co-opted by political actors and circumstances? Is it used to make substantive changes or just for window-dressing?

In a unique comparative focus on state policy, Power, Knowledge, and Politics dissects the nature of the policy institutions that policymakers establish and analyzes the connection between policy research and how it is actually used in decision making. Hird probes the effects of politics and political institutions -- parties, state political culture and dynamics, legislative and gubernatorial staffing, partisan think tanks, interest groups -- on the nature and conduct of nonpartisan policy analysis. Through a comparative examination of institutions and testing theories of the use of policy analysis, Hird draws conclusions that are more useful than those derived from single cases.

Hird examines nonpartisan policy research organizations established by and operating in U.S. state legislatures -- one of the most intense of political environments -- to determine whether and how nonpartisan policy research can survive in that harsh climate. By first detailing how nonpartisan policy analysis organizations came to be and what they do, and then determining what state legislators want from them, he presents a rigorous statistical analysis of those agencies in all 50 states and from a survey of 800 state legislators. This thoroughly comprehensive look at policymaking at the state level concludes that nonpartisan policy analysis institutions can play an important role -- as long as they remain scrupulously nonpartisan.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hird has produced a book of great merit and insight." -- Political Science Quarterly

"Hird has made a major contribution to the fields of public policy and public administration that enhances knowledge about the significance of nonpartisan policy research organizations at the state level. This book is a valuable resource for scholars and practitioners seeking to better understand the complex policy process in American politics." -- Public Integrity

"This book is a valuable resource for both students and scholars interested in the complex process of policy making in the United States. It is written in a manner that makes it accessible to readers without a background in research methodology and could be utilized in both a graduate or undergraduate classroom. Power, Knowledge, and Politics is a major contribution to the field of public policy, and a good read for anyone interested in policy making in the United States." -- Equal Opportunities International

"Hird conducts the first systematic study of nonpartisan state legislative policy research organizations. He not only describes these important political institutions thoroughly, he also evaluates their effectiveness and shows their place in the political process." -- Christopher Z. Mooney, editor, State Politics and Policy Quarterly

"Hird's thorough and well-written account should be on the bookshelf of everyone interested in the way policy expertise is institutionalized in governments." -- Bruce Bimber, professor of political science and communication, University of California, Santa Barbara

About the Author

John A. Hird is associate professor of political science and director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; author of The Political Economy of Environmental Risk; and coauthor with Michael Reese and Matthew Shilvock of Controversies in American Public Policy (3rd edition).

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Georgetown University Press (March 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589010493
• ISBN-13: 978-1589010499
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,568,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Analysis of Nonpartisan Legislative Research Offices, April 19, 2006

By 

LEON L CZIKOWSKY (Harrisburg, Pa USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Power, Knowledge, and Politics: Policy Analysis in the States (American Governance and Public Policy series) (Paperback)

This book examines the different methods that state legislatures around the country conduct non-partisan research. The author interviewed legislators and staff around the country and examined these offices. It was found legislators use and place high value on this research. Yet, this research was also found to have limited influence on final policy decisions.

It was discovered these offices are far from being monolithic and vary widely amongst the states. The political and interest group influences that exist on legislators are found to be significant factors in how the legislatures organize their non-partisan research. Yet, states that create larger nonpartisan research offices are more apt to use their research. The book found that the ability of the nonpartisan research office to effectively communicate its research findings made that research more likely to be influential. Less important was the quality of the research. Research has to be noticed in order to have an impact, regardless of how good it is.

The book condemns the lack of empirical data in analyzing how policies are developed. The book further notes that few researchers have attempted to connect policy research into policy development, arguing that many legislators only seek policy research to justify the policy positions they have already taken. Sometimes legislators use nonpartisan research as a tool for delaying taking a position on an issue by using the research process as an excuse for not reaching a decision.

There is a scholarly debate about the use and effectiveness of non-partisan policy analysis. It was noted that many non-partisan research offices, as they try to remain devoid of political concerns, tend towards more traditional analysis that often fails to develop the more innovative policy solutions that partisan research efforts create. Some argue that social science analysis will always include bias and some argue researchers should stop pretending there are no views or values in their analysis. Some argue that there are so many variables, alternatives, and unknown factors involved in policy analysis that any analysis is hopelessly doomed to never fully inform policy makers as to how their decisions will make impacts.

The type of research found to impress legislators is that showing that something has worked in other states. While it was found legislators pay attention mostly to other legislators, administration officials, and interest group communications, nonpartisan legislative research often reaches legislators indirectly when cited through these sources.

The book found these nonpartisan research agencies vary from three professional staff members and no clerical staff to 362 staff members and 120 clerical staff. Their mean budgets are $4.2 million and their median budgets are $2.2 million. Massachusetts does not have a nonpartisan research office, although there are strong partisan research staffs and a business financed private research organization that is often used by Massachusetts legislators. It is noted that Montana and Kentucky, who have citizen legislatures, as well as California, with a full time legislature, all have significant nonpartisan research offices.

This study found that larger sized and more influential nonpartisan legislative research offices were more likely to occur in states with more think tanks and in state with larger legislative staff sizes in other offices. Interviews of nonpartisan research staff note that state legislatures have become increasingly partisan over recent years. Most of their research is available to the public, although California considers its requests from legislators confidential and thus its research is not provided to the public.