
Amazon Prime Free Trial
FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button and confirm your Prime free trial.
Amazon Prime members enjoy:- Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
- Unlimited FREE Prime delivery
- Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
- A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
- Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.
Buy new:
$29.53$29.53
Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com
Save with Used - Good
$6.85$6.85
FREE delivery March 5 - 10
Ships from: ThriftBooks-Phoenix Sold by: ThriftBooks-Phoenix
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Follow the author
OK
Implementation: How Great Expectations in Washington Are Dashed in Oakland; Or, Why It's Amazing that Federal Programs Work at All, This Being a Saga . . . Morals on a Foundation (Oakland Project) Third Edition
Purchase options and add-ons
- ISBN-100520053311
- ISBN-13978-0520053311
- EditionThird
- PublisherUniversity of California Press
- Publication dateJune 5, 1984
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions5.4 x 0.78 x 8.1 inches
- Print length312 pages
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more
Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Editorial Reviews
Review
"There are innumerable ways to profit from this fully documented yet highly readable tale of earnest but relatively unsuccessful ways of spending the taxpayers' money." ― National Review
"They make an unimpeachable case. for close attention to the modes of implementing policy, and . . . constitute the first solid survey of the administrative thickets through which future urban policies will have to make their way." ― New Republic
"The potential good that can come out of this study cannot be exaggerated." ― Virginia Quarterly Review
Product details
- Publisher : University of California Press; Third edition (June 5, 1984)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 312 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0520053311
- ISBN-13 : 978-0520053311
- Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.4 x 0.78 x 8.1 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #772,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #375 in Public Affairs & Administration (Books)
- #709 in Economic Policy & Development (Books)
- #12,117 in U.S. State & Local History
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonTop reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2013If only every policy maker and every voter would read this book! Pressman and Wildavsky dig in and show how the best of intentions, and even seemingly great plans, fall apart when it's time to implement them on the ground. They show the difficulties in coordinating the many stakeholders that governments have to bring together, in synchronizing steps carried out by an array of public and private organizations, and of keeping everybody on board over the course of time it takes to execute plans. They show that even if each step in the implementation of a policy seems like a no-brainer, a long series of steps almost certain to succeed can be almost certain to fail! The human mind sees a series of steps that have a 95% chance of success and thinks that the process is likely to work... we rarely appreciate that if there's a 95% chance of each of 15 things working, there's a less than 50% chance that they all work. And when you need to coordinate them to all work on a tight timeline, forget about it! Pressman and Wildavsky's Implementation shows, in both human and theoretical terms, how these miscalculations caused government policy in Oakland to fall apart.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2021This is for my MPA class!
- Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2015This is a classic work on program implementation--the process by which words on a piece of paper (such as a law) become translated into an actual program, delivering goods and services to people. There is a rich literature on this subject in political science, public administration, and policy studies. The specialty has come a long way since the first edition of this work appeared in 1973 (I was in graduate school then). This version was the third edition, appearing in 1984.
The book addresses problems in implementation by route of a case study--the effort to address unemployment in Oakland, California by the Economic Development Administration (EDA). An odd aspect of this was that the program had originally been designed for more rural areas. But Oakland, technically, fit the criteria.
The agency essentially offered financial support for organizations (whether public or private sector) that developed plans to employ the unemployed. So, organizations got money based on a promise (not on performance). EDA spent a fair amount of money in Oakland, with not-so-fantastic results.
Pressman and Wildavsky discuss why this might have been the case. For one thing, there were so many steps from the time that EDA decided to go to Oakland with many actors having to agree at each stage of the process. Also, there was the authors' concern that money was provided based on plans rather than actual performance in terms of employment. The book examines successes and failures of a number of funded projects in Oakland--quite instructive!
All in all, an important work. For one thing, this was considered one of the earliest works in implementation (at least according to lore--one could make the case that implementation had always been a focus in the discipline of public administration). For another, it began to identify challenges to successful implementation. Finally, the volume made suggestions about how to address these challenges.
A satisfying work even decades after its initial appearance. . . .
- Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2020This is a groundbreaking work to studying policy implementation
- Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2014I bought this book for my daughter and she needed it for school and this purchase really saved us a lot of money!!
- Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2015Goood condition and great value
- Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2011This book was a college epiphany for me. "Geez, the answers to the world's policy issues may be a bit more complicated than I thought. I may have more to consider." I credit the authors, and a great professor for helping me consider the two halves of the puzzle - strategy and execution. One without the other accomplishes nothing, and they both can affect the other in very dynamic ways. My thinking became less naive, and less ego-centric that semester. I wish all my college readings had such a long lasting impact.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2014Perfect description.
Top reviews from other countries
Nuno Miguel Cunha RoloReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 15, 20135.0 out of 5 stars "Implementation"
This is a great book, a cornerstone of implementation studies for every student or scholar.Indispensable and a good reading book too!







