Drawing on more than 40 years of experience with policy analysis, authors Eugene Bardach and Eric M. Patashnik use real-world examples to teach students how to be effective, accurate, and persuasive policy analysts.

The eightfold path. Step one: Define the problem ; Step two: Assemble some evidence ; Step three: Construct the alternatives ; Step four: Select the criteria ; Step five: Project the outcomes ; Step six: Confront the trade-offs ; Step seven: Stop, focus, narrow, deepen, decide! ; Step eight: Tell your story -- Assembling evidence. Getting started ; Locating relevant sources ; Gaining access and engaging assistance ; Conducting a policy research interview ; Using language to characterize and calibrate ; Protecting credibility ; Strategic dilemmas of policy research -- Handling a design problem. It's a production system ; Crosswalks from the eightfold path to "systems of action" ; Define the problem- focus on a primary outcome ; Construct the alternatives- Configure the system's organizational structure and its operating processes ; Select the criteria- Define the objectives to be achieved ; Project the outcomes- test whether it will work ; Confront the trade-offs- examine the system from multiple perspectives ; Design a transition strategy -- "Smart (best) practices" research: understanding and making use of what look like good ideas from somewhere else. Develop realistic expectations ; Analyze smart practices ; Observe the practice ; Describe generic vulnerabilities ; But will it work here? ; Back to the eightfold path -- Appendix A. Things governments do -- Appendix B. Understanding public and non profit institutions: asking the right questions -- Appendix C. Strategic advice on the dynamics of gathering political support -- Appendix D. Tips for working with clients -- Appendix E. Suggestions for incorporating 'big data" and rigorous scientific evidence into policy analysis.