Civic Engagement and Public Policy Making in America

• Published date: 01 February 2004
• Date: 01 February 2004
• Author: Francois K. Doamekpor
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2004.00351.x

Book Reviews 113

Civic Engagement and Public Policy Making

in America

Dr. Doamekpor is an associate professor in the Department of Public Administration and Urban Studies at the University of Akron. He

earned his PhD from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh. His current research focuses on

public policy and the development of public sector performance indicators, factors affecting public revenue and expenditure forecast-

ing and management, and comparative public policy and management. E-mail: Francoi@uakron.edu.

Francois K. Doamekpor, The University of Akron

Larry N. Gerston, Public Policymaking in a Democratic Society: A Guide to

Civic Engagement (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2002). 206 pp., $22.95 paper,

ISBN: 0-7656-1054-X.

Thomas A. Birkland, An Introduction to the Policy Process: Theories, Con-

cepts, and Models of Public Policy Making (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2001).

294 pp., $25.95 paper, ISBN: 0-7656-0418-3.

Mark E. Rushefsky, Public Policy in the United States: At the Dawn of the

Twenty-First Century, 3rd ed. (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2002). 524 pp.,

$34.95 paper, ISBN: 0-7656-0647-X.

Introduction

Nearly 30 years ago, Theodore

Lowi (1964) noted that the content of

policy in a popular democracy deter-

mines the kind of social or political

activity that will be stimulated by the

policy-making process. Although

some policies may kindle little public

interest and activity, others may trig-

ger a chain of events having long-last-

ing results. In effect, each policy pro-

posal defines its own constellation of

events, public actions, reactions, and

responses. These reactions and re-

sponses, either organized or sporadic,

institutional or individually based, are

difficult if not impossible to predict.

The content of a policy proposal

determines as well, the amount of time

required to define the problem. The

more complex and value-laden the is-

sue, the higher and more various the

levels of societal involvement, and the

more irrelevant time required for the

process to work itself out. Although

some problems may be neatly pack-

aged and rushed through the process,

others may move through a never-end-

ing cycle at various levels of govern-

ments and jurisdictions for decades.

The courts, in some instances, influ-

ence policy content and process and

render this endless complexity more

shapeless and fluid.

Furthermore, as proposals wander

through the processes and near final

forms, or reach levels requiring inde-

terminate amounts of time, support

and opposition oscillate as contents

change to reflect differing values and

ideological positions. In the words of

Paul Sabatier (1999), the process of

conceptualizing problems, formulat-

ing and implementing alternatives, and

evaluating and revising such alterna-

tives involves an extremely complex

set of interacting elements over time.

One final point: besides the effect

of content on process and outcome,

effective policy making occurs in set-

tings that provide frameworks for

democratic decision making. Even

when policymakers are popularly

elected, the presence of an informed

citizenry and self-organized groups

may contribute other pieces to the

puzzle of effective policy making.

Equally as important to the process as

content are other critical elements nec-

essary for successful policy making

and implementation, including citi-

zens’ expectations, participation, and

political engagement, and the con-

stancy of this engagement, devoid of

inertia, from conceptualization

through assessment of results.

Common Themes

Although focusing their texts on

specific aspects of the policy literature,

the authors of the three books reviewed

in this essay—Larry N. Gerston, Tho-

mas A. Birkland, and Mark E. Rush-

efsky—concentrate as well on the

themes discussed immediately above,

for example, the significance of policy

content and process and societal in-

volvement. They also recognize the

Book Reviews | M. Jae Moon, Editor