What a Political Scientist Can Tell a Policymaker about the Likelihood of Success or Failure

Ira Sharkansky*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

A political scientist can introduce a focus on politics into policy analysis. However, the pervasity of politics in policymaking defines one of the outer boundaries of policy analysis. Politicians tend to think about specific needs and how they may be furthered by concrete projects more than they tend to think about principles or empirical findings. The position of policy analysis in policymaking and program implementation is to be won in a competitive setting amid individuals with training in other professional specialties and politicians who may have to professional training. Where politics is pervasive, policy analysts must have a tolerance for ambiguity, obfuscation and frustration.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)406-422
Number of pages17
JournalReview of Policy Research
Volume11
Issue number3-4
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1992

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