This widely respected text offers a unique dualistic view of the policy process. First, it introduces readers to the American approach to public policy making as it has been shaped by our political institutions, changing circumstances, and ideology. Second, it informs readers concisely and even-handedly about U.S. policies in eight major policy realms, with well selected illustrations, case studies, and study questions.In addition to providing analytical tools and empirical information, the book imparts an appreciation of the widely shared but often competing values that must be balanced and rebalanced in the ongoing policy-making process, affecting issues of the highest concern to the American public. For this new edition, all of the policy chapters, especially those on economic policy, foreign policy, the environment, and education, have been very substantially revised and updated.