Bibliographic Information

Title of the book : A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis

Name of the Authors : Eugene Bardach, Eric M. Patashnik

Place of Publication : UK

Total Edition : 15

Length : 216 pages

ISBN Number : 978-1-4833-5946-5

Authors

Eugene Bardach is professor at the Goldman school of public policy of University of California,
Berkeley. He has been teaching graduate-level policy analysis workshop classes since 1973.
During this time period he has coached more than 500 projects. He is mainly a political scientist.
But he has a huge experience in teaching and research interests. He also works regularly with the
government in regulatory program design and execution.

Eric M. Patashnik is a renowned professor and teaches policy analysis at the Frank batten school
of leadership and public policy in University of Virgina. He was also the editor of the journal of
health politics, policy and law. He has a huge experience in public policy analysis and his
research mainly focuses on American national policymaking. He also served as a specialist at
legislative analyst for the US house subcommittee earlier in his career.

Introduction
Policy analysis is the process of systematically examining and evaluating public policies. A good
policy analysis is critical because it helps policymakers make informed decisions about allocating
resources and achieving their desired outcomes. By carefully examining the costs and benefits of
alternative approaches, policymakers can choose the policy that is most likely to be effective and
efficient. Intending to create efficient policy-making, The Authors Eugene Bardach and Eric M.
Patashnik demonstrated a detailed explanation of the eight steps policy analysis process. Using
real-world examples, the authors also emphasize active, practical, precise, and compelling policy
analysis. This book has mainly focused on the students new to the world of policymaking and can
be used as a practical handbook to follow.

Overview
Professors Bardach and Patashnik's "Eightfold Path" provides a wise and engaging how-to guide
that meets the central challenge of policy analysis: combining scientific evidence and social
goals to craft practical, real-world solutions.(Yanow, 2007) This book is written in such a way
that the author wanted others to use it as a handbook during the write-up of the policy brief. The
authors here emphasize the significance of policymakers using simple language. In confronting
the trade-offs when a policy alternative is expected to have a better impact, the authors termed it
as ‘dominance.’ Here you must clarify the trade-offs between outcomes by focusing on outcomes
and established commensurability. The author insisted very strongly on considering two things
when selecting policy alternatives. That is- 1) The policy of legitimating and adopting this
alternative. 2) the design of the ongoing institutional features that will have the power and
resources to implement the policy in the long run.(Yanow, 2007) For a better understanding of
the whole policy analysis process, the entire book is divided into eight parts and five appendices.
In the 'Introduction' part, the author mentioned the Eightfold path and gave an overview of the
book. After guiding the reader through these concrete policymaking processes, the authors move
on to a discussion of evidence gathering, expanding on their previous explanation of this process.
He argues that policy analysis is crucial for policymakers because it allows them to recognize
problems better, generate and assess potential remedies, and settle on well-informed choices.
Focusing on how to compile evidence is crucial because many failures in the social sciences can
be linked to data collecting and interpretation. The writers equate policymaking with production
in the third chapter. The authors emphasize on setting true expectations, guiding researchers in
the fourth and final chapter; as a result, policy professionals will find this extensively updated
guide to be a handy tool. With its entertaining and practical style, the book is also suitable for
higher level students. Policy ideas that sound great in theory often fails under condition of field
implementation.(Bardach and Patashnik, n.d.) Like elected officials won’t hold the office for
long and once the government changes, the policy implementation process might hamper. The
revised edition of the book offers additional examples of policy application as well as coverage
of contemporary events. Extensive appendices, improves the analytical skills in the policy
analysis process. The authors first gave an overview of real life policy analysis in the appendices.
In the second appendix, 'Things Government do,' Authors describe different policies government
usually takes. In the following appendix, they gave an overall idea of public and non-profit
institutions. The two appendices are very important for those who are new to the government
system and how it works. They shared some important strategies on the dynamics of gathering
political support and tips on how to work with clients. The writers mentioned not just the best
practices and methodologies in policy analysis throughout the “book” but they also identify
prevalent obstacles and blunders. One disadvantage is that they occasionally break down the
cases depending on their steps in a very detailed manner, which may confuse the readers.
 Strengths:
The main strength of this book is this it is one of the most useful guides for those learning the art
and technique of policy analysis. Some other notable strengths are-
 Clear explanation with real-life examples in each chapter
 Very comprehensive and detailed coverage of the policy analysis
 Different valuable tips and advice are added in different steps of a policy analysis
process.
 The authors mentioned the challenges a policymaker would face during policy analysis.
 Alternative suggestions after each problem/challenge on ‘how to overcome the situation’
are mentioned with real-life examples.
 The book has clear instructions on how to set alternatives and what factors to consider.
 The book is well-organized and relatively easy to follow.
 Moreover, the book is technically very sound—a perfect handbook for beginners to start
policy analysis.   

Criticism
Though it is a handy book. However, I found some weaknesses that might be relevant to some.
Those are-
 Some examples could be more relevant to the readers of third-world countries.
 Most of the scenarios or examples are taken in the context of America or Europe. So
problems faced by policymakers in the sub-continent are overlooked.
 Some of the chapters seemed a bit long and dry sometimes. It is hard to keep
concentration all the time.
 The book mainly focuses on technical aspects, significantly less on the theoretical side.
 
Recommendation
Since a policy analyst needs to cover all the relevant areas, possible outcomes and relevant
changes, thus they need a complete guideline to analyze the policy efficiently. This book doesn’t
theoretically teach policy analysis. This book will help someone with prior knowledge in the
relevant sector. Besides, this book did not cover the scenario of this part of the world. Policy
analysis is different in different societies and cultures. Here, I recommend a book named ‘Public
policy in India’ by Dr. Rajesh Chakrabarti published by Oxford University Press. But this book
will teach you to approach a problem, collect data and analyze and formulate a well-prepared
analysis covering all the alternatives. There is a scope for writing a new book considering all the
real-life challenges a person faces in Bangladesh. But I believe this is a must-read book and a
book to keep before writing a policy analysis formally.
 Conclusion
As a public administrator and public servant, we are responsible for leading change and ensuring
compliance with all aspects of a new program or policy. Policy analysis is an art, an art that we
need to practice to make it a masterpiece. This book definitely provides convincing justifications
for learning the craft of policy analysis. With realistic examples the book will show you the clear
roadmap of how to write or contribute in a policy analysis. But as this book mainly covers only
the technical aspects, it would be better to gather some theoretical knowledge before using this
book as public policy related to people’s welfare directly or indirectly. Moreover, this is a very
handful book for all the concerned parties of country. Nevertheless, policymakers in this part of
the world need more research and books focused on the subcontinent to make their policy
perfect.

References

Emrah Atar, Book Review “Eugene Bardach and Eric M. Patashnik, A Practical Guide for
Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving, Washington D.C.,
SAGE Publications, 2019”, Uluslararasi Iliskiler, Vol. 19, No. 74, 2022 pp. 99-100.

Atar, Emrah. (2022). BOOK REVIEW Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold
Path to More Effective Problem Solving.