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Uses Brazil as a case study of how governments implement environmental policies despite urgent needs for economic development. ... Read more

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By Emphasizing Diseases, Programs, Health Systems, And Health Policies, This Detailed Revision Helps Readers Understand The Wide Range Of Global Public Health Issues And The Various Approaches Nations Adopt To Deal With Them. This Title Explores The Public Health Problems Facing Low- And Middle-Income Countries Today, And Identifies Their Three Greatest Challenges: Reproductive Health, Infectious Disease, And Nutrition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

great book for PH students
very informative and although expensive, its worth it. There is a new version I believe.

Review
No problems at all, my order came within 5 days, and was tracked.I would definately do business with them again!

Great Reference text
This textbook was well worth the money. It is resourceful and up-to-date. I am very pleased with it.The writing and layout was very easy-to-read and comprehensive.I found the information useful for a variety of contexts such as environmental health, global health issues, program planning on international programs, and demographic analysis and data. ... Read more

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PUBLIC POLICY: AN EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH, 3E, examines how the substance and process of public policy and our understanding of it have evolved in America. After providing an analytic, historic and contextual framework for viewing public policy in the U.S., the text offers a comprehensive look at the various elements of the governing process, including agenda setting and problem definition; policy formation; implementation; program evaluation; and policy change and termination. The authors pay particular attention to the range of theories that have been offered to explain how, why, and with what effects governments act. They look at three critical policy areas -? environment, education, and welfare -? to further illustrate how governing proceeds in the U.S. The text focuses on actual policy examples, including recent efforts to reform education and welfare, and the war in Iraq. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good textbook on public policy
I have used this as a textbook in some graduate courses that (I have taught on public policy and policy analysis). It has been received well by students; in addition, outside of a few quirks, I also think highly of this volume as a textbook.

What is public policy? The authors note that it is government action aimed to remedy some public problem (whether real or imagined). The book is structured simply. The first part provides background, including chapters on the nature of public policy, the evolution of public policy and policy studies, approaches to policy analysis, and various models of policy. This segment of the book mainly providescontext for what follows. Part two focuses on the so-called stages of the policy process--agenda setting (what gets defined as a problem; does the problem receive enough attention to begin to get discussed in government circles); policy formulation (once an issue gets on the agenda, what goes into development of a policy proposal?); policy implementation (once a law is passed or some other decision made, how does it get put into action); policy evaluation (does the policy answer the problem? What effects does the policy decision have?); [policy change and termination (what is the natureof policy change? Why and how do some policies get terminated?). There are some quirks here. Under policy change, there are some models that are simply unsatisfying (e.g., zigzag models).

Part 3 looks at specific policy areas--from education to welfare to crime to the environment. My reading is that the authors play it pretty straight. Under welfare policy, they note both liberal and conservative critiques (in fact, I wish they went beyond this simple two-dimensional analysis). The final part of the book looks at how policy knowledge does (or does not) get used in decision making. There is also a final examination of the evolution of policy studies over time.

All in all, a pretty good introduction to the policy process.

Beneficial to Any Policy Analysis Understanding
Public Policy: An Evolutionary Approach provides straight-forward history on the evolution of undesrtanding of public policies to the evolution of approaches and models. I do not detect any bias in the material in the first two segments of the book. I did not spend sufficient time with part three describing the analytical approaches outlined to the case studies to weigh any idealogical bias. Nonetheless, for any policy analyist, this is an important academic book for political science and public policy. Any person involved in seeking to influence policy, engaged in policymaking, or implementation of policy, this book, in my judgment, is a required reading.

Unfortunately biased for an academic book
Lester et al.'s work of describing the policy process aims to survey the making of public policies from a descriptive perspective. Unfortunately, the authors present a strong dualistic bias in their analysis, pitting good "liberal" policies against evil "conservative" policies. The result does not make for a balanced nor objective book, and as such mostly serves as rhetoric material for partisan purposes, not a genuine scientific analysis. As such I do not recommend the book unless one wishes to build an argumentation from a strictly partisan perspective, not a public policy perspective, at it lacks in intellectual rigour and objectivity, unfortunately. ... Read more

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Public administration-the implementation side of government-is becoming an increasingly international discipline. Public policy-the decisionmaking side of modern government-has often been segregated from the administration of policy decisions. This four-volume encyclopedia is the first major international and comprehensive reference to combine public administration and policy in a single work. ... Read more

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The space industry is entering a new era of expanded freedom of opportunity to compete unencumbered by government agendas. This freedom carries a price. The political subsidy culture of the past is dying, so failure is not only possible, but likely for the unprepared and inefficient. For more casual observers, the overview of the currents in space commerce history will be invaluable in identifying space-related economic opportunities and will enable those more experienced in the field to reevaluate their future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Horrible book to read
I bought this book for a graduate class I'm taking.Granted it is 15 years old and is on the future of the space industry, but the ideas and info still applied somewhat to the class.However, the book was very hard to read because of the way it was written.I found many grammatical mistakes which make it very difficult to understand.It is a very short book, but took forever to read because of this.I'm not the best at grammar and writing, but I know for sure I could have written a much better book.

HORRIBLE CHOICE!!
THIS BOOK IS TERRIBLE TO READ.YET IT MAY HAVE VITAL INFO REGARDING SPACE, I WOULD RATHER EAT A BOX OF NAILS THAN TO TRY TO READ THIS BOOK AGAIN.

The text is too small and it's literally a struggle to try and sit to read the information.I couldn't get past chapter 2 until I finally gave up on the book.

Good luck if you are required to purchase this book.

SAM

Very Good Analysis
Handberg's vision of the future is more accurate than not.This book is written for the graduate student and can be daunting for readers with short attention spans.This is a must for anyone interested in learning more about policy.Every politician or business entrepreneur interested in space or forming space policy for a nation or company should read this book.

If you can read it, my hat's off
I almost made it through the first chapter of this book.I had to stop when the combined effects of bad writing, bad grammar, and bad punctuation just made it too painful to go on.If you want a book which is readable (i.e., written with a good command of English), find another book. ... Read more

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Now in its eighth edition, B. Guy Peterss trusted text once again provides a meticulous overview of the process behindand the current state of American public policy. In addition to balanced and comprehensive coverage of governmental structures and policymaking procedures, Peters addresses an array of specific policy issues as well as cost-benefit and ethical analysis.

Brief background sections now start each issues chapter, providing readers with additional context before they dive into current problems and policies. In addition to an in-depth look at economic policy in light of the current financial turmoil and recession, this revision includes valuable new material on the politics of international treaties and climate control and devotes further attention to foreign policy. In a brand new chapter Peters accessibly explains approaches to the policymaking process, including institutional, economic, constructivist, and stages models, along with concepts such as the advocacy coalition framework, bounded rationality, and incrementalism. Updated graphics, tables, and charts throughout ensure that students have access to the latest data in the field, while new photos illustrate important points.

Customer Reviews (2)

Very bland and hard to get through, but concise
It's a very hard book to get through, but I'm not sure there is any way to make a public policy book better. It appears to cover everything at least on a basic introduction to public policy level.

A Good Look at American Public Policy
Guy Peter's "American Public Policy: Promise and Performance" provides an informed and unbiased look at the public policy process as well as a number of major policy issues in America today. It's perhaps not the most exciting read (the first few chapters are especially dull) but thats more the fault of the subject than the author. However, if you are inclined to learn more about how the policy that affects our lives every day comes to be, this is worth a read.

The chapters on tax policy, health care and education were particularly good. In all, the book features a discussion of the aforementioned issues, as well as economic policy, social security and welfare, environmental policy, energy policy, defense and law enforcement, and numerous social issues such as abortion. American Public Policy also features a detailed look at how policy is formulated, enacted and kept up, as well as how one analyzes the effects of a particular policy plan. Finally, the book provides a look at the two predominate forms of policy analysis and assessment: cost-benefit analysis and ethical analysis.

Overall, I wouldnt recommend this book for fun reading. However, if you are taking a course in American public policy, are looking to research a prominent public policy area, or just want to learn more about the American policy system, Guy Peter's "American Public Policy: Promise and Performance" is definitely a great place to start. ... Read more

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Can we rely on the altruism of professionals or the public service ethos to deliver good quality health and education services?How should patients, parents and pupils behave - as grateful recipients or active consumers?The book provides new answers to these questions, and evaluates recent government policies in health services, education, social security and taxation, and puts forward proposals for policy reform: universal capital or 'demogrants', discriminating vouchers, matching grants for pensions and for long-term care and hypothecated taxes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An excellent thinking framework
The author uses an easy-to-understand framework to describe the expectations of public service users in society, both today and in years past, and, the motivations of agencies that act as providers of these services.

Examples mainly drawn from education and healthcare in the UK show an increasingly informed public that demand greater accountability and value for money from service providers (from Pawns to Queens).From this customer-driven evolution there appears to be an increasing realisation that those who provide services to the public do so with a wide spectrum of different motivations (from Publicly-Spirited Knights to Self-Interested Knaves).

Interestingly, the author finds that characteristics of both 'knightly' and 'knaveish' behaviour in combination may indeed yield the greatest benefit for society.The 'robust' strategy / policy therefore becomes one where altruism and self-interest align, a point where society benefits the most from the efforts of the publicly employed agent(s).

It is in matters of policy execution, however, that the book probably falls a little short.Description of how you might identify and implement 'robust' strategy is high-level and hard to visualise, via, an action plan, for example.An example of a 'robust' strategy was provided from public housing but was not particularly well specified.The ideas the book presents clearly outweigh the policy implementation path attempted.

Policy implementation and the small font with which the book has been printed are the only drawbacks.Otherwise it is well written, well researched and an important contribution of ideas to those engaged or interested in public policy.

Public confidence erodes
From the Journal of Economic Literature September 2004:
Explores assumptions and realities concerning human motivation and the implications for the design of public policy. Describes how in Great Britain and other countries there has been a gradual erosion of confidences in the reliability of the public service ethic as a motivational drive and a growing conviction that self-interest is the principal force motivating those involved in public services, and how these changes have resulted in radical reforms in public service delivery systems. Reviews the empirical evidence concerning the existence of self-interested and altruistic motivations in the public sector. Illustrates how policy structures and context can change the balance of self-interested and altruistic motivations in individuals working in the public sector. Develops a theory of public service motivation and explores the implications for service delivery. Considers whether users of publicly funded services should have control over how much and in what way they make use of publicly funded services or whether their use should be largely determined by professionals or others involved in service provision. Explores the question of the appropriate balance of power between individual users and professionals in the context of health care, education, and saving for retirement. Assesses some specific policies or proposals designed to address motivation and agency issues in the welfare state, considering the U.K. experience with Primary Care Trusts in the health care sectors; the U.K. experience with parental choice and competition in primary school education; the idea of a capital grant, or demogrant, to every young adult; the idea of "partnership" matching grants to encourage savings for pensions and long-term care; and a proposal to increase individual citizens' control over the fiscal systems through hypothecation or the earmarking of particular tax revenues for specific uses. Le Grand is the Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics. Index. ... Read more

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This monumental study is a comprehensive critical survey of the policy preferences of the American public, and will be the definitive work on American public opinion for some time to come.Drawing on an enormous body of public opinion data, Benjamin I. Page and Robert Y. Shapiro provide the richest available portrait of the political views of Americans, from the 1930's to 1990.They not only cover all types of domestic and foreign policy issues, but also consider how opinions vary by age, gender, race, region, and the like.

The authors unequivocally demonstrate that, notwithstanding fluctuations in the opinions of individuals, collective public opinion is remarkably coherent: it reflects a stable system of values shared by the majority of Americans and it responds sensitively to new events, arguments, and information reported in the mass media.While documenting some alarming case of manipulation, Page and Shapiro solidly establish the soundness and value of collective political opinion.The Rational Public provides a wealth of information about what we as a nation have wanted from government, how we have changed our minds over the years, and why.

For anyone interested in the short- and long-term trends in Americans' policy preferences, or eager to learn what Americans have thought about issues ranging from racial equality to the MX missile, welfare to abortion, this book offers by far the most sophisticated and detailed treatment available. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Aggregate Rationality
Scholars often lament that the public - as individuals - are ignorant regarding politics, and of their own policy preferences.This was supported, in part, by Campbell et al (1964) who illustrate the policy preferences were not strongly correlated with vote choice.This was further supported by Converse (1962) who found that the opinions of individuals fluctuated rather wildly over time.As such, Converse argued "large portions of the electorate do not have meaningful beliefs even on issues that may have formed the basis of intensive controversy among elites for substantial periods of time" (1962).Converse (1970) furthered his argument, claiming the public had "nonattitudes," and simply gave a random response because they felt obligated to do so.

Page and Shapiro (1992) contend that the individual voter may be ignorant of political issues in general, that is, individual policy preferences may be "incorrect" from a rational perspective, but the aggregate collective policy preference of a majority of citizens is not only rational, but stable.In part, the authors contend that this occurs through the theory of large numbers and subsequently normally distributed samples.

Page and Shapiro (1992) recognize that citizens may not have a deep understanding of specific political issues, but they do possess a more general understanding of major issues.They cite the example that citizens may not know what the acronym SALT stands for but they do recognize that the US and USSR are engaged in arms reduction talks.
Citizens understanding of major issues are coupled with the argument that individuals have some fundamental needs and have "uncertain beliefs" regarding how public policies will affect those needs.As such, Page and Shapiro contend that individuals have a long-term, although vague, preference for policies which will best serve their fundamental interests.Because preferences are uncertain in the short-term, they are susceptible to various sources of information and may fluctuate.However, if we "average" an individual's preference over time, we can find their "true" preference.There will be a "central tendency" and responses will fluctuate around this point.As such, if the individual has a "true" preference, then in the aggregate, there will be a collective preference.What is of prime interest here is that with a large collective sample, things like misinformation, mood swings, sampling error, etc. will be balanced out.As such, widespread public opinion can be an accurate description of the real interest of the majority of citizens, even if their own personal policy stances may not be truly representative of their core self-interest.

Page and Shapiro also draw into question the idea that public opinion changes rapidly and is unpredictable.They contend that in general, public opinion is quite stable, and when it does change, it changes in predictable ways.
The authors contend that when policy opinion changes, it does so in response to "changes in information, and changes in reality" (1992, pg. 53).Page and Shapiro divide changes in reality into two categories (a) events that affect individuals directly, and (b) those which do not affect the individual directly, but are interpreted by the individual in regards to costs and benefits.Circumstances that affect people directly include events which change the social, economic, and political life of individuals.For example, Page and Shapiro cite increases in income may promote greater support for increased social programs, or a rise in industrialization may lead to increased support for labor activity.Page and Shapiro write, "Such trends can be viewed as exogenous influences upon public opinion - independent influences subject only minimally, if at all, to elite preference manipulation" (330).
However, when events do not have a direct affect on individuals, "Citizens' assessments of the significance of trends and events - indeed, their very awareness of them - often depend crucially upon information and (especially) interpretations provided by elites, largely through the mass media" (331).This suggests that the media and elite discourse has the potential to shape public opinion.As such, in order for individuals to form valid, rational policy preferences, citizens must have access to valid information.In part, this rationality stems from "collective deliberation."

Collective deliberation helps the public to wade through the tremendous amount of political information.Page and Shapiro contend that information is processed through a complex system with many actors.The system is composed of many "specialized elements," i.e. experts, journalists, policy analysis, etc. who are all part of a larger, complex system in which they communicate with one another.This leads to a collective analysis of relevant information regardless of policy (Zaller 1992 would contend that there is a control over this debate which shapes preferences).Again, this relates to the theory of large numbers in that many individuals analyzing information, inaccuracies and biases will cancel out.Page and Shapiro write, "The public as a whole responds sensibly to events, not only as a result of statistical aggregation of individual preferences, but also because social processes of collective reasoning often produce and communicate high-quality information and interpretations" (366).Again, Zaller (1992) would disagree.
... Read more

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This title is directed primarily towards health care professionals outside of the United States. Since the first edition of this book was published, there has been considerable change across public health, health visiting and community nursing.The positive emphasis on developing and describing all services in relation to their purpose and client/user group is reflected in this second, emphasizing multi-disciplinarity and service focus rather than individual professions, whilst retaining the essential emphasis on policy and practice.Familiar occupational titles, such as health visitor, community development worker, midwife or nurse are still used within the chapters, recognizing the continued division of labour and major contributions to public health made by specific grass roots occupations.This second edition has been completely reorganised, expanded and updated to keep up with the rapid progress across the field of community public health.

• 'Key issues' boxes identify major topics within each chapter
• Discussion questions stimulate debate
• Boxes present information in a reader friendly, memorable format
• Each chapter provides extensive research, conceptual critique, information about sources, and resources for further information.

Product Description
Crime in the United States has fluctuated considerably over the past thirty years, as have the policy approaches to deal with it. During this time criminologists and other scholars have helped to shed light on the role ofincarceration, prevention, drugs, guns, policing, and numerous other aspects to crime control. Yet the latest research is rarely heard in public discussions and is often missing from the desks of policymakers. This book accessibly summarizes the latest scientific information on the causes of crime and evidence about what does and does not work to control it.

Thoroughly revised and updated, this new edition of Crime and Public Policy will include twenty chapters and five new substantial entries. As with previous editions, each essay reviews the existing literature, discusses the methodological rigor of the studies, identifies what policies and programs the studies suggest, and then points to policies now implemented that fail to reflect the evidence. The chapters cover the principle institutions of the criminal justice system (juvenile justice, police, prisons, probation and parole, sentencing), how broader aspects of social life inhibit or encourage crime (biology, schools, families, communities), and topics currently generating a great deal of attention (criminal activities of gangs, sex offenders, prisoner reentry, changing crime rates).

With contributions from trusted, leading scholars, Crime and Public Policy offers the most comprehensive and balanced guide to how the latest and best social science research informs the understanding of crime and its control for policymakers, community leaders, and students of crime and criminal justice. ... Read more

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For undergraduate courses in public policy. This text presents three systematic methods for analyzing public policy issues: utilitarianism, deontology, and prudent pragmatism. It argues for the superiority of prudent pragmatism to the other two approaches.These are described in Part One, together with substantive American values which form the assumptons of ethical analysis. Part Two contains an historical discussion of six public policy areas and presents two detailed case studies in each area. Each case is analysed from the standpoint of utilitarian, deontological, and prudent pragmatic ethics, and an effort is made to show why prudent pragmatism produces the most satisfying results ... Read more

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How can public policies improve people's health? What impact do they wield over the environment and personal lifestyles? Faced with cost-containment pressures, to what degree have political leaders implemented efficient health programs?

Probing these issues, Charles F. Andrain compares public policies, social inequality, and health in eight industrialized countries: the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Japan. Using an interdisciplinary approach, he not only describes health policies but explains recent changes in national health programs. The book also evaluates health policies according to their success in gaining public satisfaction, improving health, and ensuring more equal access to high-quality care. In a clear, comprehensive, and innovative manner, Andrain highlights the ways in which social inequality influences health policies and their outcomes on individual well being. ... Read more

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A popular and practical exploration of the basics of social policy and program analysis, including how to design new programs or evaluate and improve upon existing ones. The fourth edition Social Policy and Social Programs continues to benefit anyone with a practical interest in the analysis, evaluation and design of social policy and programs. Readers begin with a historical overview of perspectives on social problems as well as social program and policy provisions. From this foundation, they learn how to identify important past court decisions that have shaped the way a social program or policy is implemented. The authors Donald E. Chambers and Kenneth Wedel then discuss methods for obtaining and analyzing evaluative criteria for judging the effectiveness of major policy and program elements in order to improve both existing programs and future work in creating a new one. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Every Social Worker Must Have This Book!!!!!
Excellent tool in the field or in the workplace. A great tool to be instrumental in policy advocacy!!!

Excellent Service!!!!
Got this book in a timely manner and did not get the run around. Would definitely buy from this seller again!!!!

Policy, Bill, Program Analysis made too easy.
Want to know how to critically look at ANY policy or program? Take a look at this book. Each chapter gives a very detailed description of how policies and programs should be written so that the best possible results can be achieved. There are twelve chapters that cover analyzing social backgrounds, understanding historical significance of a policy or program, Judiciary contexts, style, goals and objectives, benefits and services, eligibility, service-delivery systems and methods of financing. Each chapter is detailed and jam packed with information but is still easy to follow. Full of great examples of how to pick and pull a policy apart and find all the possible lope holes. The last chapter gives an example of an actual policy analysis using each part of the chapters.

Highly recommend! This book is for anyone and everyone analyzing written policies!!!!

This book was the guideline for a policy analysis I had to do. I would have never gotten through the analysis of the bill if it hadn't been for this book! ... Read more

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NEW EXPANDED AND UPDATED PAPERBACK EDITION

Received ForeWord Magazine's Silver Book of the Year Award in Business and Economics

The business of baseball stands in sharp contrast to the game’s wholesome image as America’s favorite pastime. Major league baseball is a deeply troubled industry, facing chronic problems that threaten its future: persistent labor tensions, competitive dominance by high-revenue teams, migration of game telecasts to cable, and escalating ticket prices. Amid the threat of contraction, existing franchises are demanding public subsidies for new stadiums, while viable host cities are begging for teams. The game’s core base of fans is aging, and MLB is doing precious little to attract a younger audience.

According to Andrew Zimbalist, these problems have a common cause: monopoly. Since 1922 MLB has benefited from a presumed exemption from the nation’s antitrust laws. It is the only top-level professional baseball league in the country, and each of its teams is assigned an exclusive territory. Monopolies have market power, which they use to derive higher returns, misallocate resources, and take advantage of consumers. Major league baseball is no exception.

In May the Best Team Win, Zimbalist provides a critical analysis of the baseball industry, focusing on the abuses and inefficiencies that have plagued the game since the 1990s, when franchise owners appointed their colleague Bud Selig as MLB’s "independent" commissioner. Run by a shrinking and self-selecting group of owners subject to no oversight, MLB suffers from a lack of competitive pressure. Several large franchises are owned by media companies that have shackled their teams to lucrative broadcast and cable contracts—often making it impossible for fans to see games on television. Others own entities that do business with the teams, charging inflated prices for facility management, concessions, and catering. Complex intracompany transactions can reduce franchise revenues substantially, causing operating losses for teams while the owners still make millions. Zimbalist estimates that tens of millions of dollars are sheltered from MLB revenue each year—more than enough to eliminate the operating losses that led Selig to claim contraction and other radical remedies as fiscal necessities.Zimbalist believes that many of baseball’s problems would be effectively addressed by removing the industry’s presumed antitrust exemption. He urges reconsideration of baseball’s antitrust status, encouraging legislation to force monopoly cable providers to de-bundle their services, along with private initiatives to cultivate the game’s fan base, such as offering special ticket prices for families, allowing fans on the field after games, and involving players more in community events. Zimbalist also provides MLB with guidelines to reconstruct the incentive system underlying its revenue sharing policies.Zimbalist believes that consumers need an industry that is subject to judicial checks and competitive pressures. Only then will baseball fans be able to put the traumas of the 1990s and early 2000s behind them and utter freely the simple and enduring exhortation: May the best team win! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

What A Difference a Few Years Makes -
This book was published in 2002, just after the Diamondbacks won the World Series vs. the N.Y. Yankees, and before the steroid drug scandal. Zimbalist had dark premonitions about the future of baseball then, but nothing substantive has changed in terms of laws, subsidies, etc. Yet, the Tampa Ray Marlins almost won in 2008, contrary to Zimbalist's worry over big-dollar domination. He contends that MLB suffers from a lack of competitive pressure, thanks to its exemption from antitrust laws. True, a number of teams do show attendance declines since the book was written, but others show increases. A lot of the declines undoubtedly are more linked to the sagging economy than any MBL deficiencies. Even so, despite large numbers of growing empty premium seats, team revenues and values hit record values, per Forbes, 4/7/2010. Zimbalist should just relax and stick to teaching economics.

Great read and analysis even though somewhat outdated
This book provided a great analysis of the economics and policies of Major League Baseball.The author's points are clear and easy to follow. While the author appers slightly more in favor of the players' perspective than the owners', he makes a point to show both sides of the argument and does not favor particular teams.

It was written in 2002 so some of the information is outdated, but it is amazing to look back and see what was important at the time, how little has actually changed since that time, and how the CBA of 2002 has impacted today's game.

Well done discussion of all relevant points...
Excellent book written by Andrew Zimbalist. Well written w/extremely well-fleshed out arguments. The only thing I didn't like (and this is a style thing) is the use of footnotes after the narrative in an appendix. Flipping back and forth sucks.

Excellent Look at Competitive Balance within the Game
In "May the Best Team Win," economics professor Andrew Zimbalist documents problems in Major League Baseball that alienate young people who would otherwise become fans of the sport. The book is essentially a sequel to his earlier book, "Baseball and Billions," which examined how team owners use creative accounting to conceal revenues in order to justify offering lower salaries to players and demanding greater taxpayer subsidies for stadiums. In "May the Best Team Win," Zimbalist presents updated findings for the years following the strike of 1994, focusing on how the transition from broadcast television to cable is widening the revenue disparities between small- and large-market teams and ruining competitive balance within the game. He demonstrates that the baseball's revenue sharing program actually discourages small-market teams from investing shared revenues in player payroll, further exacerbating the problem. The book concludes that divestiture of Major League Baseball into separate and distinct leagues represents the best opportunity to restore competitive balance.

Zimbalist offers extensive statistical evidence that the relationship between player payroll and winning percentage became much stronger after 1995, with lower-payroll teams essentially unable to win a playoff series. Revenue gulfs between small-market and large-market teams rose rapidly because income obtained by large-market teams via televising their games on regional sports networks available only on cable and satellite television are not shared among the teams. Although the league increased sharing of other revenue sources following the strike, small-market teams actually receive more of this funding when they lose than when they win. Thus, owners of these teams, who often choose not to invest shared revenues they receive in player payroll, face a financial incentive to lose games. In fact, as soon as they are eliminated from the playoff races, many of these owners trade many of their highest-paid players to large-market teams in order to qualify for more shared revenues.

The book explains that owners of large-market teams have the ability to conceal earnings that would otherwise be shared. Many of these owners leverage their teams to funnel revenue into their other business investments, such as their regional sports networks or real estate holdings. Owners of large-market teams can also reduce the amount of revenue they must share by reducing their publicly-disclosed player payrolls through offering their own players non-payroll compensation or promises of future compensation when their playing days end, such as broadcasting jobs or front office positions. The bottom line is that wealthy teams do not have to share with teams located in smaller television markets, that teams in these markets have little incentive to win, and that fans have little incentive to follow these teams.

To address these problems, Zimbalist would divest Major League Baseball into separate and distinct American and National leagues to eliminate the exclusive broadcast territories that teams currently enjoy under the antitrust exemption. This is extremely important because these broadcast territories enable incumbent teams to prevent new startup clubs from entering nearby cities, such as Baltimore owner Peter Angelos' actions to prevent Washington, D.C., from receiving a team. Eliminating the broadcast territories would clear the way for new teams to enter the largest markets like New York and Boston, creating an equalizing effect for team revenues and, thus, resolving many of the game's competitive balance problems.

"May the Best Team Win" offers an excellent look at the problems plaguing baseball's appeal among the youngest generation of fans. Zimbalist does sports enthusiasts a great favor by explaining the intricate statistical relationships between team payroll, revenue sharing, and competitive balance in terms that everyone can understand. Although it is strongly recommended that fans read Zimbalist's first book, "Baseball and Billions," before reading this one, "May the Best Team Win" offers a great look at how greed has corrupted our national pastime, and how to fix it. One can only hope that one day the owners will listen.

Useful and informative
A very useful and informative economic discussion of baseball.What economists often do is point out the obvious, but it is only obvious after it has been pointed out.Most interesting and informative was the discussion of the cost-revenue structure of baseball teams, and if owners actually lose money as they say.I only wish the book were longer and attempted to do more.

The author is on solid ground with the analyses and could have added some more topics to look at from the economics viewpoint.Maybe it could be updated now. ... Read more

Product Description
In an readily accessible style, Public Policy: The Competitive Framework provides a complete explanation of how public policy is formed and why. The book presents a new interpretation of public policy analysis that is synthesised with market segmentation theory, allowing the model to be applied to differing market and social situations that require a public decision to be made.
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"From private prisons to high technology, this book cuts through boththe hype and hostility regarding privatization and public-privatepartnerships. It provides instead solid policy analysis regarding abroad range of contemporary initiatives." -- Robert Paehlke, TrentUniversity, Peterborough, Ontario

Partnerships between the public and private sectors to fulfill publicfunctions are on the increase at every level of government. In theUnited States and Canada they currently operate in most policy areas,and in the U.S. trial programs are planned by the Internal RevenueService, the Census Bureau, and the Social Security Administration.

Partnerships represent the second generation of efforts to bringcompetitive market discipline to bear on government operations. Unlikethe first generation of privatizing efforts, partnering involves sharingboth responsibility and financial risk. In the best situations, thestrengths of each sector maximize overall performance. In these cases,partnering institutionalizes collaborative arrangements in which thedifferences between the sectors become blurred.

This is the first book to evaluate public-private partnerships in abroad range of policy areas. The chapters focus on education, healthcare and health policy, welfare, prisons, the criminal justice system,environmental policy, energy policy, technology research anddevelopment, and transportation. The contributors come from a number offields, including political science, education, law, economics, andpublic health. They merge experiential and social-scientific findings toexamine how partnerships perform, to identify the conditions in whichthey work best, and to determine when they might be expected to fail.

Contributors: Ronald J. Daniels, James A. Dunn, Jr., SheldonKamieniecki, Harry M. Levin, Stephen H. Linder, Nicholas P. Lovrich,Jr., Mark Carl Rom, Pauline Vaillancourt Rosenau, Walter A. Rosenbaum,Anne Larason Schneider, David Shafie, Julie Silvers, Michael S. Sparer,Joseph E. Stiglitz, Michael J. Trebilcock, Scott J. Wallsten. ... Read more

Product Description
Violent video games are successfully marketed to and easily obtained by children and adolescents. Even the U.S. government distributes one such game, America's Army, through both the internet and its recruiting offices. Is there any scientific evidence to support the claims that violent games contribute to aggressive and violent behavior?

Anderson, Gentile, and Buckley first present an overview of empirical research on the effects of violent video games, and then add to this literature three new studies that fill the most important gaps.They update the traditional General Aggression Model to focus on both developmental processes and how media-violence exposure can increase the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both short- and long-term contexts. Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents also reviews the history of these games' explosive growth, and explores the public policy options for controlling their distribution. Anderson et al. describe the reaction of the games industry to scientific findings that exposure to violent video games and other forms of media violence constitutes a significant risk factor for later aggressive and violent behavior. They argue that society should begin a more productive debate about whether to reduce the high rates of exposure to media violence, and delineate the public policy options that are likely be most effective.

As the first book to unite empirical research on and public policy options for violent video games,Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents will be an invaluable resource for student and professional researchers in social and developmental psychology and media studies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Not worth the cost
I just read the sample of this book, and while it does present some interesting arguements, i don't think it is worth the money they are asking for it.

Sound Scientific Evidence
These are the top researchers, published in the top journals of their field. Critics often complain that they don't believe the science, but don't offer substantive arguments to the contrary. Critical thinking means weighing the evidence despite one's personal bias, which we all have. This topic sparks fierce debate because people take it personally. Bottom line, this is top notch scientific evidence, clearly conceived and well written.

Good book for a research project
It was a well written and informative book. At first I thought it was going to be all biased but they do take real facts and research to prove their point.

The debate is over? Really?
I tend to suspect a bias when a researcher claims the debate is over. The authors of this book make this claim in their introduction: "Nevertheless, the scientific debate about whether exposure to media violence causes increases in aggressive behavior is over and should have been over 30 years ago."

After reading this book, one should also read "Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do" by Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson.

Opinion FTL
It's interesting when reading about how video games influence violent behavior. It's like reading up on studies about ESP, they are interesting to read about but very clearly flawed in many ways. Putting aside the fact that many of the studies presented in this book lack the basic requirements of an acceptable study (Double-Blind Experiments with no room for observer bias) In the end this book presents generic ideas that can be changed slightly to apply to anything. Video games desensitize children to violence and promote aggressive behavior. Competitive sports desensitize children to having fun and increase likelihood of back-stabbing and double-crossing to get ahead and win.

Nonetheless this topic brings to mind the subject of angry, ignorant parents who will no doubt eat this up like another garbage-filled episode of Dr. Phil. To those parents I say this. Don't want your kids to play violent video games? Fine, don't buy it for them. There are ESRB ratings for a reason. Don't know what ESRB ratings are? Big surprise, hence making you an ignorant, angry parent. Let's forget the fact that all video game systems have parental controls on them and that each video game sold has a rating on it that states if there is any mature material on there, let's just focus on vague correlations that say that kids who play video games are more prone to aggressive behavior. Hey while we're lying to ourselves we might as well believe that we're actually in IRaq to spread democracy. Let the good times roll. ... Read more