Making public policy decisions : expertise, skills and experience / edited by Damon Alexander and Jenny M. Lewis.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Making Policy Decisions / Damon Alexander and Jenny M. Lewis -- 2. Not Only What, But How: The Role of expertise in developing public sector leadership / Richard T. Marcy -- 3. How Governments Think: Skills, expertise, and experience in public policy making / Damon Alexander, Jenny M. Lewis and Mark Considine -- 4. A Matter of Personality? Stability and change in EU leaders' beliefs during the Euro-crisis / Femke Van Esch -- 5. The Impact of Expertise on Crisis Management: Real-time evidence on response decisions by a public health agency during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic / Erik Baekkeskov -- 6. Performing a Collaborative Self: Emotions, expertise and ethics in network decisions / Helen Sullivan -- 7. Decision-Making at the Frontline: Exploring coping with moral conflicts during public service delivery / Evelien Vink, Lars Tummers, Victor Bekkers and Michael Musheno -- 8. Policy Entrepreneurs, Creative Teamwork, and Policy Change / Michael Mintrom and Chris Salisbury -- 9. Prime Ministers' Chiefs of Staff: Coping with wild treachery and weirdness / R.A.W. Rhodes and Anne Tiernan -- 10. Leadership of Reforming Governments: The role of political tandems / Paul Strangio, Paul't Hart and James Walter.

"To understand public policy decisions, it is imperative to understand the capacities of the individual actors who are making them, how they think and feel about their role, and what drives and motivates them. However, the current literature takes little account of this, preferring instead to frame the decisions as the outcomes of a rational search for value-maximising alternatives or the result of systematic and well-ordered institutional and organisational processes. Yet understanding how personal and emotional factors interact with broader institutional and organisational influences to shape the deliberations and behaviour of politicians and bureaucrats is paramount if we are to construct a more useful, nuanced and dynamic picture of government decision-making. This book draws on a variety of approaches to examine individuals working in contemporary government, from freshly-trained policy officers to former cabinet ministers and prime ministers. It provides important new insights into how those in government navigate their way through complex issues and decisions based on developed expertise that fuses formal, rational techniques with other learned behaviours, memories, emotions and practiced forms of judgment at an individual level. This innovative collection from leading academics across Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom and North America will be of great interest to researchers, educators, advanced students and practitioners working in the fields of political science, public management and administration, and public policy."--Publisher's website.