Through seven thematic sections this Handbook discusses a wide range of topics related to formulation such as the nature of policy design, instrument choice, policy appraisal, policy advice and the politics of defining and resolving policy problems.

Contents: Part I – Introduction: Policy Formulation and the Policy Process 1. Policy formulation: Where knowledge meets power in the policy process Michael Howlett and Ishani Mukherjee 2. The central conundrums of policy formulation: Ill-structured problems and uncertainty Sreeja Nair and Michael Howlett 3. Policy formulation as policy work: Developing options for government Martin Nekola and Jan Kohoutek 4. Positive and negative feedback in policy formulation Richard Burroughs Part II – What is Formulated: Choosing Policy Instruments and Policy Goals 5. Problem delimitation in policy formulation Arnošt Veselý 6. Policy tools and their role in policy formulation: Dealing with procedural and substantive instruments Michael Howlett 7. Patching vs packaging in policy formulation: Assessing policy portfolio design Michael Howlett and Jeremy Rayner 8. The elements of effective program design: A two-level analysis Michael Howlett, Ishani Mukherjee and Jeremy Rayner Part III – Formal and Informal Analytical Techniques in Policy Formulation 9. Formal policy appraisal techniques and policy formulation Camilla Adelle and Sabine Weiland 10. Operationalizing information: Measures and indicators in policy formulation Markku Lehtonen 11. Anticipation tools in policy formulation: Forecasting, foresight and implications for policy planning Martijn van der Steen 12. The role of public participation and deliberation in policy formulation Genevieve Fuji Johnson Part IV – Policy Advice and the Policy Formulation Process 13. Policy advice and policy advisory systems in policy formulation Jonathan Craft and Michael Howlett 14. The organization of policy formulation Craig Matheson 15. Knowledge brokers and policy advice in policy formulation Justyna Bandola-Gill and Catherine Lyall 16. Policy entrepreneurs and policy formulation Andrew Gunn Part V – Formulating Policy Problems 17. Issue expertise in policymaking Peter J. May, Chris Koski and Nicholas Stramp 18. Expert networks and epistemic communities: Articulating knowledge and collective entrepreneurship Anthony R. Zito 19. Framing the target in policy formulation: The importance of social constructions Anne Schneider and Helen Ingram 20. Consultants and policy formulation Helen M. Gunter Part VI – Formulating Policy Solutions 21. Policy instrument constituencies Arno Simons and Jan-Peter Voß 22. Think tanks, politics and the policy-making process: Catalysts for ideas and action James G. McGann 23. Exogeneity and convergence in policy formulation: Contested theories, approaches and perspectives Darryl S.L. Jarvis 24. Behavioral aspects of policy formulation: Experiments, behavioral insights, nudges Matteo M. Galizzi Part VII – The Politics of Policy Formulation 25. Policy paradigms and the formulation process Matt Wilder 26. The politics of policy formulation: Overcoming subsystem dynamics Paul Jorgensen 27. The impact of political parties, executives and political staff on policy formulation Christopher Eichbaum and Richard Shaw 28. Mechanisms of influence: Interest groups, lobbyists and policy formulation John C. Scott Part VIII – Trends and Patterns of Policy Formulation 29. Trends towards the externalization and politicization of policy advice in policy formulation Jonathan Craft and Michael Howlett 30. Trends towards evidence-based policy formulation Holger Strassheim 31. The changing role of the public in policy formulation: From mass media to social media Dennis Linders and Liang Ma 32. Policy overreaction doctrine: From ideal-type to context-sensitive solution in times of crisis Moshe Maor Index