Introduction

This chapter places academic North American and European public policy programmes in a comparative context and provides an overview of the status of these programmes as pipelines for advancing policy analysis and policy research in light of domestic and global developments.

In this comparative examination, five key themes have been identified for exploration across each region: a) the historical background of policy analysis and research in light of the nature and scope of American influence; b) the development of differences and similarities in policy analysis and research, and what might explain them; c) the roles and impacts of ‘experiential learning’ tools such as co-ops and internships; and d) the roles and impacts of accreditation bodies. The conceptual framework applied to public policy programmes across the regions is elaborated before exploring the five themes.

Conceptual framework and definitions

Policy analysis is, as Wildavsky coined it, an “art and craft” (1979) or, rather, a creative and innovative affinity as well as a toolbox of skills. The conceptual difference between these two components can be stretched further to illuminate professional versus academic themes when assessing the teaching and training of public policy in higher education institutions. The professional theme can be conceived as made up of those pedagogical processes and clinical practices that teach and train for the application of skills with specific clients in mind. The ‘art’ element is here understood as the opportunity to take advantage of and develop innate affinity along with scholarly knowledge. This chapter will characterize such processes and practices under the umbrella of policy analysis. The academic theme can be conceived as made up of those pedagogical activities that teach the study of the public policy process writ large for its own sake, as a social sciences and/or liberal arts approach independent of a particular client's needs. Such activities will fall under the umbrella of policy research.

Although different in their presentations of policy analytic practices, all methodological policy analysis models across North America and Europe share the common guiding principle that policy analysis is a focal part of the policy process, must not be confused with the policy process itself, and is based on a specific professional toolbox of skills in order to reliably inform public decision-making. This consensus is reflected in different definitions of policy analysis that emphasize its unique characteristics.