The goal of Birkland (public policy and political science, State U. of New York at Albany) in presenting this introductory text on public policy was to offer greater treatment of theory than is typical in other discussions of the topic and to make more explicit the link between theory and practice. He offers nine chapters on the study and practice of public policy; the historical and structural context of public policy making; official actors and their roles in public policy; unofficial actors and their roles in public policy; agenda setting, power, and interest groups; policies and policy types; policy implementation and policy failure; and models of the policy process. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)