Anticipatory Policymaking

With this cutting-edge work, Rob Deleo makes a highly valuable contribution to both the theory and practice of public policy making. He begins with a (seemingly) straightforward question, one asked often by critics of government: Why can’t public officials anticipate social problems more effectively and take steps to avert or to lessen their impacts? Using concepts from the literature on agenda-setting as well as policy typologies and the implementation process, DeLeo addresses this question by means of a sophisticated analysis that is sensitive to the behavior of political and administrative institutions while also considering critical substantive differences across such issue areas as nanotechnology, public health pandemics, and climate change. The result is a wealth of insights into the distinctive dynamics of anticipation in the public arena, including suggestions for the right—and wrong—ways to improve performance in our age of "preparedness." —David A. Rochefort, Northeastern University

Most studies of policy change cite reactions to recent events as prime motivators for policy change. Rob DeLeo turns this process on its head, and considers how the policy process can address problems before they become damaging, attention-grabbing events. The book is firmly grounded in policy theory, and contains a number of examples effective anticipatory policy making that mitigated risks and prevented bad outcomes. DeLeo's painstaking and clear presentation shows that policymakers are not always reactive, that it has the capacity to anticipate and mitigate risks , and that this anticipatory policy making is characterized by patterns of behavior among actors and institutions that deserve our careful attention. This book is a fine example of contemporary policy research, and a useful corrective to the notion that the policy process simply waits for a disaster before rousing itself to action. The process is more complex and subtle, and DeLeo helps us see past this oversimplification.—Thomas A. Birkland, NC State University