CONTENTS: Preface SECTION I WHAT IS PUBLIC POLICY? 1 Public Decision Making 3 To Snowmobile, or Not to Snowmobile? 3 1.1 Defining Public Policy 6 Policy in the Real World Bad Policy Can Be Fatal, Literally: Zimbabwe's Self-Inflicted Wounds 8 1.2 The Policy Process 10 1.3 Overview of the Book 13 1.4 For-Profit, Nonprofit, and Government Institutions 14 Policy in the Real World Less Can Be More: Deregulation in the United States 18 1.5 Balancing Private Life and Public Policy 19 Policy in the Real World Private Behavior, Public Information: The AIDS National Mailing of 1988 21 1.6 The Art of the Possible: Life in a World of Scarcity and Uncertainty 22 1.7 Conclusion 26 For Discussion Maximizing Human Potential: The First Arab Human Development Report 28 2 Why is it so Hard to Make The World a Better Place? 32 The Promise and Pitfalls of Genetic Testing 32 2.1 Public Policy Success: Life is Better Now 35 Rule of Thumb a Note on Numbers 36 Policy in the Real World Good Science, Great Policy: The Global Eradication of Smallpox 37 2.2 So Far to Go 39 Policy in the Real World Using Research to Inform Policy: Fighting Drugs versus Fighting AIDS 52 2.3 Reconciling Our Differences 54 2.3.1 Values, Facts, and Theories 54 Policy in the Real World Peer Pressure: Peer-Reviewed Journals