Chapter 1: The importance of policymaking
Chapter 2: The challenges of problem-solving in a complex and dynamic world
Chapter 3: Exploring the policymaking world
Chapter 4: The fight for attention: Why some problems trigger policymaking (and many others do not)
Chapter 5: Crafting sound policy: The political dimension of technical choices
Chapter 6: Getting it done: The implementation challenge
Chapter 7: How accountability and evaluation shape policymaking
Chapter 8: Creating and maintaining legitimacy for public policies
Chapter 9: The art of policy adaptation
Chapter 10: The moral dimension of policymaking
Chapter 11: Governing across borders
Chapter 12: The future of policymaking: Cues for policy leadership

This book opens the black box of policymaking. It is the perfect textbook for undergraduates and master's level students who envision themselves as future policymakers. It covers how policies get made, the difficult trade-offs and complexity involved, while including a global perspective throughout.

Arjen Boin is Professor of Public Institutions and Governance at the Institute of Political Science, Leiden University. Before he moved to Leiden, he was a professor of public governance and crisis management at the Utrecht School of Governance and associate professor at the Public Administration Institute, Louisiana State University.

Arjen Boin has published widely on topics of crisis and disaster management, leadership, institutional design and organizational issues. His most recent books include Guardians of Public Value, Understanding the Creeping Crisis and Governing the Pandemic (all three were published in 2021 by Palgrave and can be downloaded for free).

His book Managing Hurricane Katrina (Louisiana State University Press, 2019) investigates the lessons that should be learned from this mega-disaster. His other books include The Politics of Crisis Management (Cambridge University Press, winner of APSA's Herbert A. Simon book award), Governing after Crisis (Cambridge UP, 2008), Crisis Management: A Three Volume Set of Essential Readings (Sage, 2008), Designing Resilience (Pittsburgh UP, 2010), MegaCrises (Charles C Thomas, 2012) and The EU as Crisis Manager: Patterns and Prospects (Cambridge UP, 2013).

Arjen Boin is the previous editor of Public Administration (Wiley), a premier journal in the field, and serves on the editorial board of the following journals: Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management (Wiley), Risks, Hazards and Crisis in Public Policy (Wiley), and International Journal of Emergency Management (Inderscience).