Synopses & Reviews
What options are available now or in the future for students interested in a public policy career? How do they train, network, and advance in the field? Students, parents, professors, guidance counselors, and department chairs are often frustrated by the absence of a solid, readable book on policy careers and options. This book presents the career stories of twenty scholars and policy practitioners who have worked in Congress, the State Department, the CIA, Defense, international agencies, think tanks, the media, and major law firms—all of whom have been influential in shaping public policy—to give readers an accurate and realistic view of life outside the academic world.
No other book provides this type of solid advice for young policy professionals and for older scholars considering career changes. As such, it is vital reading in guidance and department collections, and an essential addition to the personal bookshelves of individual students, scholars, and researchers.
Synopsis
This book presents the career stories of twenty scholars and policy practitioners to give readers an accurate and realistic view of life outside the academic world.
Synopsis
Students, parents, professors, guidance counselors, and department chairs are often frustrated by the absence of a solid, readable book on policy careers and options. This book presents the career stories of twenty scholars and policy practitioners who have worked in Congress, the State Department, the CIA, Defense, international agencies, think tanks, the media, and major law firms--all of whom have been influential in shaping public policy--to give readers an accurate and realistic view of life outside the academic world.
About the Author
HOWARD J. WIARDA is Professor of Political Science and the Leonard Horwitz Endowed Chair of Comparative and International Politics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He also is Senior Associate, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Senior Scholar, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He is the author of American Foreign Policy, Comparative Politics, Politics and Social Change in Latin America; Catholic Roots and Democratic Flowers: The Political System of Spain and Portugal; Comparative Democracy and Democratization; and European Politics in the Age of Globalization.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Pursuing Careers in Public Policy by Howard J. Wiarda
Stopping at the Bachelors or Masters Degree
Storming Washington--and Returning to Graduate School by Caroline Blackwell
Coming to Washington to Earn an MA and a Career by Janine Perfit
The MPA: Careers in the Public Sector by Steven Bosacker
Advanced Degrees
The Academy as Pastoral Shop (or Campus Activism as Policymaking) by John Brigham
A State Department Career--and Afterwards by Lowell Fleisher
A Career as an "In `n' Outer" by Joseph Nye
On Being a Woman in the Academy and in Research Institutes by Susan Kaufman Purcell
Law and Public Policy in Washington by William Rogers
Life as a Policy Wonk
Close to Home: Working in State Government by Steve Boilard
The World of the Washington Think Tanks by Howard J. Wiarda
Influencing Policy on an International Level: Life and Work in a United Nations Agency by Elizabeth D. Gibbons
The Satisfactions of Non-Partisan Policy Analysis on Capitol Hill by K. Larry Storrs
Up and Down Pennsylvania Avenue: Congress and the Executive Branch by Vic Johnson
Dealing with the Media by Norman Ornstein
A Foot in Both Camps: Building a Career in Washington and Academe by Tom Mann
The CIA, the Defense Department, and Hard Choices by Melvin Goodman
Born in a Newsroom: A Political Scientist at CNN by William Schneider
Expanding Access and Influence
Roads Taken and Not Taken: My Political Science Career in Washington by Margaret Daly Hayes
Homen da Lua: Moving by an Unknown Source by Thomas Orum
Bridging Two Cultures, Straddling Two Disciplines by Alfred Cuzan
Conclusions
How to Be a Public Policy Manager in Washington by Donna Shalala
Conclusions and Recommendations by Howard J. Wiarda
Suggested Readings
Index