Understanding policy processes can be a tricky business for students of social policy, practitioners and even policy makers. The structure of power and authority within an organisation, the influence of partner agencies on the execution of well-laid plans and the involvement of the media and community activists can all shape and distort decision-making, implementation and evaluation of policies in the public sector. Spicker has set himself a difficult task of unpacking this often obtuse topic for readers.

The author begins by making a distinction between what he terms ‘policy advocacy’ where analysis is focused on ‘what policies are, what they do, and how else they might be done’ (p. 1) versus the central concern of this book which is what he terms ‘policy analysis and review’, which focuses on the implementation and evaluation of policy. This distinction between the deconstruction of policy and its implementation is problematic and perhaps a key limitation of this book. By focusing almost exclusively on the operational aspects of policy, namely the aims of policy, how these aims are achieved and what lessons can be learned, Spicker inadvertently isolates policy implementation from the power dynamics that make implementation possible.

By discussing implementation in a vacuum the book does not focus enough attention on the organised chaos of the individuals tasked with implementation. Organisational culture, party politics, professional values, media attention, all – in very different ways – exert important influences on how policies are executed. An analyst's ability to judge the work of, for instance, Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs) or Community Health Partnerships (CHPs) must be first contextualised within the power dynamics of the partner agencies, the party politics of the local authorities and the ‘buy-in’ by a range of staff not necessarily used to working together on common goals. Allied to recognising the influence of subjective and interested individuals is an understanding and appreciation of alternatives to the existing policy regime. In order to analyse the effectiveness of policy, an analyst needs to know both what the policy does as well as what it might do. By omitting these important considerations, the book may be in danger of misrepresenting policy implementation as a rational process made possible by objective and rational-choice individuals.

The book's last two chapters on evaluation, however, are very good as they provide a helpful analytical framework for both students and practitioners to consider developing workable criteria for measuring and evidencing efficiency and effectiveness in the execution of policy. Despite the criticisms raised, the book is highly readable and Spicker's wry view of policy implementation makes this complicated subject enjoyable and easily accessible. What might be helpful for readers who wish to have a holistic understanding of policy analysis is to read this book alongside others that discuss organisational theory, the structure of power in bureaucracies, the formation of social policy and the techniques of lobbying and campaigning by interest groups.