Governments often present societal problems simpler than they are. In public policy, problems are bound, extracted from their context, and provided with one-dimensional solutions. As demonstrated in this book, ‘criminal youth groups’ must be imprisoned, and the municipal transport service must get passengers from A to B as quickly as possible. Because of these simplifi cations, policy becomes superfi cial, often with disappointing results.

This book searches for an alternative policy orie...

It is August 26, 2015. A crucial day during the Conference of State Parties in Cancún, Mexico. 67 of the 69 member states of the Arms Trade Treaty vote for a location of the new Secretariat. Three candidate host states and their cities are bidding: Austria (Vienna), Switzerland (Geneva), and Trinidad and Tobago (Port of Spain). In the first round, Port of Spain wins with 32 votes, Geneva gets 21, and Vienna drops out with 14 votes. The second round, Geneva gets 35, scooping up all of Viennaâ...