In the tradition of the Policy Studies Review Annual series, Volume Eight continues to offer the best of recent writing and analysis in a number of policy relevant area. Indeed, reflecting the shifting nature of policy debates and public attention, Volume Eight has introduced seven entirely new substantive areas, including such sensitive issues as the viability of the "safety net," information policy, work and labor policy, immigration policy, and environmental policy. The volume is also characterized by explicit attention to two critical aspects of the policy analysis craft--the strengths and weaknesses of various methodological approaches and the role noneconomic factors should play in economic policy analysis. Drawing from such public sector administrators as William Ruckelshaus and Eleanor Chelimsky, academic policy analysts such as Martin Feldstein and Irving Louis horowitz, and two congressional support agencies (CBO and GAO), the volume provides the most timely and relevant assessments of current policy issues. It also provides the reader with a framework within which to approach substantie areas as widely disparate as national security and health care. The volume is an indispensible tool for those who seek to sort through the confusions and contradictions of present policy statements in order to gain a cogent view of how these and other issues are framed and what viable policy options are available.