The aims of Handbook on Complexity and Public Policy (HCPP) are set out in an introductory chapter by the editors, Robert Geyer, Professor of Public Policy at Lancaster University, UK, and Paul Cairney, Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Stirling, UK. They are to ‘improve the theory and practice of policymaking by drawing on the theory, concepts, tools and metaphors of complexity’ and to advance ‘complexity thinking’ as a means for understanding and explaining the policymaking world and as a basis for policy development.
These aims are pursued through 482 pages in 27 chapters, with a total of 40 authors. There are seven chapters on ‘theory and tools’, six on ‘methods and modelling for policy research and action’, twelve chapters on applying complexity to local, national and international policy, and a concluding chapter by the editors.