Shows the evolution of the public policy arena over years of writing and thinking and presents some material including helpful analytical introductions. This book looks ahead to an internationalizing US political economy and the need for a global political science.

The Biography of Arenas of Power; Part I: Arenas of Power; chapter 1: American Business, Public Policy, Case Studies, and Political Theory; chapter 2: Four Systems of Policy, Politics, and Choice; Part II: Public Policy, History, and a Theory of Political Development; Chapter 3: Parallels of Policy and Politics; Chapter 4: American Federalism; Chapter 5: A New American State, and Four Different Roosevelts; Chapter 6: The Europeanization of America?; Part III: Bureaucracy and Arenas of Power; Chapter 7: The State in Politics; Chapter 8: The Case of Agriculture; Part IV: Economic Sectors and Collective Goods; Chapter 9: Interests, Politics, and the Variety of Group Experience; Chapter 10: Policy Choices and Political Consequences; Chapter 11: The Perils of Patronage; Part V: Outside the Box, Outside the Mainstream; Chapter 12: Prospects of Conquest; Chapter 13: New Dimensions in Policy and Politics; Chapter 14: Our Millennium

"A sophisticated contribution to policy analysis and comparative politics. Norman K. Nicholson's brief introductory chapters provide a succinct analysis of each section's contribution to the 'arenas of power' model and to the limits of the model's explanatory leverage. Perhaps the most intriguing part of the book lies in its recasting of American political history by examining the critical impact of policy types and eras on the development of political processes, political structures, and political 'issues.'" —The Review of Politics “A dense and sophisticated contribution to policy analysis and comparative politics. … Arenas of Power provides a detailed and accessible analysis of policy types and lays the groundwork for broader comparative work.” —The Journal of the Review of Politics