The second edition of this popular textbook introduces students to the major themes in the study of public policy implementation and relates them to contemporary developments in thinking about governance. Fully revised and updated, the book stresses the continuing importance of a focus on the implementation part of policy processes. Michael Hill and Peter L. Hupe suggest strategies for future research on implementation and identify modes of managing implementation as operational governance. Designed for an international audience, this is a core text for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students studying or conducting research in public policy, social policy, public management, public administration and governance. Michael Hill is Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and Visiting Professor at the Department of Politics, Queen Mary, University of London, UK. Peter Hupe teaches Public Administration at Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. He was previously Visiting Professor at the Public Management Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. Praise for the First Edition: "An excellent and much needed book. Hill and Hupe have provided a well written and highly accessible account of the development of implementation studies which will be immensely valuable to everyone concerned with understanding implementation in modern policy making". (Professor Wayne Parsons, University of London).