Includes bibliographic references and a subject and name index.

Part I Core Issues and Concepts
1 Introduction and Overview -- The need for this book: filling a gap -- Approach and structure of this book 2. Language Policy -- A note on terminology -- What is language policy ? -- The policy analysis perspective -- A framework for language policy

Part II The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages 3. The Charter: an Overview -- A brief history of the drafting and adoption of the Charter -- The document 4 Implementing the Charter: Organisational Issues -- The pre-ratification stage -- Setting up the monitoring

Part III Application 5 From Legal Texts to 'Good Policy' -- Negative rights, positive rights, and results -- Defining 'good policy' -- Three basic principles of good policy: a preview 6. Effectiveness -- Examination of goals -- Analysing cause-and-effect relationships -- Output and outcome measurement: basic indicators -- Generalised effectiveness comparison -- Assessment of policy-specific effects 7. Costs and Cost-Effectiveness -- Understanding and measuring costs -- Cost-effectiveness evaluation 8. Democracy -- Democracy and policy choice -- Participatory democracy and the evolutionary character of democracy -- Participatory democracy and language policy 9. A Walk-Through Example: Language Education Policy -- Methodology -- Linguistic environment -- What works?

Part IV Conclusions 10. Assessment and Perspectives -- Summary -- Implementation of the Charter in practice -- The role of language planning bodies -- The way forward: diversity through 'normalitzacio"

Appendices : Appendix 1 Text of the European Charter on Regional or Minority Languages -- Appendix 2 Text of the Explanatory Report on the European Charter -- Appendix III The 'Flensburg Recommendations' -- Appendix IV Selected Internet Resources

"This book proposes an innovative treatment of minority language policies, by looking at them as policy options that can be methodically evaluated. The author applies the analytical concepts and technical tools of policy analysis to guide the reader through a step-by-step application of notions such as effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, with particular reference to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The thrust of this book is deeply interdisciplinary, and links the evaluation exercise to sociolinguistic, political and legal considerations." « Ce livre propose un traitement novateur des politiques linguistiques des minorités, en les considérant comme des options politiques qui peuvent être évaluées méthodiquement. L’auteur applique les concepts analytiques et les outils techniques de l’analyse des politiques pour guider le lecteur à travers une application étape par étape de notions telles que l’efficacité et la rentabilité, avec une référence particulière à la Charte européenne des langues régionales ou minoritaires. L’objectif de ce livre est profondément interdisciplinaire et relie l’exercice d’évaluation à des considérations sociolinguistiques, politiques et juridiques. »