Public policy is the business end of political science. It is where theory meets practice in the pursuit of the public good. Political scientists approach public policy in myriad ways. Some approach the policy process descriptively, asking how the need for public intervention comes to be perceived, a policy response formulated, enacted, implemented, and, all too often, subverted, perverted, altered, or abandoned. Others approach public policy more prescriptively, offering politically-informed suggestions for how normatively valued goals can and should be pursued, either through particular...

This title is a classic work on social reform. It is an account of the origins and development of community action from its beginnings in the Ford Foundation Gray Area Programs and the President's Committee on Juvenile Delinquency, through the rise and decline of the War on Poverty and the Model Cities program. In the ruthlessly impartial examination of various poverty programs, two social scientists one British, one American-explain why programs of such size and complexity have only a minimal chance of success. They describe the realities of reform and point up how the conservatism of...

Why are controversies about such issues as abortion, welfare, persistent poverty, and environmental destruction so intractable? As anyone who has ever engaged in or tried to settle an argument on highly charged issues knows, facts rarely persuade in such situations. This innovative approach to intractable policy controversies shows how "reframing" the issues can succeed where simply appealing to facts often fails.

In "Frame Reflections," two of his country's leading organizational theorists and policy analysts show how disputes that in abstract debate or negotiation seem insoluble can...

This introductory work discusses how people function in a pluralistic society and how they can accept a common social ethic - a publically justified morality. It presents straightforward analyses of the basic concepts, including justifications of liberty.

One of the most important changes in industrialised societies is the trend to early retirement. This volume is concerned with early exit from employment, the well-being of the early retired, and the policy issues raised. The topics include trends in the health of the elderly, disability insurance, pension policy, gender disparities, minimum standards in old age, and the harmonisation of pension schemes. The volume is cross-country in its coverage and cross-disciplinary in its approach.