This fully revised, updated, and extended edition of a bestselling social policy textbook lays out the architecture of social policy as a field of study, combining theoretical discussions with discussions of social policy in practice. Paul Spicker provides readers with a sense of the scope, range, and purpose of social policy studies and helps foster a critical awareness of the problems that can beset it. He explains what social policy is and why it matters, looks at policy in a social context, considers the role of the state and social services in the larger public, and explores issues in...