After two decades of feminist challenges to mainstream theorising, gender has become a central element of social policy and the welfare state. A new literature has widened the focus of social policy from state and economy to a three-sided discourse encompassing the state, the market and the family. The Handbook on Gender and Social Policy provides a comprehensive introduction to this field with up-to-date accounts of debates and innovative original research by leading international authors. The Handbook covers the key areas of social policy that relate to the inequalities between men and women in the developed and developing world. It presents original research on contemporary issues at national and transnational levels across the central policy terrain of income, employment, care and family policy, including family policy models, same-sex marriage and child protection. It features chapters on key perspectives on gender and policy and six original studies of the state of play in different regions of the world. The Handbook on Gender and Social Policy is an excellent resource for advanced students and postgraduate students of sociology, political science, women?s studies, policy studies and related areas. It will also be of interest for practitioners and scholars of social policy seeking up-to-date coverage of how gender affects the contours of social policy and politics. Contributors include: E. Adamson, C. Arza, D. Balkmar, M. Bernstein, M. Blaxland, M. Brady, D. Brennan, R. Daiger von Gleichen, M. Daly, A.L. Ellingsaeter, V. Esquivel, H. Figueiredo, K.R. Fisher, L. Foster, J. Ginn, S. Harkness, B. Harvey, J. Hearn, B. Hewitt, J. Jenson, T. Knijn, R. Mahon, L. Marg, J. Martinez Franzoni, J. McCoy, S. Meyer, J. Outshoorn, K. Pringle, S. Razavi, E. Reese, J.l. Rubery, M. Seeleib-Kaiser, X. Shang, S. Shaver, S. Staab, C. Valiente, F. Williams, A. Yeatman

The current context of social policy is one in which many of the old certainties of the past have been eroded. The predominantly inward-looking, domestic preoccupation of social policy has made way for a more integrated, international and outward approach to analysis which looks beyond the boundaries of the state. It is in this context that this Handbook brings together the work of key commentators in the field of comparative analysis in order to provide comprehensive coverage of contemporary debates and issues in cross-national social policy research. Organized around five themes, this thoroughly revised and updated second edition explores the contextual, conceptual, analytical and processual aspects of undertaking comparative social research. The contributions highlight specific areas of comparative social policy including child poverty and well-being, patterns of housing provision and housing inequalities, and social protection in East Asia as well as crime and criminology in a global context. The authors of the Handbook explore continuing and emerging themes as well as issues which are of particular relevance to understanding the contemporary social world. International in scope, this authoritative Handbook presents original cutting-edge research from leading specialists and will become an indispensable source of reference for anyone interested in comparative and international social research. It will also prove a valuable study aid for undergraduate and postgraduate students from a range of disciplines including social policy, sociology, politics, urban studies and public policy. Contributors include: D. Bainton, J. Billiet, J. Bradshaw, J. Clasen, G. Crow, R. Forrest, N. Ginsburg, I. Gough, L. Hantrais, B. Jessop, P. Kennett, H.-j. Kwon, N. Lendvai, S. Mangen, J. Midgley, R. Mishra, D. Nelken, J. O'Connor, A. Perez-Baltodano, A. Walker, C.-k. Wong

In the post-COVID-19 era, it is essential to adhere to an international framework for sustainable development goals (SDGs), which requires the management of the economic, social, and environmental shocks and disasters. While many have suffered across the world from the COVID-19 pandemic, these SDGs work to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages, as well as inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Frameworks for Sustainable Development Goals to Manage Economic, Social, and Environmental Shocks and Disasters provides an updated view of the newest trends, novel practices, and latest tendencies concerning the benefits, advantages, opportunities, and challenges of building an internationally successful framework for SDGs. Covering topics such as business longevity, green innovation, and vaccination willingness, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for government officials, business leaders and executives, human resource managers, economists, sociologists, students and faculty of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

This book examines a familiar and contemporary social policy issue-the crisis besetting social care-but differs from usual accounts by including additional perspectives (philosophical, ethical and political) not often raised but nonetheless crucial to understanding the issue. Its central argument is that while a health/care divide dates back to legislative separation at the inception of the welfare state in the 1940s, the major cause of the current crisis has been the slow but insidious ideological and practical splitting off and fracturing of social care from other state welfare institutions, notably the NHS, and its consequent entrapment in the treacherous straits of 'profit and loss', self-interest and individualism. These issues and others, the book argues, contribute to the building of a strong case for bringing social care into the public sector. Towards the end, the book goes on to consider the impact, from 2020, of the Covid 19 pandemic on a caring crisis that was already well-established. The consequences of this global shock are still working through and are likely to be profound. Solutions, as the book describes, which were already being formulated prior to the arrival of the pandemic, are even more salient now. The book will therefore be of interest to students and researchers of social policy and public policy, health and social care professionals and policymakers - and users of social care themselves.

Several presidents have created bioethics councils to advise their administrations on the importance, meaning and possible implementation or regulation of rapidly developing biomedical technologies. From 2001 to 2005, the President's Council on Bioethics, created by President George W. Bush, was under the leadership of Leon Kass. The Kass Council, as it was known, undertook what Adam Briggle describes as a more rich understanding of its task than that of previous councils. The council sought to understand what it means to advance human flourishing at the intersection of philosophy, politics, science, and technology within a democratic society. Briggle's survey of the history of U.S. public bioethics and advisory bioethics commissions, followed by an analysis of what constitutes a "rich" bioethics, forms the first part of the book. The second part treats the Kass Council as a case study of a federal institution that offered public, ethical advice within a highly polarized context, with the attendant charges of inappropriate politicization and policy irrelevance. The conclusion synthesizes the author's findings into a story about the possible relationships between philosophy and policy making. A Rich Bioethics: Public Policy, Biotechnology, and the Kass Council will attract students and scholars in bioethics and the fields of science, technology, and society, as well as those interested in the ethical and political dilemmas raised by modern science.

A common refrain when policy diverges from 'ideal' is 'if only we could take the politics out of the policy process'. The authors of this book argue that rationalist dreams of this nature fail to recognize that policy making is inherently part of politics; policy is the mechanism for giving citizens in a democracy the societal outcomes they seek. In a new and innovative way of thinking about public policy, the book places values at the centre of the analysis. It argues that citizens have differing visions of the good society and different values priorities. In making decisions on behalf of the whole community, policy makers need to recognize and manage these values differences. And in the same way, students of the policy process need to connect what government does with the wider political processes typical of a democratic society. The book casts a critical eye over public policy theory, introduces the reader to research on human values, explores the importance of language, rhetoric and persuasion, and draws on the insights from various strands of psychology in order to understand the realities of policy making in liberal democracies. In so doing, Interrogating Public Policy Theory offers a refreshing alternative to existing analyses of the policy process. This book will be a vital tool for public policy scholars, as well as those upper-level students searching for a map of the policy studies field and a critical examination of the dominant theoretical perspectives. It will also be a unique, and innovative, reference for public policy practitioners seeking more realistic accounts of the policy process that help conceptualize the nature of policy conflict.

This book dispels common myths about electricity and electricity policy and reveals how government policies manipulate energy markets, create hidden costs, and may inflict a net harm on the American people and the environment. Climate change, energy generation and use, and environmental degradation are among the most salient—and controversial—political issues today. Our country's energy future will be determined by the policymakers who enact laws that favor certain kinds of energy production while discouraging others as much as by the energy-production companies or the scientists working to reduce the environmental impact of all energy production. The Reality of American Energy: The Hidden Costs of Electricity provides rare insights into the politics and economics surrounding electricity in the United States. It identifies the economic, physical, and environmental implications of distorting energy markets to limit the use of fossil fuels while increasing renewable energy production and explains how these unseen effects of favoring renewable energy may be counterproductive to the economic interests of American citizens and to the protection of the environment. The first two chapters of the book introduce the subject of electricity policy in the United States and to enable readers to understand why policymakers do what they do. The remainder of the book examines the realities of the major electricity sources in the United States: coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydrodynamic, wind, biomass, solar, and geothermal. Each of these types of energy sources is analyzed in a dedicated chapter that explains how the electricity source works and identifies how politics and public policy shape the economic and environmental impacts associated with them.