The challenge of maintaining dictatorial regimes through control, co-option and coercion while upholding a facade of legitimacy is something that has concerned leaders throughout the Middle East and beyond. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Syria ruled by the Asads, both Hafiz and his son Bashar. Drawing on the example of the General Union of Syrian Women (founded in 1967), Esther Meininghaus offers new insights into how the Syrian Ba'thist regimes attempted to move beyond mere satisfaction with the compliance of the citizenry and to consolidate their rule amongst the local population. Meininghaus argues that this was partially achieved through providing welfare services delivered by the Union as one of the state-led mass organisations. In this way, she suggests, these regimes did not only aim to undermine opposition and to create the illusion of consent, but they factually catered to local needs and depended on consent. Based on archival material, interviews and statistics, Creating Consent in Ba'thist Syria will shed new light on mass organisations as a crucial institution of Ba'thist state building and, more broadly, the construction of the Asad regimes.

Many Yemenite Jews made their way to Israel in the first half of the century. Later, following the foundation of the state of Israel in 1948, the rest of the community was flown in from the Yemen--an airlift of 50,000 people code-named Magic Carpet. These two groups, the early and late immigrants, afford a rare opportunity to describe the changes in health patterns during development toward a modern society. Using the fascinating but scanty information available from all manner of sources and comparing it with contemporary accounts of life in the Yemen today, Michael Weingarten relates the changes in the physical and psychological health of the Yemenite Jews to the various components of their new environment.

There was no modern medicine available in the Yemen, and most of the older generation of patients described in this study continue to believe in a threefold etiology of disease--magic, fate, and environment. Weingarten describes how traditional healers coexist with modern doctors and how, even when modern medicine is used, magical cures are expected. Although there are several sections dealing with largely medical data which will interest physicians and geneticists, most of the book is readable by anyone taking an interest in health and culture, including ethnologists, anthropologists, sociologists, health workers and planners, students of medical history, as well as all those interested in the study of Yemen, Judaic history, or Israeli culture.

Social justice is a contested term, incorporated into the language of widely differing political positions. Those on the left argue that it requires intervention from the state to ensure equality, at least of opportunity; those on the right believe that it can be underpinned by the economics of the market place with little or no state intervention. To date, political philosophers have made relatively few serious attempts to explain how a theory of social justice translates into public policy. This important book, drawing on international experience and a distinguished panel of political philosophers and social scientists, addresses what the meaning of social justice is, and how it translates into the everyday concerns of public and social policy, in the context of both multiculturalism and globalisation.

That risk communication ranks high on the policymaking agenda is beyond discussion today. The field is a point of intersection of social communication, practical management and policy making. It covers such diverse activities as to inform and educate the public about risk, and risk management in order to influence attitudes and behaviour, to act in situations of emergency or crises, to aid in decision-making and to assist in conflict resolution. Communication has grown into a major concern in current risk governance based on network co-ordinated management of public affairs conducted by authorities and companies and is recognized as a key component in the government of risk. This is especially salient in policy fields relating to environmental planning and resource management, urban planning, chemical and food regulation, or infrastructure planning, development and maintenance. This book explores risk communication research with a focus on new theoretical perspectives, research findings, and applied goals. It reflects on a broad range of innovative theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches and empirical areas. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Risk Research.

What is the power of the Treasury in controlling the policies and development of the welfare state? Drawing on in-depth interviews with officials of the Treasury and the spending departments, this book traces the developing role of the Treasury in setting social policy, especially under Gordon Brown's chancellorship. It reveals the tense relationship within Whitehall as the Treasury tries to set the Government's strategy but is resisted by spending ministers and officials.

This book describes the relationship between political authoritarianism and people's welfare in modern China. Based on a study of Chinese political discourse from the 1898 reform period to the present, the book demonstrates that support for authoritarian rule in modern China is best understood when compared to ancient political traditions of authority and welfare that were established in China's late Zhou dynasty by the Confucian philosopher Xunzi (298-238 BC).

Originally published in1984. Regional development planning has grown rapidly in recent years, as both an academic specialism and a focus of policy and practice. Books and articles on the subject have proliferated, and all across the Third World governments have become commited to it, setting up large new departments and even ministries. Charles Gore argues that this growing popularity of regional planning in developing countries is profoundly paradoxical.

The types of housing that people live in help to shape an individual's access to jobs, health, well-being, and communities. There are also substantial differences between generations regarding the type of housing they aspire to live in, their attitudes to housing costs, the nature of their households, and their attitudes to different tenures. This book is an innovative contribution to the study of housing, drawing upon research from the US, the UK, and Australia to show how lifetime attitudes to housing have changed, with new population dynamics driving the market. It also considers how the global financial crisis has differentially affected housing markets across the globe, with variable impacts on the long term housing transitions of different populations.

There is no precedent to the current economic crisis which looks set to redefine social policy debate throughout the globe. But its effects are not uniform across nations. Bringing together a range of expert contributions, the key lesson to emerge from this book is that 'the crisis' is better understood as a variety of crises, each mediated by national context. Consequently, there is an array of potential trajectories for welfare systems, from those where social policy is regarded as incompatible with the post-crisis economy to those where it is considered essential to future economic growth and security.

"Cherry and Lerman have written a compelling book that challenges the orthodoxies of both the political 'left' and 'right', and that promotes a set of policies to improve the economic status of lower-to-middle income working families. All who care about the well-being of working families will learn a great deal from their analysis." -Harry Holzer, Professor of Public Policy, Georgetown University "Offers highly sophisticated proposals for helping working families advance in the wake of welfare reform. Cherry and Lerman are very expert, and they write very well." -Lawrence M. Mead, Professor of Politics and Public Policy, New York University Even as our political system remains deeply divided between right and left, there is a clear yearning for a more moderate third way that navigates an intermediate position to address the most pressing issues facing the United States today. Moving Working Families Forward points to a Third Way between liberals and conservatives, combining a commitment to government expenditures that enhance the incomes of working families while recognizing that concerns for program effectiveness, individual responsibility, and underutilization of market incentives are justified. Robert Cherry and Robert Lerman provide the context to understand the distinctive qualities of Third Way policies, focusing on seven areas that substantially affect working families: immigration, race and gender earnings disparities, education, housing, strengthening partnerships, and federal taxes. Balancing empirical studies with voices of working class people, they offer an important perspective on how public policies should be changed. A timely approach, Moving Working Families Forward makes policy recommendations that are both practical and transformative.

This is the first book to examine the processes of territorial federalization and decentralization of health systems in Europe drawing from an interdisciplinary economics, public policy and political science approach. It contains key theoretical and empirical features that allow an understanding of when health care decentralization is successful.

Due to government cuts, the benefits system is currently a hot topic. In this timely book, a Citizen's Income (sometimes called a Basic Income) is defined as an unconditional, non-withdrawable income for every individual as a right of citizenship. This much-needed book, written by an experienced researcher and author, is the first for over a decade to analyse the social, economic and labour market advantages of a Citizen's Income in the UK. It demonstrates that it would be simple and cheap to administer, would reduce inequality, enhance individual freedom and would be good for the economy, social cohesion, families, and the employment market. It also contains international comparisons and links with broader issues around the meaning of poverty and inequality, making a valuable contribution to the debate around benefits. Accessibly written, this is essential reading for policy-makers, researchers, teachers, students, and anyone interested in the future of our society and our economy.

The Civil War and Reconstruction changed the face of social welfare provision in the South as thousands of people received public assistance for the first time in their lives. This book examines the history of southern social welfare institutions and policies in those formative years. Ten original essays explore the local nature of welfare and the limited role of the state prior to the New Deal. The contributors consider such factors as southern distinctiveness, the impact of gender on policy and practice, and ways in which welfare practices reinforced social hierarchies. By examining the role of the South's unique political economy, the impact of racism on social institutions, and the region's experience of war, this book makes it clear that the South's social welfare story is no mere carbon copy of the nation's.

The Malaysian economy is developing fast within the context of increasing globalization. The book analyses in depth Malaysia's policies aimed at promoting international trade, economic growth and social welfare. It also studies Malaysia's position in the Southeast Asia region and in a global context. This analysis forms the basis for the formulation of an alternative development strategy, whose aim is producing a caring civil society and enhancing the general welfare of the population while developing the economy.

Managing in Health and Social Care is about developing skills to manage and improve health and social care services. The focus throughout is on the role that a manager can play in ensuring effective delivery of high-quality services. Examples from social care and health settings are used to illustrate techniques for managing people, resources, information, projects and change.

This new edition has been extensively revised and updated, and includes many new case studies and examples, as well as a new chapter on motivation. It covers topics such as:

• interorganisational and interprofessional working
• leadership
• responding to the needs of service users
• the service environment
• accountability and risk
• working with a budget
• standards and quality
• managing change.

The authors explore how managers can make a real and positive difference to the work of organisations providing health and social care. They consider what effectiveness means in managing care services, the values that underpin the services, the roles of leaders and managers in developing high-quality service provision, and the necessary skills and systems to enable service users to contribute to planning and evaluation.

Managing in Health and Social Care is a practical textbook for students of management in health and social care, whether at undergraduate or postgraduate level. It includes case studies with textual commentary to reinforce learning, activities, key references and clear explanations of essential management tools and concepts.

The first edition of this book was published in association with The Open University for the Managing Education Scheme by Open Learning (MESOL)

This volume seeks to trace certain tendencies and developments in social policy in Western Europe and the United States. In the first, which is general, Professor Girod recalls the objectives of social policy as well as offering a number of scenarios or strategies for the future of social policy. The social policy philosophy of Schumpeter, Hayek and Roepke, and their current vitality, are traced by Professor de Luabier. Professor Delcourt, in his chapter on Social Policy - crisis or mutation?, presents a critical analysis of various trends in social policy and in particular the elitist philosophy of Hirschmann. The second part of the volume deals with particular national experiences: Switzerland by Professor Tschudi; Sweden by Dr. Hartmann; the United States by Professor Beneton; and Italy by Professor Donati. The book broadly covers the diverse range of subject matter encompassed within the term 'social policy' and should be of great value both to social policy practitioners as well as to those academics concerned with the fields of economics, sociology and political science.

In the five years since Money for Everyone was published the idea of a Citizen's Basic Income has rocketed in interest to an idea whose time has come. In moving the debate on from the desirability of a basic income this fully updated and revised edition now includes comprehensive discussions on feasibility and implementation. Using the consultation undertaken by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales as a basis, Torry examines a number of implementation methods for Citizen's Basic Income and considers the cost implications. Including real-life examples from the UK, and data from case studies and pilots in Alaska, Namibia, India, Iran and elsewhere, this is the essential research-based introduction to the Citizen's Basic Income.

Scholars from several countries discuss alternatives to traditional juvenile justice, detailing theory and practice in methods such as non-intervention, reintegrative shaming, and victim-offender mediation, and looking at criminological, ethical, and legal aspects of such alternatives. Of interest t

When government services are turned over to profit-making corporations will a gentler, kinder America result? Significantly, when the issue of privatization of government arises, this question usually takes a back seat to the more narrowly focused one of: can the taxpayer pay less for the same service without diminishing existing quality? . . . This book compiles experiences of practitioners and corporations with generally positive experiences in contracting for services between public and private entities. The essays by professors raise serious questions that all societies will face in creating an appropriate mix so that their citizens enjoy gentler, kinder lives. "Growth and Change"

For many cities and states faced with reductions in federal revenue sharing and little political support for increased taxes, privatization of the public sector seems the only viable alternative. In an effort to maintain existing service levels with decreased funds, many governments have turned to alternative service delivery approaches through such mechanisms as contracting, franchises, subsidies, and voucher plans. In this volume, Finley and a distinguished group of contributors from city governments, corporations, and universities, offer a comprehensive overview of privatization in practice. Their papers address privatization in a number of areas including transportation, fire protection, health care, and environmental services as well as the legal aspects of privatization. An especially stimulating chapter describes major European efforts at privatization.

Divided into three major sections, the book begins with introductory chapters that examine the dimensions of public services, evaluate recent changes in the public-private mix, and explore alternative delivery methods. Part Two focuses on alternate services experiences of governments and companies, including topics on environmental infrastructure alternatives, alternative means of highway development, private fire contractor operations, and alternative health care delivery. The final section addresses both constraints to privatization and the opportunities presented by various alternative delivery mechanisms. Here the contributors address the legal liabilities of governments involved in contracting out, the financial responsibilities of the contracting entities, and government financing of facilities through bonds. A chapter by the editor recommends a process by which business persons can begin to successfully compete tith public deliverers, while the final chapter offers new insights into the ways in which various European countries have handled the issue of privatization. Policymakers and public sector executives will find these essays enlightening and provocative.

This text analyses how the current generation of young adults enters the labour market and tries to create their own autonomous household, with or without children, exploring questions such as what does it mean to be a young adult in Europe today and what social policies help them to combine work and family life?

This re-issued work, first published in 1980, represents a work of normative political philosophy which argues positively for the centrality of the obligation to meet the various demands of social need in our society, and will be of particular interest to students of politics, philosophy, social politics and administration.

Bringing the insights of analytical Political Philosophy to bear on the issues of social welfare and welfare provision, the authors discuss such issues as the basis of the sense of stigma involved in the receipt of welfare benefits, the right of welfare and the concepts of 'community'.

This timely book is the most comprehensive account yet of recent commissioning practice in the English NHS and its impact on health services and the healthcare system. Drawing on eight years of research, expert researchers in the field analyse crucial aspects of commissioning, including competition and cooperation, the development of Clinical Commissioning Groups and contractual mechanisms. They also consider the influence of recent commissioning reforms on public health infrastructure. For academics and policy makers in health services research and policy, this is a valuable collection of evidence that deepens understanding of how commissioning works.

This volume examines the source of ideas in active labor market policies in the US, France, Denmark, UK and at European Union level. What are the most likely trajectories of active labour market policies in different national settings? Will welfare reform become more punitive towards welfare recipients, thus implying that the EU will just pay lip service to the commitment to social justice that is at the core of the European social model?

This book establishes asylum seekers as a socially excluded group, investigating the policy of dispersing asylum seekers across the UK and providing an overview of historic and contemporary dispersal systems. It is the first book to seek to understand how asylum seekers experience the dispersal system and the impact this has on their lives. The author argues that deterrent asylum policies increase the sense of liminality experienced by individuals, challenges assumptions that asylum seekers should be socially excluded until receipt of refugee status and illustrates how they create their own sense of 'belonging' in the absence of official recognition. Academics, students, policy-makers and practitioners would all benefit from reading this book.

Human rights tend to focus on the relationship between the individual and the state the individual is the rights-holder, the state is the duty-holder. Children's rights bring a third player much more into the picture, namely the parents. Although, legally speaking, they are not duty-holders under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, parents do have a number of responsibilities under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other human rights instruments. Child rearing may still be considered by many to be within the private domain, i.e. a matter of concern only within the relationship between children and their parents, with the exception of instances of child abuse or neglect. However, States may be obligated to turn parental responsibilities into national legal duties if this is needed to improve the legal and social position of children. In this volume, child-rearing responsibilities are examined in the light of children's rights and other human rights. All the contributions focus in particular on the proposal to introduce an upbringing (or parenting) pledge. The upbringing pledge contains not only a statement of lasting commitment towards the child, but also an explicit declaration of commitment to respect and promote the rights of the child both as a person and as a human being who is utterly dependent upon parents for wellbeing and the development of his or her personality. By means of the upbringing pledge as a child rights-based social institution, the responsibilities of society and the state towards both parents and children are re-affirmed as well.