Provides comprehensive and stimulating picture of current abortion policy and practice in Europe, United States, Canada and Japan.

"Abortion Politics: Public Policy in Cross Cultural Perspective" focuses on current abortion policy and practice in the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan and aims to provide a comprehensive and balanced picture of current abortion policy in a cross-cultural perspective. The contributers deal with comparative abortion policy including recent developments in Ireland, Germany and Eastern Europe. Topics covered include struggles over the law, availability of and access to abortion services, the implications of the policy environment and new reproductive technologies.

This volume examines the impact of women's movements on the policy making processes determining abortion laws. It comprises the results of a cross-national research project on abortion politics in 11 democratic states between the 1960s and 2000. The authors have developed a comprehensive research design to examine whether or not women's policy agencies (institutional machineries intended to improve the status of women) have functioned as necessary and effective allies of women's movements in their efforts to gain access to power arenas and secure abortion laws that coincide with feminist goals The impact of women's movements is assessed in terms of their success in increasing the democratic representation of women generally and movement organizations specifically. The findings constitute a rigorous application of comparative methodology to assess explanations from social movement and democratic theory pertaining to variations in state feminism and movement success The book aims to show the extent to which states, through establishment of women's policy agencies, have assisted, opposed, or ignored the demands of movement activists for access to power and for feminist abortion poli

This volume examines the impact of women's movements on the policy making processes determining abortion laws. It comprises the results of a cross-national research project on abortion politics in 11 democratic states between the 1960s and 2000. The authors have developed a comprehensive research design to examine whether or not women's policy agencies (institutional machineries intended to improve the status of women) have functioned as necessary and effective allies of women's movements in their efforts to gain access to power arenas and secure abortion laws that coincide with feminist goals The impact of women's movements is assessed in terms of their success in increasing the democratic representation of women generally and movement organizations specifically. The findings constitute a rigorous application of comparative methodology to assess explanations from social movement and democratic theory pertaining to variations in state feminism and movement success The book aims to show the extent to which states, through establishment of women's policy agencies, have assisted, opposed, or ignored the demands of movement activists for access to power and for feminist abortion poli

Have institutional changes in governments resulted in policies that reduce gender-based inequities? Have such changes led to the creation of state feminism? And, if state feminism exists, are there variations in the abilities of state structures to promote feminist political agendas in the contexts of the different political, social, and cultural traditions of various countries? In Comparative State Feminism, an international team of contributors analyzes these questions, clearly describing the range and diversity of state structures formally responsible for promoting women's positions and rights in advanced industrial societies. In addition, these contributors explore the extent to which these state offices achieve feminist goals within the social, political, and historical contexts of each nation-state. Lastly, they propose, based on a cross-national comparison, the combination of political and social factors that appears to produce state structures prone to pursuing effective state feminist action. A must for students and scholars of political science, international studies, and gender studies, this volume will also interest policymakers and others involved in the affairs of government.