This book is in essence concerned with the quest for rationality in decision-making, and is founded on the premise that improvements in the machinery of decision-making can actually lead to better decisions. The numerous initiatives of the 1960s and 1970s established specifically to foster greater policy coordination (notably the Central Policy Review Staff or 'Think Tank') had, by the beginning of the 1980s, fallen foul of an altogether changed political climate, in which policy formation was increasingly determined by the pressures of the marketplace, rather than by the pursuit of rationally-determined consensual goals. Paradoxically, however, this process has led, in turn, to renewed interest in the possibilities of interdepartmental policy coordination, at both centre and periphery, and in Joint Approaches to Social Policy the authors seek to provide a clear understanding of what the reality, rather than the rhetoric, of policy coordination actually entails. They endeavour to familiarise policy-makers at all levels with the basic conceptual tools necessary for successful policy coordination.

First published in 1997, this volume is about the challenge of introducing business-originated concepts of quality assurance, personal social services are currently confronted with all over Europe. Undoubtedly, the new orientation towards a more business-like approach in social welfare settings will raise professionalism, "client-orientation" and controlling (instead of mere inspection). There is evidence, however, that the specificities of personal social services are not always taken into account if it comes to introducing market values and mechanisms. Due to this development it becomes essential to promote more adequate criteria for quality standards in the very field of personal social services. The challenge is to maintain a certain standard of service provision while at the same time reconsidering the preconditions for defining quality. This will imply the search for a consensus between allegedly diverging approaches, i.e. between their different basic concepts, aims and standards. Given the social and economic context within which these developments are taking place, the focus of the contributions is on their critical assessment in different European countries. An overview is given about national developments in the areas of care for older persons and other social services. The contributors from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK look at how and by whom quality is defined and what challenges the actors of the traditionally mixed economy of personal social services are meeting. Empirical evidence about user involvement and satisfaction is given but also theoretical reasoning about the impact of business approaches on a "pubic good". Thus, the book tries to fill an important gap in practice, research and policy-making concerning personal social services and quality issues.

New public health governance arrangements under the coalition government have wide reaching implications for the delivery of health inequality interventions. Through the framework of understanding health inequalities as a 'wicked problem' the book develops an applied approach to researching, understanding and addressing these by drawing on complexity theory. Case studies illuminate the text, illustrating and discussing the issues in real life terms and enabling public health, health promotion and health policy students at postgraduate level to fully understand and address the complexities of health inequalities. The book is a valuable resource on current UK public health practice for academics, researchers and public health practitioners.