Public policy and the policy process

A timely consideration of the development and content of the Conservatives' approaches to social policy and how they inform the Coalition's policies.

Published to coincide with the first anniversary of the election, this book looks at the Coalition government in the context of conservative ideas and seeks to assess what, if anything, is new about it.

This book focuses on how personalisation - the idea that public services should be tailored to the individual, with budgets devolved to the service user or frontline staff - evolved as a policy narrative and has mobilised wide-ranging political support.

The appeal of voluntary action as a solution to growing welfare needs in advanced capitalist countries raises important questions about the social impacts and spatial equity of such provision. For the first time, these issues are addressed within a single book, exploring the complex relationship between voluntary action, society and space.

What does it mean to be a volunteer in the UK today? This book adds new insights into volunteering from the perspective of the individual, the organisation and the community .

Bringing together a range of expert contributions, this book is the first to address the relationship between the economic crisis and social policy within an international context. The key lesson to emerge is that 'the crisis' is better understood as a variety of crises, each mediated by national context.

Offering insight into the key debates on services for young children, this book tells how Sure Start was set up, the numerous changes it went through, and how it has changed the landscape of services for all young children in England.

This topical book takes a critical look at contemporary governance theory, arguing that there are structural impediments to achieving an ideology of networks and reconsidering it from Marxist and Gramscian perspectives. 

'Where next for criminal justice?' considers the criminal justice policies which should be adopted, how they should be formed, and the principles and values which should be used.

This valuable collection is the first to identify how social solidarity across Europe is being re-invented from below and redefined from above.

A unique insider's perspective of news production in Britain which gives readers a flavour of what goes on in news rooms, pressure groups, departmental policy divisions and parliament.

This original and insightful reader provides a critical stock take of the state of user involvement and will be an important resource for students studying health and social care and social work, researchers and user activists.