Research

Matt Ryan draws on ten years of research to deliver this landmark comparative review of participatory budgeting, or collective decisions on spending and taxation around the world. With examples of both positive change and notable failure, the book shows when and why citizens achieve this, and how policy makers can foster democratic engagement.

Reconceiving the current housing crisis in England as a ‘wicked’ problem, this book situates the crisis in a broader range of socio-economic issues and calls for a change in how housing is produced and consumed.

This book brings together leading figures in democratic reform and civic engagement to show why and how better state-citizen cooperation is needed to improve democracy and achieve positive social change across a range of policy areas and in varied national contexts.

Experts on learning for democracy come together to explore why and how the gap in civic competence should be bridged. They make the case for a more effective form of political education that can enable citizens to learn to exert their influence over their government in an informed and meaningful manner.

Exploring unique survey and interview data on the personality characteristics of British politicians, this book provides a timely psychological analysis of those individuals who pursue political careers and how they represent their constituents once elected.

EPUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This important book provides the first substantial analysis of white working class perspectives on multiculturalism and change in the UK, improving our understanding of this under-researched group and suggesting a new and progressive agenda for white working class communities.

This book explores the connections between race, place and space, and their role in maintaining racial hierarchies. Focusing on White residents in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, it employs interviews, participant observation and content analysis to unveil the enduring racial inequality in this supposedly progressive area.

In this powerful book, Kinouani uniquely examines the psychological and psychic factors involved in the reproduction of ‘whiteness’ and reveals how these intersect with race dynamics, race inequality and racial violence.

The response to neoliberal globalisation in Central Europe has led to populism arising from its brutal transition to capitalism. Kalmar uses examples from popular culture to sport to reject as racist the idea that Central Europe’s cultures are incompatible with liberal democracy.

'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 unique perspective on the academia-society nexus is the first cross-national comparative study on academic engagement in social policy formulation.

Rather than being seen simply as social policy implementors, in recent decades there has been recognition of the unique insights that social workers can bring to policy formulation. This book offers a theoretical framework for understanding why social workers engage in policy, and the implications for research, education and practice.