dominant neoliberal paradigm focused on individual responsibility. Calls by health inequalities researchers for governments to adopt policy instruments that target structure rather than individual agency therefore need to be understood as an attempt to also change a prevailing neoliberal policy paradigm that disproportionately focuses on individual behaviour. Why this expectation remains unrealised has been explored by Cairney, St Denny and Mitchell ( 2021 ), who note that many health inequalities researchers follow a step-by-step ‘playbook’ to advocate for their desired
in harmonising our conception of corruption risks. It uses public policy literature to critically analyse the link and sequencing between the definition of the problem of corruption and the adoption of new policy instruments to regulate conflicts of interest. Policy sciences originally conceived of public policies as means to solve pressing public problems and reach identified goals through mixes of various instruments. This functionalist perspective on public policy sees policymaking as a rational activity where the selection of instruments follows the
167 EIGHT Policy instruments to promote good quality long-term care services Juliette Malley, Birgit Trukeschitz and Lisa Trigg Introduction In ageing societies it is not simply access to long-term care (LTC) that is important, but also its safety, effectiveness and responsiveness. This is not least because good quality LTC should help maintain the health and functional status of people for longer, but also because poor quality care can cause serious harm and has the potential to be life-threatening. Indeed, concerns around the quality of LTC services are
Housing allowances have become increasingly important policy instruments in the advanced welfare states. Operating at the interface between housing and social security policy, they provide means-tested assistance with housing costs for low income households.
In the present era of fiscal austerity, such schemes are seen by many governments as a more efficient way to help tenants than rent controls or ‘bricks and mortar’ subsidies to landlords. Yet as the contributions to this collection show, housing allowances are not without problems of their own, especially in relation to housing consumption and work incentives.
This book examines income-related housing allowance schemes in advanced welfare states as well as in transition economies of central and eastern Europe.
Drawing on experiences in ten countries, including Britain, Sweden, Germany, Australia and the USA, it presents new evidence on the origins and design of housing allowances; their role within housing and social security policy; their impact on affordability; and current policy debates and recent reforms.
Unique in it’s depth of coverage, “Housing Allowances in Comparative Perspective" is essential reading for researchers, students and lecturers in social policy, housing and urban studies.
Economic and social change is accelerating under the twin impact of globalisation and the new information technologies. But how are these processes interrelated? Are they impelling us towards a common socio-economic future? What can governments do if they want to manage and steer the direction of development?
This book addresses these questions with particular reference to the European Union, which has made the development of a socially cohesive, knowledge-based economy its central task for the present decade. It assesses both the challenges and the policy instruments that are being deployed, focussing in particular on the dynamics of the ‘new economy’; the new organisational architectures associated with rapid innovation; the transformation of education and training; the implications for social cohesion and exclusion and the role of policy benchmarking in promoting policy learning and enhancing national performance.
The European Challenge presents the most up-to-date research on the development of the knowledge-based economy and its social and policy implications. Its accessible and integrated treatment of the processes of economic, social and technological change make it an invaluable resource for those studying and researching in the fields of public and social policy, organisational and technological change and innovation. It is also highly relevant to policy-makers who need to understand and manage this change.
Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence.
While the debate on regulating prostitution usually focuses on national policy, it is local policy measures that have the most impact on the ground. This book is the first to offer a detailed analysis of the design and implementation of prostitution policy at the local level and carefully situates local policy practices in national policy making and transnational trends in labour migration and exploitation.
Based on detailed comparative research in Austria and the Netherlands, and bringing in experiences in countries such as New Zealand and Sweden, it analyses the policy instruments employed by local administrators to control prostitution and sex workers. Bridging the gap between theory and policy, emphasizing the multilevel nature of prostitution policy, while also highlighting more effective policies on prostitution, migration and labour exploitation, this unique book fills a gap in the literature on this contentious and important social issue.
The significant feature of homelessness in Europe over the past 25 years has been its persistence. Traditional policies have increasingly been found wanting in the light of the changed economic and demographic circumstances of the last quarter of the 20th century. A reappraisal of the nature of European homelessness by academics and practitioners demonstrates the need for the development of innovatory policies and practice that take account of these changed circumstances and explicitly address the current needs of Europe’s homeless people.
This highly topical report provides a synthesis of reported developments in innovative service provision for homeless people in the member countries of the European Union. Setting their arguments within a context of changing welfare provision and welfare/housing regimes, the authors reappraise the nature of homelessness and its causes, chart the main dimensions of the composition of homeless populations and of policy instruments and examine in detail the nature and diversity of emerging innovative practices in the provision of services to the homeless of Europe. Select examples of innovative services for homeless people are provided in the comprehensive Appendix to the report.
The report draws on the 1998 national reports of the 15 correspondents of the European Observatory on Homelessness who conduct research on behalf of FEANTSA (the European Federation of National Organisations working with the Homeless). It provides a genuinely comprehensive coverage of EU member states and should stimulate debate regarding housing policy issues across Europe and encourage transnational cooperation between non-governmental organisations as well as act as a stimulus for further research.
In bringing together a wealth of material on policy and practice throughout Europe the report adds considerably to our knowledge of the dynamics of European homelessness and housing policy. Services for homeless people is therefore important reading for academics across Europe, practitioners in non-governmental organisations dealing with the homeless, housing agencies and government departments, and students of comparative housing studies.
The research of the European Observatory on Homelessness is supported financially by DG V of the European Commission.
In this book, an international group of public policy scholars revisit the stage of formulating policy solutions by investigating the basic political dimensions inherent to this critical phase of the policy process.
The book focuses attention on how policy makers craft their policy proposals, match them with public problems, debate their feasibility to build coalitions and dispute their acceptability as serious contenders for government consideration. Based on international case studies, this book is an invitation to examine the uncertain and often indeterminate aspects of policy-making using qualitative analysis embedded in a political perspective.
This timely comparative study assesses the role of medical doctors in reforming publicly funded health services in England and Canada.
Respected authors from health and legal backgrounds on both sides of the Atlantic consider how the high status of the profession uniquely influences reforms. With summaries of developments in models of care, and the participation of doctors since the inception of publicly funded healthcare systems, they ask whether professionals might be considered allies or enemies of policy-makers.
With insights for future health policy and research, the book is an important contribution to debates about the complex relationship between doctors and the systems in which they practice.
For nation-states, the contexts for developing and implementing policy have become more complex and demanding. Yet policy studies have not fully responded to the challenges and opportunities represented by these developments. Governance literature has drawn attention to a globalising and network-based policy world, but politics and the role of the state have been de-emphasised.
This book addresses this imbalance by reconsidering traditional policy-analytic concepts, and re-developing and extending new ones, in a melded approach defined as systemic institutionalism. This links policy with governance and the state and suggests how real-world issues might be substantively addressed.
