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Contents -- Preface -- Part I. Introduction -- Chapter 1. The Health Effects of Social and Economic Policy: The Promise and Challenge for Research and Policy - James S. House, Robert F. Schoeni, George A. Kaplan, and Harold Pollack -- Part II. Education Policy -- Chapter 2. Education and Health: Evaluating Theories and Evidence - David M. Cutler and Adriana Lleras-Muney -- Chapter 3. Health Effects of Human Development Policies - Daniel P. Keating and Sharon Z. Simonton -- Part III. Income Transfer Policy

AbstractThis article discusses some of the challenges encountered in embedding effective and sustainable social enterprise and social innovation within established political institutional systems to deliver local welfare services. It draws upon evidence analyzing social innovation and social enterprise in Scotland to contribute to the debate over whether social innovations and social enterprises are able to meet expectations in addressing the significant challenges faced by welfare systems. The article clarifies the meaning of both these contested concepts and explains how social innovation and social enterprise relate to similar ideas in social and public policy. The evidence suggests that actually operating social enterprises and social innovations do not embrace the image of them promoted by enthusiasts as either "entrepreneurial" or "innovative". Furthermore, they bring distinctive challenges in delivering local welfare services, including potential tensions or rivalry with existing public agencies. The article suggests that social enterprises and social innovations are not themselves instigators nor catalysts for systemic change, but that their impact is constrained by structural conditions and institutional factors beyond their control.

Social change through creativity : music in mainland China's schools and community / Wai-Chung Ho, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong -- Preparing competent policy practitioners : how to be an effective advocate for your clients / Fredi Giesler, PhD, Department of Social Work, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI, USA -- A panorama on sports policies in Brazil / Fernando A. Starepravo, PhD, Felipe Canan, and Luciana L. S. R. Santos, Programa de Pós-Graduação, Associado em Educação Física, UEM/UEL, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, PR, Brasil -- A study of young students' musical preferences in contemporary Hong Kong / Siu-Hang Kong, Department of Music, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China -- Network actors in public policy / Olga Mikhaylova, Department of Public Administration, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia -- Social change in Nigeria : implications for teaching and learning in tertiary institutions / Grace Oyouvwe Abamba, Department of Educational Foundations & Administration, College of Education Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria -- Index

This paper examines the issue of criminality as it is expressed in social policy in Singapore. This small South‐east Asian country is characterized by great social and ethnic diversity, high rates of economic growth, but low crime rates. The relationship between these is pursued by examining the authoritarian political system and the social policies that have arisen from this to socialize and discipline the ethnically disparate and class‐divided population. A brief survey of the social structure of Singapore, the role of colonialism in shaping the legal system, the legal measures introduced during the pre‐independent anti‐colonial and anti‐communist struggles and the adoption of many of these by the new government of independent Singapore as weapons of social control introduces the paper. This is followed by an examination of the single‐minded pursuit of developmentalism and security in the post‐independent period and of the emergence of crime in political discourse as the paradigm of social disorder and self‐exclusion from the developmental state, and the relationship of these to the dominant political problem of the management of ethnicity and social differences expressed as concern with classification, a commitment to socio‐biology and the constant attempts to define a field of "Asian values" based on a local reading of Confucianism as the basis of social cohesion. The essay concludes with a discussion of the relationship between Singaporean images of social order and the pursuit of a distinctive form of positivist modernism and the question of whether a "Singapore model" is applicable elsewhere in the world.

Why do very different countries often emulate the same policy model? Two years after Ronald Reagan's income-tax simplification of 1986, Brazil adopted a similar reform even though it threatened to exacerbate income disparity and jeopardize state revenues. And Chile's pension privatization of the early 1980s has spread throughout Latin America and beyond even though many poor countries that have privatized their social security systems, including Bolivia and El Salvador, lack some of the preconditions necessary to do so successfully. In a major step beyond conventional rational-choice accounts of policy decision-making, this book demonstrates that bounded rationality drives the spread of innovations across countries. When seeking solutions to domestic problems, decision-makers often consider foreign models, sometimes promoted by development institutions like the World Bank. But, as Kurt Weyland argues, policymakers apply inferential shortcuts at the risk of distortions and biases. Through an analysis of pension and health reform in Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Peru, Weyland demonstrates that decision-makers are captivated by neat, bold, cognitively available models. And rather than thoroughly assessing the costs and benefits of external models, they draw excessively firm conclusions from limited data and overextrapolate from spurts of success or failure. Indications of initial success can thus trigger an upsurge of policy diffusion. --From publisher's description

"In der ehemaligen DDR gab es keine freigemeinnützigen Wohlfahrtsverbände, die soziale Dienste anboten. Vielmehr war es in erster Linie der Staat, der soziale Leistungen erbrachte, unterstützt durch quasi-staatliche Massenorganisationen, wie die Volkssolidarität sowie das DRK der DDR, und ergänzt durch die kirchlichen Organisationen Caritas und Diakonie. Mit der deutschen Einigung wurde das bundesdeutsche Institutionensystem eingeführt, der Sozialbereich entsprechend modifiziert, und die Spitzenverbände der freien Wohlfahrtspflege konstituierten sich. Für die Leitung dieser Verbände wurde neues Personal rekrutiert, das in der ehemaligen DDR aufgewachsen und zur Schule gegangen war, dort einen Beruf erlernt hatte und vor 1989 langjährig in den unterschiedlichsten Berufsfeldern (z.B. als Theologen, als Facharbeiter in der Industrie oder als Ökonomen im staatlichen Gesundheitswesen) erwerbstätig war. Die befragten Kreis- und Landesgeschäftsführer/innen der neuen Bundesländer besitzen daher keine langjährigen berufsbiographischen oder ehrenamtlichen Erfahrungen mit der verbandlichen Wohlfahrtspflege. In ihrer neuen Tätigkeit stehen die Verbandsvertreter/innen in den neuen Bundesländern unvermittelt vor der anspruchsvollen Aufgabe und beruflichen Herausforderung, auf der Basis ihrer Erfahrungen, Kompetenzen und Deutungsmuster, Strategien zu entwickeln, Entscheidungen zu treffen, Verhandlungen zu führen und Kenntnisse zu erwerben, um die vielfältigen Aufgaben der Organisation zu gewährleisten und ihren Bestand zu sichern. Sie treffen auf dieser Basis Entscheidungen, die letztlich das Profil des Wohlfahrtsverbandes und damit schließlich auch die Institution der Freien Wohlfahrtspflege prägen. Anhand von ausgewählten Fällen aus dem Sample des Projekts über das Führungspersonal intermediärer Organisationen in den neuen Bundesländern sollen Zusammenhänge zwischen lebensgeschichtlich erworbenen Erfahrungsgehalten und sozialpolitischen Vorstellungen aufgezeigt werden." (Autorenreferat)

In this article, we argue that, if the poverty reduction inroads recorded from the declaration of the Millennium Development Goals could be optimized and sustained particularly in rural areas experiencing higher incidence of poverty and livelihood vulnerabilities, policymakers and development practitioners ought to look beyond cash transfer measures to embrace skills and technology transfer policies and programs. This approach has a greater tendency of creating appropriate context for the empowerment and enhancement of the production capacities of the poor in ways that guarantee their independence to engage in self‐help initiatives and resilient local livelihoods. This conclusion is drawn from comparative study outcomes of two Government of Ghana social policies for poverty reduction, namely—the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty and the Rural Enterprise Program.

AbstractThe 1990s saw the beginning of new developments in the social policy agenda of Japan. A combination of further cuts in social expenditure and increases in financial resources through various means has become inevitable in response to the increasing cost burden of an ageing society, the prolonged recession and changes in the Japanese family. In this context, "kaigo hoken" (long‐term care insurance) was introduced in 2000 to increase revenue and fill the gap vacated by the family. The scheme introduced a different concept to the public: that long‐term care was no longer "expected'' from the family or "allocated" by the state, but has become part of a "social contract" based upon a system of mandatory contributions, uniform entitlements and consumer choice. This paper first explores the role of the new scheme in creating social inequalities among individuals (and families). A panel survey is used to highlight different patterns of care provision and the varying degree of financial pressure among different income groups. Second, based on qualitative research, the paper examines how the new scheme has transformed the relationship between older people and their families who have played a central role in this arena. The scheme has consequently divided "traditional" families and their liberal counterparts, as a result of care work being "commodified". It is apparent that this scheme has not only responded to fill the existing care gap but may also help accelerate the changes that have been taking place for the last two decades.