Strategic Perspectives on Social Policy

Strategic Perspectives on Social Policy is a collection of readings that provide insights into social policy processes, analysis, and implication. The goal is to locate social policy within a context that suggests the possibility of a wider array of choices for the policymakers. The distinction between social policy and social program is given emphasis.
This book has 14 chapters divided into four sections. The first section deals with the relation between politics and policy, with emphasis on the link between social science and social policy as well as on the influence of social values on the direction of policy. The next section illustrates some of the critical skills and technologies that may be used to facilitate the process of making choices and decisions. Topics covered include policy research and analysis; the development and structuring of policy; policy purveyance and implementation; and assessment and evaluation of policy. The chapters that follow explore some of the more important contexts of the ""loci"" of social change, along with the kinds of mechanisms that may be used to make choices operational.
This monograph is intended for policymakers and others interested in the policy-making process, as well as for students and teachers in the areas of political science, sociology, social work, public policy, and social planning.

Contenu

Foreword
Preface
Part I Policy as Politics
Chapter 1 The Politics of Policy

1. The Boundaries of Social Policy
2. Policy Making is Politics
   Chapter 2 Social Science and Social Policy
3. Putting Sociology into Social Policy
4. The Political Science Profession, Political Knowledge and Public Policy
   Chapter 3 Societal Values and Social Policy
5. Benign Neglect in the United States
6. Societal Values and Social Policy: Implications for Social Work
   Part II Skill Phases in the Policy Process
   Chapter 4 Policy Research and Analysis
7. Policy Analysis
8. An Advocate's Process Outline for Policy Analysis: The Case of Welfare Reform
   Chapter 5 Policy Development and Structuring
9. Ideas into Programs
10. On Commissionship-Presidential Variety
    Chapter 6 Policy Purveyance and Implementation
11. Policy Sciences Perspectives on Implementation Processes
12. Politics and the Implementation of Policy
    Chapter 7 Policy Assessment and Evaluation
13. On Comparing Income Maintenance Alternatives
14. The Political Economy of Efficiency: Cost-Benefit Analysis, Systems Analysis, and Program Budgeting
    Part III The Loci of Social Chance
    Chapter 8 The Individual and the Group
15. Strategies for Social Mobility: A Policy Framework
    Chapter 9 The Organization
16. Commitment and Conflict in a Normative Organization
    Chapter 10 The Community
17. Rancorous Conflict in Community Politics
    Chapter 11 The Society
18. Programs and Poverty: Federal Aid in the Domestic and International Systems
19. Institutional Obstacles to Reallocating Government Expenditures
    Part IV Organization and Structure for Policy Tasks
    Chapter 12 The Policy Technician
20. What Every Social Worker Should Know about Political Action
21. Drama and Advocacy Planning
    Chapter 13 The Policy Organization
22. The Roles of Private Consultants in Urban Governing
    Chapter 14 Social Policy and Social Change
23. Policy vs. Program in the 70's
    Appendix Suggested Frameworks for the Study of Social Policies and Social Programs
24. A General Framework for Social Policy Analysis
25. Guidelines for Analysis of a Social Welfare Program