The La Follettes of Wisconsin

The La Follettes of Wisconsin
Author: Bernard A. Weisberger
Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press
Total Pages: 396
Release: 1994-02-15
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780299141301

A collective biography of a prominent American political family, the La Follettes of Wisconsin, whose lives were inexorably linked with the Progressive movement.

Cities and Social Movements

Cities and Social Movements
Author: Walter J. Nicholls
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2016-12-27
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1118750632

Through historical and comparative research on the immigrant rights movements of the United States, France and the Netherlands, Cities and Social Movements examines how small resistances against restrictive immigration policies do – or don’t – develop into large and sustained mobilizations. Presents a comprehensive, comparative analysis of immigrant rights politics in three countries over a period of five decades, providing vivid accounts of the processes through which immigrants activists challenged or confirmed the status quo Theorizes movements from the bottom-up, presenting an urban grassroots account in order to identify how movement networks emerge or fall apart Provides a unique contribution by examining how geography is implicated in the evolution of social movements, discovering how and why the networks constituting movements grow by tracing where they develop Demonstrates how efforts to enforce national borders trigger countless resistances and shows how some environments provide the relational opportunities to nurture these small resistances into sustained mobilizations Written to appeal to a broad audience of students, scholars, policy makers, and activists, without sacrificing theoretical rigor

After Welfare

After Welfare
Author: Sanford F. Schram
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2000-03-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0814771270

Do contemporary welfare policies reflect the realities of the economy and the needs of those in need of public assistance, or are they based on outdated and idealized notions of work and family life? Are we are moving from a "war on poverty" to a "war against the poor?" In this critique of American social welfare policy, Sanford F. Schram explores the cultural anxieties over the putatively deteriorating "American work ethic," and the class, race, sexual and gender biases at the root of current policy and debates. Schram goes beyond analyzing the current state of affairs to offer a progressive alternative he calls "radical incrementalism," whereby activists would recreate a social safety net tailored to the specific life circumstances of those in need. His provocative recommendations include a series of programs aimed at transcending the prevailing pernicious distinction between "social insurance" and "public assistance" so as to better address the needs of single mothers with children. Such programs could include "divorce insurance" or even some form of "pregnancy insurance" for women with no means of economic support. By pushing for such programs, Schram argues, activists could make great strides towards achieving social justice, even in today's reactionary climate.

Designing Government

Designing Government
Author: F. Pearl Eliadis
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 468
Release: 2005
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 077352844X

This collection of readings examines the tools used by today's government to achieve legitimacy, effectiveness, and accountability. The contributors examine the "instrument choice" perspective on government and public policy over the past two decades, moving beyond the preoccupation with deregulation and efficiency to trace the complex relationships between instrument choices and governance. Readers are encouraged to consider factors in the design of complex mixes, such as issues of redundancy, context, the rule of law and accountability. These latter factors are especially central in today's world to the design and implementation of effective instrument choices by governments and, ultimately, to good governance. The authors conclude that instrument choice itself is integral to government and governance.

Investing in the Disadvantaged

Investing in the Disadvantaged
Author: David L. Weimer
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2009-03-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1589015991

With budgets squeezed at every level of government, cost-benefit analysis (CBA) holds outstanding potential for assessing the efficiency of many programs. In this first book to address the application of CBA to social policy, experts examine ten of the most important policy domains: early childhood development, elementary and secondary schools, health care for the disadvantaged, mental illness, substance abuse and addiction, juvenile crime, prisoner reentry programs, housing assistance, work-incentive programs for the unemployed and employers, and welfare-to-work interventions. Each contributor discusses the applicability of CBA to actual programs, describing both proven and promising examples. The editors provide an introduction to cost-benefit analysis, assess the programs described, and propose a research agenda for promoting its more widespread application in social policy. Investing in the Disadvantaged considers how to face America’s most urgent social needs with shrinking resources, showing how CBA can be used to inform policy choices that produce social value.