1st Edition

Talking Policy How social policy is made

By Judith Bessant Copyright 2005
432 Pages
by Routledge

432 Pages
by Routledge

432 Pages
by Routledge

When we catch a bus, visit a doctor, borrow a book from the library or enrol in a course we benefit from the social policies of government. Talking Policy explains how the myriad programs and services we take for granted are developed and delivered, and how this fits into the political process. There is a human and political aspect to social policy-making; it's not all rational solutions to... Read more
Introduction

PART A: Thinking about social policy

1: Theorising social policy

2: The Australian welfare state: Compared and contrasted

3: History Matters

4: Australian liberalism: Ideas at work in Australian social policy

5: Inequality and the Australian welfare state

6: Poverty, ethics and social policy

PART B: Making policy

7: State organisations and social policy making

Case study: Mandatory sentencing, the nation-state and international law 1991-2004

8: Putting the social into policy: policy making communities

Case study: Talking about drugs: Chroming, the press and policy making

9: Talking of metaphors and policy making

Case study: Policy change and metaphor - the case of university fees

Conclusion: On truth, the state and social policy

Biography

Judith Bessant is Professor, Rob Watts is Professor and Tony Dalton is Associate Professor in the School of Social Science and Planning at RMIT University, Melbourne. Paul Smyth is Professorial Fellow in Social Policy at the University of Melbourne.