1st Edition

The Politics of Sin Drugs, Alcohol and Public Policy

By Kenneth J. Meier Copyright 1994
    279 Pages
    by Routledge

    279 Pages
    by Routledge

    This work demonstrates the value of a multi-method approach to public policy analysis, arguing that descriptive historical studies, quantitative historical studies and cross-sectional quantitative studies are essentially compatible.

    This exploration of the Jewish political tradition elucidates a long, rich, and diverse experience of both sovereignty and dispersed statelessness. It holds insights, as Zvi Gitelman points out in his introductory chapter, for anyone interested comparative and ethnic politics, Jewish history, and the prehistory of contemporary Israeli politics. Stuart Cohen analyzes the "covenant idea" and the constitutional character of ancient Israel, which had a profound influence on Western political thought through the medium of the Bible. Gerald Blidstein examines rabbinic strategies for accommodation to the realities of Jewish dispersion in the middle Ages, while Robert Chazan focuses on communal authority and self-governance in the same period. Jonathan Frankel and Paula Hyman move the study into modern times with attempts to characterize the diverse patterns of Jewish political culture and activity in different parts of Europe, in the process revealing the dynamics of political cultural influence. Finally, Peter Medding looks at the "new politics" of contemporary American Jews - as voters, as public officials, and as organizational actors.

    Biography

    Kenneth J. Meier