With its highly centralized politi苞al institutions, Israel is typical of the unitary, nonfederal politi苞al systems in the world. On the other hand, with its growing em計hasis on federalism, the United States reveals the functions and dysfunctions of the pluralist sysè² em. In this provocative book, Frederick Lazin compares the two types of political systems to show how municipalities in Is訃ael, as in the United States, ex苟rt considerable influence on implementation of national doè¡«estic policies. He argues conèµ³incingly that unitary systems have many of the same diffi苞ulties that their federal counè² erparts have in implementing social welfare policies. This study provides a the觔retical basis for understanding how administrative institutional system and socioeconomic staè² us variables affect the potential influence of municipalities and make implementation of policies so problematic. It develops a model for policy implementation in unitary systems which then serves as a framework of analy貞is for a series of case studies of social welfare, education, and health policy in Israel. Com計arisons are then made with the federal political system of the United States in which the naè² ional government needs the cooperation of local authorities to implement its policies. Refer苟nce is made to federal housing policies and programs for low-in苞ome Americans. Similarities as well as differences are noted beè² ween the two systems in order to reach conclusions about pol虹cy implementation regardless of type of political system. The book contributes both to the general literature on policy implementation as well as to the politics of unitary versus federal systems. It provides a unique and important analysis of prob衍ems confronting both types of system in the area of policy im計lementation of social welfare programs, which remain imporè² ant concerns in political sysè² ems throughout the world.

In this concise yet thorough history of America in the 1980s, Doug Rossinow takes the full measure of Ronald Reagan's presidency and the ideology of Reaganism. Believers in libertarian economics and a muscular foreign policy, Reaganite conservatives in the 1980s achieved impressive success in their efforts to transform American government, politics, and society, ushering in the political and social system Americans inhabit today. Rossinow links current trends in economic inequality to the policies and social developments of the Reagan era. He reckons with the racial politics of Reaganism and its debt to the backlash generated by the civil rights movement, as well as Reaganism's entanglement with the politics of crime and the rise of mass incarceration. Rossinow narrates the conflicts that rocked U.S. foreign policy toward Central America, and he explains the role of the recession during the early 1980s in the decline of manufacturing and the growth of a service economy. From the widening gender gap to the triumph of yuppies and rap music, from Reagan's tax cuts and military buildup to the celebrity of Michael Jackson and Madonna, from the era's Wall Street scandals to the successes of Bill Gates and Sam Walton, from the first "war on terror" to the end of the Cold War and the brink of America's first war with Iraq, this history, lively and readable yet sober and unsparing, gives readers vital perspective on a decade that dramatically altered the American landscape.

Research papers (social research) on future trends in social policies and the evolution of the welfare state in Europe - emphasises the need for collective action at the local level (incl. Self help); sets down priorities concerning social work, social services, health services, social security schemes, population policy, etc.; outlines research needs. Diagram, references, statistical tables, tables.