This book offers a comprehensive and in-depth overview of how public policy is shaping gender equality in Europe.

The contributors examine the ways in which cultural change in the United States has created a need for public policy, and conversely, how public policy has led to cultural change. Issues include education, health care, equal economic opportunity, child care, and the justice system.

The New Deal was not the same deal for men and women—a finding strikingly demonstrated in Dividing Citizens. Rich with implications for current debates over citizenship and welfare policy, this book provides a detailed historical account of how governing institutions and public policies shape social status and civic life. In her examination of the impact of New Deal social and labor policies on the organization and character of American citizenship, Suzanne Mettler offers an incisive analysis of the formation and implementation of the pillars of the modern welfare state: the Social Security Act, including Old Age and Survivors' Insurance, Old Age Assistance, Unemployment Insurance, and Aid to Dependent Children (later known simply as "welfare"), as well as the Fair Labor Standards Act, which guaranteed the minimum wage. Mettler draws on the methods of historical-institutionalists to develop a "structured governance" approach to her analysis of the New Deal. She shows how the new welfare state institutionalized gender politically, most clearly by incorporating men, particularly white men, into nationally administered policies and consigning women to more variable state-run programs. Differential incorporation of citizens, in turn, prompted different types of participation in politics. These gender-specific consequences were the outcome of a complex interplay of institutional dynamics, political imperatives, and the unintended consequences of policy implementation actions. By tracing the subtle and complicated political dynamics that emerged with New Deal policies, Mettler sounds a cautionary note as we once again negotiate the bounds of American federalism and public policy.

Professor Ailsa McKay, who was known not only for her work as a feminist economist but also her influence on Scottish social and economic policy, died in 2014 at the height of her academic career and impact on public life. Organised around the key themes of Ailsa McKay’s work, this collection brings together eminent contributors to argue for the importance of making women's roles and needs more visible in economic and social policies. Feminist Economics and Public Policy presents a uniquely coherent analysis of key issues including gender mainstreaming, universal childcare provision and universal basic income security, in the context of today’s challenging economic and political environments. It draws on international perspectives to look at the economic role of women, presenting readers with interrelated sections on gender budgeting and work and childcare, before concluding with a discussion on Citizens Basic Income and how it could contribute towards a more efficient, equitable social security system. The theoretical, empirical and practice based contributions assembled here present recommendations for more effective public policy, working towards a world in which women’s diverse roles are recognized and fully accounted for. This book is a unique collection, which will be of great relevance to those studying gender and economics, as well as to researchers or policy makers.

As a field of scholarship, gender and politics has exploded over the last fifty years and is now global, institutionalized, and ever expanding. The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Politics brings to political science an accessible and comprehensive overview of the key contributions of gender scholars to the study of politics and shows how these contributions produce a richer understanding of polities and societies. Like the field it represents, the handbook has a broad understanding of what counts as political and is based on a notion of gender that highlights masculinities as well as femininities, thereby moving feminist debates in politics beyond the focus on women. It engages with some of the key aspects of political science as well as important themes in gender and feminist research (such as sexuality and body politics), thereby forging a dialogue between gender studies in politics and mainstream political science. The handbook is organized in sections that look at sexuality and body politics; political economy; civil society; participation, representation and policymaking; institutions, states and governance as well as nation, citizenship and identity. The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Politics contains and reflects the best scholarship in its field.

A rich collection of lively and accessible readings and case studies, Gender and Public Policy is the first text of its kind and the ideal choice for the teaching of public policy issues as they relate to women and gender. The readings range widely over topics on family and reproductive issues, on economics and culture, and on women's issues in management and government. They include personal stories, court decisions, historical narratives, and several cases prepared especially for this volume. All were chosen for their demonstrated value for facilitating and focusing classroom discussion.Although the book as a whole reflects a firm commitment to feminism and the welfare of women, the selections represent a variety of views and ideologies, giving students the opportunity to re-evaluate traditional gender roles in different ways. Editorial introductions, comments, and suggestions for further reading appear throughout the book to help students place issues in an appropriate context.Gender and Public Policy will make an invaluable contribution to teaching in women's studies programs, schools of public policy, and business schools as well as in departments of political science, sociology, and philosophy that feature courses on women's issues.

Women and European Politics is a comprehensive country-by-country survey of the changing political and economic history of women in Eastern and Western Europe over the last two centuries. Joni Lovenduski first discusses the contributions of the "first wave" feminists who fought for women suffrage as well as for reforms in family life, wage work, and educational opportunities. A more economically independent group of "second wave" feminists were concerned primarily with women's political activism, reproductive rights, child care provision for wage-earning women, laws against rape and sexual harassment, and consciousness-raising about women's oppression. Throughout her consideration of these issues, Lovenduski remains keenly aware of the unique situation for the women in each country discussed, as well as the divisions created among women due to differing social class and ethnic background. She is also skeptical of official press reports and accounts of women's political activity and aware of the interplay between professed government ideology and actual social and political practices as they affect women's daily lives.