Work and the Welfare State places street-level organizations at the analytic center of welfare-state politics, policy, and management. This volume offers a critical examination of efforts to change the welfare state to a workfare state by looking at on-the-ground issues in six countries: the US, UK, Australia, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands. An international group of scholars contribute organizational studies that shed new light on old debates about policies of workfare and activation. Peeling back the political rhetoric and technical policy jargon, these studies investigate what really goes on in the name of workfare and activation policies and what that means for the poor, unemployed, and marginalized populations subject to these policies. By adopting a street-level approach to welfare state research, Work and the Welfare State reveals the critical, yet largely hidden, role of governance and management reforms in the evolution of the global workfare project. It shows how these reforms have altered organizational arrangements and practices to emphasize workfare's harsher regulatory features and undermine its potentially enabling ones. As a major contribution to expanding the conceptualization of how organizations matter to policy and political transformation, this book will be of special interest to all public management and public policy scholars and students.
Industry Reviews
The strength of Persuasion and Power is its exhaustive research, reflected in numerous vignettes and research that compellingly illustrate successful concepts, benefits, and failures of strategic communication. Scholars and strategic communicators alike will be impressed with Farewell's research and proposed solutions to enhance strategic communication. Persuasion and Power is a must-read for those with an interest in strategic communication. Military Review This book is the first to bring a street-level approach to international research on welfare state policy, politics, and management, offering a clear and coherent interpretation of how workfare-style policies are taking shape on the ground. Social Service Review This book is the first to bring a street-level approach to international research on welfare state policy, politics, and management, offering a clear and coherent interpretation of how workfare-style policies are taking shape on the ground. School of Social Service Administration Magazine, U of Chicago