The article considers three major non-Marxist explanations of the modern welfare state: functionalist sociological theories, economic theories of government policy, and pluralist theories of democracy. Each is subjected to a critique and all are found wanting, in that none can satisfactorily...

The article explores the work-life balance policy agenda as it has emerged in post-industrial societies, such as the UK, and it reports on a small-scale study of the experiences and expectations of work-life balance in a low-income inner-London neighbourhood. From the study certain general...

Evidence suggests that a regular and reliable transfer of cash to households with orphaned and vulnerable children has a strong and positive effect on child outcomes. However, conditional cash transfers are considered by some as particularly intrusive and the question on whether or not to apply...

Do resources matter? This question remains controversial in the economics of education as many studies find no relationship between school resources and educational outcomes. Yet, improving educational performance, especially of ‘hard to reach’ children, is a key area for government policy....

This paper addresses the budgeting challenges posed at a national level especially at a time of fiscal crisis and suggests some policy prescriptions to improve the functioning of the Greek public financial system. It focuses on the Public Financial Management and budgeting framework. In that...

This paper examines recent changes in the politics of risk regulation in Europe and compares them to developments in the United States. From the 1960s through the mid 1980s, the regulation of health, safety and environmental risks was generally stricter in the United States than in Europe. Since...

This review focuses on structured observational research, primarily in services for people with learning disabilities. Observational research is particularly useful where people using services are unable to answer interviews or questionnaires about their experiences, and where proxy respondents...