Social Science Research and Government Comparative Essays on Britain and the United States

This collection of original essays considers the relationship between social science research and government during the last 30 years in Britain and the United States including the consequences of policies towards social science of the Reagan and Thatcher governments to frame economic and social policies. What sorts of social science research are available and how are they used? How has the use of the social sciences grown and with what consequences? What is the role of such expertise in the democratic political process? These are some of the questions which the book seeks to answer by a detailed comparison of two of the leading Western nations in social science. Twenty authoritative contributors, most of whom work or have worked in government, review the general features of government/social science interaction, and examine in detail the institutions and methodology by means of which such knowledge-use is fostered. This is a unique collection, of general interest both to social science staff and graduate students and to policy-makers working inside government.

Preface; Contributors; 1. Governments and social science: patterns of mutual influence Martin Bulmer; Part I. Research in the Context of Policy-Making: 2. The governmental context: interaction between structure and influence Martin Bulmer; 3. Governmental structures, social science and the development of economic social policies Theda Skocpol; 4. The use of social research: myths and models Patricia Thomas; 5. Networks of influence: the social sciences in Britain since the war Cyril S. Smith; 6. Social science in Whitehall: two analytic perspectives Stuart S. Blume; 7. Congressional committee staffs (do, do not) use analysis Carol H. Weiss; 8. Social science training as related to the policy roles of US career officials and appointees: the decline of analysis Colin Campbell and Donald Naulls; 9. Perhaps Minister: the messy world of 'in house' government social research Robert Walker; 10. Social science in government: the case of the Home Office Research and Planning Unit Derek B. Cornish and Ronald V. Clarke; 11. The work of the Commission for Economic and Social Change in Germany Lisl Klein; Part II. Methodologies for Policy Research: 12. Varieties of methodology: strengthening the contribution of social science Martin Bulmer; 13. The links between policy, survey research and academic social science: America and Britain compared Aubrey McKennell, John Bynner and Martin Bulmer; 14. Survey research for government Barry Hedges; 15. The Federal effort in developing social indicators and social reporting in the United States during the 1970s Denis F. Johnston; 16. Social science analysis and congressional uses: the case of the United States General Accounting Office Ray C. Cist; 17. Comparative aspects of randomised experiments for planning and evaluation Robert F. Boruch; Part III. The Political Context: 18. The social sciences in an age of uncertainty Martin Bulmer; 19. 'Pulling through': conspiracies, counterplots and how the SSRC escaped the axe in 1982 Paul Flather; 20. Social science under siege: the political response 1981–1984 Roberta Balstad Miller; Index.

This collection of twenty original essays considers the relationship between social science research and government during the last 30 years in Britain and the United States especially the economic and social policies of Reagan and Thatcher governments. These essays will be useful to social science staff, graduate students and to policy-makers working inside government.