Social Sciences and Modern States National Experiences and Theoretical Crossroads

In this book, leading specialists in the field analyse both the development and failings of policy-oriented social science.

Modern social sciences have been committed to the improvement of public policy. However, doubts have arisen about the possibility and desirability of a policy-oriented social science. In this book, leading specialists in the field analyse both the development and failings of policy-oriented social science. In contrast to other writings on the subject, this volume presents a distinctively historical and comparative approach. By looking at earlier periods, the contributors demonstrate how policy orientation has been central to the emergence and evolution of the social sciences as a form of professional activity. Case studies of rarely examined societies such as Poland, Brazil and Japan further demonstrate the various ways in which intellectual developments have been shaped by the societal contexts in which they have emerged and how they have taken part in the shaping of these societies.

Acknowledgements; Notes on contributors; Part I. National Experiences in Comparative Perspective: 1. The policy orientation: legacy and promise Peter Wagner, Carol Hirschon Weiss, Björn Wittrock and Hellmut Wollmann; 2. Social science and the modern state: policy knowledge and political institutions in Western Europe and the United States Björn Wittrock, Peter Wagner and Hellmut Wollmann; 3. Political events and the policy sciences Peter Deleon; 4. From policy analysis to political management: An outside look at public-policy training in the United States Werner Jann; 5. Networks of influence: the social sciences in the United Kingdom since the war Cyril S. Smith; 6. National contexts for the development of social-policy research: British and American research on poverty and social welfare compared Martin Bulmer; 7. Political culture and the policy orientation in Dutch social science Stuart S. Blume, Rob P. Hagendijk and AD A. M. Prins; 8. Arenas of interaction: social science and public policy in Switzerland Raimund E. Germann; 9. The influence of social sciences on political decisions in Poland Wladyslaw Markiewicz and Witold Morawski; 10. The impact of social sciences on the process of development in Japan Joji Watanuki; 11. Changing roles of new knowledge: research institutions and societal transformations in Brazil Simon Schwartzman; Part II. Policy Sciences at the Crossroads: 12. Frame-reflective policy discourse Martin Rein and Donald Schon; 13. Research programmes and action programmes, or can policy research learn from the philosophy of science? Giandomenico Majone; 14. Policy research: data, ideas, or arguments? Carol Hirschon Weiss; 15. Social knowledge and public policy: eight models of interaction Björn Wittrock; Part III. Epilogue: 16. Summing up: social sciences and modern states Carol Hirschon Weiss and Björn Wittrock; Index.

Modern social sciences have, over the past forty years, been committed to the improvement of public policy. More recently, however, doubts have arisen about the possibility and desirability of a policy-oriented social science. In this book, leading specialists in the field analyse both the development and failings of policy-oriented social science.