Foreword Ron Amann Introduction: introducing evidence-based policy and practice in public services Huw Davies, Sandra Nutley and Peter Smith Evidence and the policy process Sandra Nutley and Jeff Webb Part One: Analysis by service area: Health care: evidence to the fore Huw Davies and Sandra Nutley Education: realising the potential Carol Fitz-Gibbon Criminal justice: using evidence to reduce crime Sandra Nutley and Huw Davies Social care: rhetoric and reality Geraldine Macdonald Welfare policy: tendering for evidence Robert Walker Housing: linking theory and practice Joe Doherty Transport: beyond predict and provide Francis Terry Urban policy: addressing wicked problems Tony Harrison Part Two: Thematic analysis: A strategic approach to research and development Huw Davies, Gloria Laycock, Sandra Nutley, Judy Sebba and Trevor Sheldon Debates on the role of experimentation Huw Davies, Sandra Nutley and Nick Tilley Non-experimental quantitative methods John Hutton and Peter Smith Contributions from qualitative research Philip Davies Making a reality of evidence-based practice Sandra Nutley and Huw Davies Concluding remarks: learning from the past, prospects for the future Huw Davies, Sandra Nutley and Peter Smith.

What works?Evidence-based policy and practice in public services

This article considers the theoretical perspective of post-Foucauldian governmentality, especially the insights and challenges it poses for applied researchers within the critical social policy tradition. The article firstly examines the analytical strengths of this approach to understanding power and rule in contemporary society, before moving on to consider its limitations for social policy. It concludes by arguing that these insights can be retained, and some of the weaknesses overcome, by adopting Stenson's realist governmentality approach. This advocates combining traditional discursive analysis with more ethnographic methods in order to render visible the concrete activity of governing, and unravel the messiness, complexity and unintended consequences involved in the struggles around subjectivity.

/pdf/post-foucauldian-governmentality-what-does-it-offer-critical-3ine0c1zo6.pdf

Post-Foucauldian governmentality : What does it offer critical social policy analysis?

/pdf/the-economic-approach-to-law-3x1zmvsxn8.pdf

The economic approach to law

Review of The Downing Street Years by Margaret Thatcher.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

The Downing Street Years

In recent years, regulation has emerged as one of the most distinct and important fields of study in the social sciences, both for policy-makers and for scholars who require a theoretical framework that can be applied to any social sector. This timely textbook provides a conceptual map of the field and an accessible and critical introduction to the subject. Morgan and Yeung set out a diverse and stimulating selection of materials and give them context with a comprehensive and critical commentary. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach and emphasising the role of law in its broader social and political context, it will be an invaluable tool for the student coming to regulation for the first time. This clearly structured, academically rigorous title, with a contextualised perspective, is essential reading for all students of the subject.

/pdf/an-introduction-to-law-and-regulation-text-and-materials-1hxge3sl35.pdf

An Introduction to Law and Regulation: Text and Materials

The Oxford Handbook of Empirical legal Research

On Social Housing, Decline, Regulation and Government Constructing the Domain Needing Need On Money Regulatory Truths The 'Social' Contract Private Renting Owner-Occupation Conclusion

Regulating social housing : governing decline

In this article, we demonstrate how judgecraft, though mundane in the context of housing possession proceedings in England, involves the client-processing mentality suggested in Lipsky's work on street-level bureaucracy. Although they may be regarded as mundane, the consequences of these proceedings may well be dire, producing homelessness and other forms of extreme housing need. Lipsky helps us, because his work enables us to think about the factors that make up `being a District Judge'. Having discussed the background to housing possession proceedings, including their growth, we discuss this client-processing mentality in the context of the ways in which District Judges seek to control their clients as well as processes in the courtroom. Repeat-players are moulded by individual District Judges through routines, discipline, and just knowing what is expected. In particular, crucial decisions are made as to the worthiness of claimants and occupiers. As a result, relationships of trust develop which facilit...

'Pretty boring stuff': District Judges and housing possession proceedings

Housing, Urban Governance and Anti-Social Behaviour

This article considers the ways in which social housing has in recent years become inextricably linked with the process of crime control. Drawing on case study research into the rehousing of sex offenders, the authors provide evidence illustrating why and how social housing management has become increasingly drawn into the fold of crime control. The article then highlights some serious but often neglected concerns stemming from the adoption by social housing management of more crime control responsibilities. Whilst protection of individuals and communities should always remain paramount, the article concludes with a discussion about the implications of what these processes may mean for social housing.

David Cowan

Papers

The Oxford Handbook of Empirical legal Research

Regulating social housing : governing decline

'Pretty boring stuff': District Judges and housing possession proceedings

Housing, Urban Governance and Anti-Social Behaviour

Social Housing as Crime Control: An Examination of the Role of Housing Management in Policing Sex Offenders: