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Public policy disasters in Western Europe

Title: Public policy disasters in Western Europe / edited by Pat Gray and Paul 't Hart.
Publication: London ; New York : Routledge, 1998.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Use in library	JN94.A58 P84 1998	Off-site

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Description

xv, 219 pages; 25 cm

Summary

In recent years Europe has witnessed some spectacular failures in government policy, which have, in some cases, contributed to the downfall of governments. This book considers these failures in policy-making asking what is meant by policy 'disaster', the different forms that they can take, and why they have occurred. The study opens with an overview of the trends in the explanation of 'disastrous' policy and explores the problems that arise when policies are evaluated. These issues are then examined in nine contrasting cases drawn from both the European Union and its member states. These include: the devastating crisis in the Belgium political system following the exposure of a paedophile ring; the crisis in the Dutch fight against drugs; 'Mad Cows'; the 'Arms to Iraq' affair in the UK; monetary union between East and West Germany; the Swedish monetary crisis of 1992; and the EU's common fisheries policy and policies towards civil war in Yugoslavia. Drawing upon common strands from these cases, the concluding chapter argues that broader trends towards increasing social and technological complexity render policy failures more likely. It also shows how some 'successful' government policies can become 'failures' when exposed to the mass media and a less deferential public opinion. The book is an excellent study of how and why policies can go wrong and highlights the limits of what governments can achieve in Western Europe.

Series Statement

Routledge research in European public policy

Uniform Title

Routledge research in European public policy

Subject

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

pt. I. Introduction. 1. Policy disasters in Europe: an introduction / Pat Gray -- pt. II. The core functions of the state. 2. The disastrous justice system in Belgium: a crisis of democracy? / Lode Van Outrive. 3. The mass media and policy disasters: the IRT disaster and the crisis in crime-fighting in the Netherlands / Mark Bovens, Paul 'T. Hart and Sander Dekker [and others] -- pt. III. The 'welfare' state. 4. The BSE crisis: public health and the 'risk society' / Rob Baggott. 5. Italian public policy and the Southern Question: policy disaster or political disaster? / Robert Sykes. 6. An unavoidable disaster? The German currency union of 1990 / Wolfgang Seibel -- pt. IV. The state in its international context.

ISBN

0415170702
9780415170703

LCCN

97047004

OCLC

ocm37947348
37947348
SCSB-378940

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library