International Public Policy Sourcebook

The complex economic and social structures of developed nations demand increasing government intervention in a number of policy areas, and this reference work aims to provide a guide to comparative public policies by analyzing the areas of education and environment within a cross-national context. Such analyses can offer an array of possible policy options, strategies and constraints, and also can provide insights into approaches to commonly encountered problems. Educational and environmental policies are analyzed separately for eight societies: Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, Sweden and the United States. These eight represent a range of socio-economic and political backgrounds, but all have welfare state systems and a common commitment to a variety of publicly financed programs. A policy chapter for each country, the critical work of an expert in that area, presents an historical overview of the development of the policy area in that country; surveys current strategies of government intervention; evaluates government policy; and closes with a bibliography. The common framework used in each chapter facilitates cross-referencing. This resource, like its companion publication "International Public Policy Sourcebook, Volume I" which addresses public policy in the areas of health and social welfare aims to become reference for those interested in specific policies, countries, or comparative policy analysis in general.