by Michael Lewis (2018)
Michael Lewis investigates the quiet civil servants managing our most complex, catastrophic national risks—from securing nuclear warheads to forecasting hurricanes—and what happens when government agencies are neglected.
Matthew Desmond
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Sociologist Matthew Desmond follows eight impoverished Milwaukee families as they spend 70-80% of their incomes on substandard housing, exposing eviction as a cause, not just a condition, of poverty.
Eve P. Smith & Lisa A. Merkel-Holguín
A History of Child Welfare offers many examples of practices that have direct import for those who struggle to support children. Who is not bothered by what seems to be increasing acts of violence by children against children? The role of hidden cruelty to children in perpetuating violence is illuminated by studying the past. Historians and social researchers have gone far in examining the family, and by implication, their revelations greatly increase society's complex responses to children over time, from early assumptions that children were little more than miniature adults to the discovery of childhood as a special developmental period. At the start of this century, women still did not have universal suffrage and brutal child labor was not unusual. Harsh legal codes separating the races were widespread, and those bent on improving the lot of children knew that reform meant commitment to an uphill struggle. By the end of the century much has changed: child labor, while still present, has been outlawed in most industries, women vote and hold many high offices; and de jure racial segregation is largely a memory. Yet the state of children remains precarious, with poverty a persistent theme throughout the century.
Catherine F. Smith
"In Writing Public Policy, Third Edition, Catherine F. Smith presents a general method for planning, producing, assessing, and critically analyzing communications in a variety of real-life public policy contexts and situations. This practical, concise guide is ideal for students preparing for careers in politics, government, public relations, law, public policy, journalism, social work, public health, public safety, or in any role concerned with public affairs. NEW TO THE THIRD EDITION: A new chapter on policy analysis and critical thinking An expanded chapter on writing More examples of sentence-level writing and revising in the writing sample commentaries Updated case studies and writing samples throughout" -- "Now in its third edition, Writing Public Policy is a practical, concise guide to writing and communicating in public policy processes. Designed to help students understand and perform common types of communication used in solving public problems, this text explains the standards and functions of communicating in the public sector and teaches the use of selected public policy communication genres. Catherine F. Smith presents a general method for planning, producing, and assessing communications in a variety of real-life contexts and situations of public policy work. New to the third edition: - A new chapter on policy evaluation and critical analysis of policy discourse - Updated and new cases, illustrations, scenarios, and samples - More samples by professionals - More on writing and critical thinking Hands-on and accessible, Writing Public Policy teaches know-how and techniques needed to effectively communicate in the democratic process of making public policy. It is a particularly useful tool for any student preparing for a career in politics, government, public relations, law, public policy, journalism, social work, public health, or in any role concerned with public affairs. "--
Gabriela Polit Dueñłas and Maria Helena Rueda
"This volume includes contributions of scholars from various fields--the social sciences, journalism, the humanities and the arts--whose work offers insightful and innovative ways to understand the devastating and unprecedented forms of violence currently experienced in Latin America. As an interdisciplinary endeavor, it offers an array of perspectives that contribute to ongoing debates in the study of violence in the region"-- "This volume addresses a situation now perceived among the most pressing issues faced by Latin America in our times: the proliferation of increasingly complex forms of violence, a reality with multiple ramifications, marking the socio-political landscape of the region in decisive ways. With contributions by scholars from various fields (the social sciences, journalism, and the humanities), this book examines not only the manifestations and the effects of violence but also the social acts that surround it and make it meaningful. Violence appears here as a natural yet dramatic manifestation of how individuals organize themselves in contemporary Latin America"--