Double Standard: Social Policy in Europe and the United States

In Double Standard, James W. Russell shows how and why different models of social and welfare policy developed in the United States and Europe. The fourth edition has been revised and updated throughout to reflect recent political developments that are having significant policy consequences, including the Brexit vote in the UK and the election of Donald Trump in the U.S. The fourth edition also features additional material on Karl Polanyi, European party politics, disability policy, and more.

Part One, “The Development of Social Policy,” discusses the factors that contributed to the different shapes of social policy in the U.S. and Europe. Part Two, “Key Social Policies,” considers how different counties have handled commons social problems including poverty, unemployment, child and family support, retirement and disability, health care, race and immigration, and incarceration. These different social policy orientations have produced disparate social ways of life—ways of life that are now in contention for the future of Western societies.

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