Ideas and Influence: Social science and public policy in Australia

Description

A group of Australia's leading thinkers examine the relations between social science research, informed public opinion and the policy community. In short, it dissects relationships between research in the social sciences and policy outcomes. The book is a challenging and important analysis of current practice and an argument for how we might achieve more workable policy of broad social - as well as political - benefit. It shows that expert knowledge can shape better futures.

Professor Peter Saunders is an Australian Professorial Fellow who has been working closely with social policy issues in Australia and internationally for three decades. He is an active Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and is involved, through them, in encouraging social scientists to engage in multi-disciplinary research. Professor James Walter has held professorial positions in Brisbane, London and Melbourne since 1987. He has analysed policy-making institutions and change - with books and articles on the primeministership, ministerial advisers, the department of prime-minister and cabinet, the 'knowledgeable society' and leadership. His interest in policy actors and their contexts complements Peter Saunders' engagement with policy issues. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.