Authored by two highly respected and experienced academics, this book demonstrates the rewards of studying social policy from an international perspective by avoiding the constraints of a single-nation focus. Global in its canvas and analytical in its method, the book: Explores the economic, social and political contexts of social policy; Examines in detail its institutions and fields of practice; Illustrates the fields main ideas, themes and practices drawing on a rich international literature and using pertinent and thought-provoking examples.