John Chandler

In 2001, George W. Bush created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The driving force behind the policy was to create a “level playing field” where faith-based organizations could compete on an equal footing with secular organizations for government funding of social aid programs. Given, on the one hand, the continuation of faith-based policy under Barack Obama and, on the other, the continued support by the vast majority of the American people for some form of such policy, the need has emerged to clearly understand what this policy is and the issues that it raises. Why? First, because the policy reveals new paradigms that explode traditional political and religious designations such as conservative–liberal or evangelical–progressive. Secondly, it is a policy which is setting precedents that with time will only become more entrenched in the institutional fabric of American government and the values of the culture. Finally, it does not seem to be a policy that is likely to just go away. And if it won’t go away, then, how should responsible policy be conducted? While John Chandler's Faith-Based Policy: A Litmus Test for Understanding Contemporary America responds to this need to understand, it also acknowledges that there is already a substantial amount of documentation available, which, taken together, provides a comprehensive, though sometimes biased, picture of faith-based policy. This book contributes a relatively brief, impartial analysis that draws on and synthesizes the available information. More specifically, in order to dissipate the confusion surrounding the perceptions that many have had concerning the intention and meaning of the policy, this book provides insight into: 1) the theological visions of the faith-based actors behind the policy; 2) how these actors have tried to apply these visions as the program has evolved in the 2000s; 3) the divisiveness and debate that has characterized the faith-based experiment, and; 4) how all of the above may be held up for contemplation by the reader as a mirror of developing American culture.

Presents an alternative history of the last eighteen years of West Ham. With a commentary on each season alongside the best of the OLAS cartoons from that campaign, this book is a warts-and-all reflection of the view from the terraces, celebrating the frustrations of supporting the team and the pessimistic mindset of the long-suffering fan.

The Wiltshire village of Codford lies in the lush Wylye Valley, between Salisbury Plain to the north and the chalk escarpments of the Wiltshire Downs to the south. Most travellers on the A36 between Warminster and Salisbury will take the bypass through the southern edge of the parish. But, for those who care to leave their cars and wander through the village, Codford's past is displayed in its landscape, its streets and its buildings. The village and its surroundings are not only outstandingly beautiful, they are also rich in history. Codford is a quintessential English parish and, like every parish, has a story to tell. First mentioned in 901, its later development was subject to the twin influences of road and river. Codford: Wool and War in Wiltshire explores why the landscape and architecture of an agrarian parish look the way they do, and examines how its people, their livelihoods and social connections have made it what it is. From early Anglo-Saxon settlement to important military garrison, through lords and landowners, agriculture and religion, community organisations and the impact of two World Wars, this fascinating look into Codford's rich past will evoke the history of many similar places.

The book contains a wealth of detailed and fascinating case studies of New Public Management (NPM) in practice in the UK, exploring the enactment of NPM in its specific organizational contexts. A range of public services are covered including local government, education, social work and the police, with particular attention paid to the National Health Service. The editors introduce the case studies through an examination of the 'hydra-headed' nature of NPM, its variability between sectors and its contested character. This provides themes that are developed within the case studies, where, in varying organizational contexts, the meaning of NPM is negotiated and its impact on those working in the organization is explored. The book points to the complex, fluid and negotiated character of NPM, as well as its centrality in reconfiguring occupational identities and relations within public service organizations.