European and United States Political Contexts for Family Policy Research

Abstract

In this article we will attempt to sketch the political context within which family policy operates. Scholars and practitioners seeking to do research in the policy area must necessarily take this context into account in any study dealing with program initiation, evaluation or implementation. We will first examine the political implications of attempts to define family policy and then examine its varying manifestations in Western European countries. By discussing transatlantic variations due to the different settings as well as current changes in the policies, we hope to give the reader a broader perspective for his/ her investigations as well as to suggest future developments in the family policy area. Since family policy has been a part of the European political scene since the 1920s (cf Dumon and Nesari-Slingerland, 1973), our presentation focuses on the European experience in the context of the present-day situation in both the United States and Europe. The final section is addressed specifically to the political forces involved in translating family policy into government programs (Nye and McDonald, 1978) which could be a fruitful area for future research.