Constructing Policy Change: Early Childhood Education and Care in Liberal Welfare States

In Constructing Policy Change, Linda A. White examines the expansion of early childhood education and care (ECEC) policies and programs in liberal welfare states, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA. In the first part of the book, the author investigates the sources of policy ideas that triggered ECEC changes in various national contexts. This is followed by a close analysis of cross-national variation in the implementation of ECEC policy in Canada and the USA. White argues that the primary mechanisms for policy change are grounded in policy investment logics as well as cultural logics: that is, shifts in public sentiments and government beliefs about the value of ECEC policies and programs are rooted in both evidence-based arguments and in principled beliefs about the policy. A rich, nuanced examination of the reasons motivating ECEC policy expansion and adoption in different countries, Constructing Policy Change is a corrective to the comparative welfare state literature that focuses on political interest alone.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures List of Tables Preface and Acknowledgements Part I: Assessing the Scope of Policy Change in Liberal Welfare States 1. Constructing Policy Change in Early Childhood Education and Care: Scientific Avenues and Cultural Impediments in Liberal Welfare States 2. The Idea of Childhood and the Idea of Motherhood in Liberal Welfare State 3. Explaining the Shift in Norms Surrounding Early Childhood, Motherhood, and  the State in the 21st Century Part II: The Sources of Policy Change 4. The Role of Science and the Development of an ECEC Knowledge Regime 5. Transnationalization and Internationalization of ECEC Ideas Part III: From Ideas to Policy Change 6. Constructing Early Childhood Education and Care Policy Shifts in the USA 7. Constructing Early Childhood Education and Care Policy Shifts in in Canada Part IV 8. Conclusion List of References

About the Author :
Linda A. White is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and the School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Toronto.

Review :
"This fascinating study by Linda A. White is a major contribution to the field of early childhood education and care policy. ECEC is a very important issue in public discussion, and her work brings together two audiences that usually do not read each other's work but should - namely, scholars of public policy and students of comparative public policy." --Robert Henry Cox, Professor of Political Science, Walker Institute for International and Area Studies, University of South Carolina " Constructing Policy Change is a thoroughly researched work, and Linda A. White's intellectual breadth and theoretical ambition are very impressive. The book's rich historical detail and comprehensive reviews of existing research in several fields make a valuable scholarly and practical contribution. Scholars and practitioners who are familiar with the topic of early childhood education and care will learn something new from Professor White's innovative book." --Andrew Karch, Arleen C. Carlson Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota