EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licenceThis book assesses how the practice of contracting-out public employment services via competitive tendering and Payment-by-Results is transforming welfare-to-work in Ireland.It offers Ireland’s introduction of a welfare-to-work market as a case study that speaks to wider international debates in social and public policy about the role of market governance in intensifying the turn towards more regulatory and condit...

Buying and Selling the Poor ventures behind the scenes of the multibillion-dollar welfare-to-work system, offering new insights into how Australia responds to unemployment and disadvantage. As the authors tell the story of four local employment offices, they paint a vivid picture of a critically important social service which many people are aware of but which few properly understand. They also reveal the wider impacts that processes of marketisation and welfare reform have had on...

A funny farmyard story from much-loved author, Michael Rosen. Perfect for bedtime, or any time!All is quiet on the farm – until Dog starts to SNORE!Cow and Cat and Sheep and Pig and Dog and all the little Piglets are woken by the noise. Will they ever get back to sleep?

Read by Paul McGann, ‘Dear Olly’ was written by Michael Morpurgo in 2000.A stunning performance and narrative.Ollie’s brother wants to go and work with children who have been made orphans, through war, in Africa. He wants to be a clown and make them laugh. His mother and sister want him to stay in England and go to university.Hero, a swallow, has a journey to make too. He must fly to Africa for the winter to join all the other swallows. His journey is difficult and f...

A fun-filled audiobook collection of three fantastic farmyard stories by highly-regarded poet, author, performer, broadcaster, and former Children's Laureate, Michael Rosen. With brilliant performances from Paul McGann and Richard Briers.Laugh along at this audiobook collection of three hilarious stories from Michael Rosen, the author of We're Going on a Bear Hunt. From a snoring dog and a wiggly piglet with a prickly problem, to a cat who just wants to be left alone, the ...

A funny farmyard story from much-loved author, Michael Rosen. Perfect for bedtime, or any time!All is quiet on the farm – until Dog starts to SNORE!Cow and Cat and Sheep and Pig and Dog and all the little Piglets are woken by the noise. Will they ever get back to sleep?

State legislatures are tasked with drawing state and federal districts and administering election law, among many other responsibilities. Yet state legislatures are themselves gerrymandered. This book examines how, why, and with what consequences, drawing on an original dataset of ninety-five state legislative maps from before and after 2011 redistricting. Identifying the institutional, political, and geographic determinants of gerrymandering, the authors find that Republican gerrymanderin...

This book considers the political and constitutional consequences of Vieth v. Jubelirer (2004), where the Supreme Court held that partisan gerrymandering challenges could no longer be adjudicated by the courts. Through a rigorous scientific analysis of US House district maps, the authors argue that partisan bias increased dramatically in the 2010 redistricting round after the Vieth decision, both at the national and state level. From a constitutional perspective, unrestrained partisan gerr...

A gentle and deeply moving story of a young girl and her bear, told with great charm by a master storyteller.High in the mountains, in a tiny village, an abandoned bear cub is adopted by a lonely orphan child. Soon they are inseparable, beloved by the whole village – safe, until the arrival of a glamorous film crew who need a dancing bear…

Michael Morpurgo's inspiring new story of Robbie, a boy in a coma – victim of a car accident. Locked inside his own head, able to hear but not move or speak, Robbie tries to keep himself from slipping ever deeper into unconsciousness.Michael Morpurgo's inspiring story of Robbie, a boy in a coma – victim of a car accident. Locked inside his own head, able to hear but not move or speak, Robbie tries to keep himself from slipping ever deeper into unconsciousness. Robbie, football fan ...

How far would you go to find yourself? The lyrical, life-affirming novel from the bestselling author of Private Peaceful.There were dozens of us on the ship, all ages, boys and girls, and we were all up on deck for the leaving of Liverpool, gulls wheeling and crying over our heads, calling good-bye, I thought they were waving good-bye. None of us spoke. It was a grey day with drizzle in the air, the great sad cranes bowing to the ship from the docks as we steamed past. That is all ...

Best-selling author Michael Morpurgo turns his storytelling skills to the drama and tragedy of the Spanish Civil War, read by Christopher Barlow.TORO! TORO! is the story of a young boy growing up in Andalucia, Spain, on a farm rearing bulls for the bull ring. Antonito hand-rears a little black calf, but the boy doesn't yet understand the fate of the black bulls – the corrida and death. Later, learning of the horrors of the bull fight, he frees Paco, and rides with him into the hill...