Exploring the ethical frameworks and principles upon which governments can and should base their policies, this study draws on papers from the 2009 Ethical Foundations of Public Policy conference held in Wellington, covering topics such as ethics in decision making and advice giving, sustainability, equality and justice, and measuring progress. The examination contends that interplay between ethical considerations and policy creation is often complex, controversial, and challenging but tha...

The idea of social investment has obvious intuitive appeal. But is it robust? Is it built on sound philosophical principles and secure analytical foundations? Will it deliver better outcomes?For almost a decade, the idea of social investment has been a major focus of New Zealand policy-making and policy debate. The broad aim has been to address serious social problems and improve long-term fiscal outcomes by drawing on big data and deploying various analytical techniques t...

Climate crisis is upon us. By choice or necessity, New Zealand will transition to a low-emissions future. But can this revolution be careful? Can it be attentive to the disruptions it inevitably creates? Or will carefulness simply delay and dilute the changes that future people require of us? This timely collection brings together eleven authors to explore the politics and practicalities of the low-emissions transition, touching on issues of justice, tikanga, trade-offs, finance, futurism,...

'Humanity’s desire for hope is understandable, especially when the future looks threatening and anxiety provoking. Yet hope, to be genuine and lasting, requires firm foundations.'Jonathan Boston provides an urgent exploration of our future in the face of climate change. Focusing on adaptation challenges, he assesses the impact on communities, the need for robust relocation policies and a fair and effective compensation scheme. He also addresses the troubling prospects for property insuranc...

Jonathan Boston and Simon Chapple have written the definitive book on child poverty in New Zealand. Dr Russell Wills, Children’s CommissionerBetween 130,000 and 285,000 New Zealand children live in poverty, depending on the measure used. These disturbing figures are widely discussed, yet often poorly understood. If New Zealand does not have ‘third world poverty’, what are these children actually experiencing? Is the real problem not poverty but simply poor parenting? How d...

What is child poverty, what evidence is there of such poverty in New Zealand and why does it matter? These questions regularly attract answers accompanied by conjecture and prejudice. This short book uses the latest evidence and a non-partisan approach, identifying child poverty as a critical issue for New Zealand’s future. Jonathan Boston and Simon Chapple’s succinct introduction to this challenge, drawn from their widely acclaimed full-length book and updated with new data, is essential ...

All nation states, whether ancient or newly created, must examine their constitutional fundamentals to keep their constitutions relevant and dynamic. Constitutional change has greater legitimacy when the questions are debated before the people and accepted by them. Who are the peoples in this state? What role should they have in relation to the government? What rights should they have? Who should be Head of State? What is our constitutional relationship with other nation states? What is th...

‘Eighty years ago, New Zealand’s welfare state was envied by many social reformers around the world. Today it stands in need of urgent repair and renewal.’One of our leading public policy thinkers asks: What might the contours of a revitalised ‘social contract’ for New Zealand look like?Packed full of analysis, Jonathan Boston’s latest BWB Text directs us towards nothing less than a new political settlement. Wide-ranging reform of the welfare state is needed, Boston argues,...

In an era of populist politics, Brexit, Donald Trump, 24-hour news cycles and perpetual election campaigning, how do we govern well for the future? How do we take the long view, ensuring that present-day policy decisions reflect the needs and safeguard the interests of future generations?In this timely BWB Text, acclaimed policy scholar Jonathan Boston sets out what ‘anticipatory governance’ might look like in New Zealand. Confronted with a world becoming more uncertain by the day,...

This book is about governing well for the future. It investigates the nature of, and the conditions for, prudent long-term democratic governance in a dynamic, complex, and uncertain world, the reasons why such governance is politically challenging, and how such challenges can best be tackled. In particular, it addresses the problem of ‘short-termism’ – or a ‘presentist bias’ – in policy-making; that is, the risk of governments placing undue weight on near-term considerations at the expense...

**#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The “mercilessly entertaining” (Vanity Fair) instant classic “about the nature of identity and the terrible secrets that can survive and thrive in even the most intimate relationships” (Lev Grossman, Time “One of the Best Books of the Decade”)—now featuring never-before-published deleted scenesONE OF TIME'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME, ONE OF CNN'S MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE, AND ONE ...

Political discourse in much of the world remains mired in simplistic ideological dichotomies of market fundamentalism for efficiency versus substantial socialism for equity. Contemporary public policy design is far more sophisticated. It blends market, government and community tools to simultaneously achieve both equity and efficiency. Unlike in the twentieth century, this design is increasingly grounded in a deep evidence base derived by way of rigorous empirical techniques. A new paradig...