It's a common complaint: the United States is overrun by rules and procedures that shackle professional judgment, have no valid purpose, and serve only to appease courts and lawyers. Charles R. Epp argues, however, that few Americans would want to return to an era without these legalistic policies, which in the 1970s helped bring recalcitrant bureaucracies in line with a growing national commitment to civil rights and individual dignity. Focusing on three disparate policy areas - workplace sexual harassment, playground safety, and police brutality in both the United States and the United Kingdom - Epp explains how activists and professionals used legal liability, lawsuit-generated publicity, and innovative managerial ideas to pursue the implementation of new rights. Together, these strategies resulted in frameworks designed to make institutions accountable through intricate rules, employee training, and managerial oversight. Explaining how these practices became ubiquitous across bureaucratic organizations, Epp casts today's legalistic state in an entirely new light.
Les mer
It's a common complaint: the United States is overrun by rules and procedures that shackle professional judgment, have no valid purpose, and serve only to appease courts and lawyers. This book argues, however, that few Americans would want to return to an era without these legalistic policies.
Les mer
"An elegant study that combines historical, comparative, and at times even ethnographic learning, Making Rights Real reveals how fervor for professionalism and fears of lawsuits together shaped police policies and practices in the United States and in Britain as well as responses to sexual harassment and the safety of playgrounds. It will be indispensable for scholars of the law." - William Haltom, coauthor of Distorting the Law"
Les mer

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780226211657
Publisert
2010-02-01
Utgiver
Vendor
University of Chicago Press
Vekt
567 gr
Høyde
23 mm
Bredde
17 mm
Dybde
2 mm
Aldersnivå
UP, P, 05, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
368

Forfatter

Biographical note

Charles R. Epp is associate professor in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Kansas.