- Stephan Leibfried, The University of Bremen'As workfare and activation policies spread across the globe,Christopher Jewell offers a much-needed comparative examination of how these policies operate in practice. This book adopts a 'street-level' perspective, examining activation practices in selected local offices in the U.S., Sweden, and Germany.While formal policies seem to be moving toward convergence, Jewell questions whether that is also true for activation in practice. Jewell's comparative, street-level approach identifies important administrative and political factors that distinguish activation practices in different national settings. His approach makes for a highly readable and valuable work of comparative social policy and administration scholarship. It should be of great interest to those concerned withcurrent shifts in welfare policy and how they reconstitute state-citizen relationships at the street-level.'

- Evelyn Brodkin, Associate Professor in the School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago