WordNet
n. a policy of for dealing with social issues
Wikipedia
Social policy is a term which is applied to various areas of policy, usually within a governmental or political setting (such as the welfare state and study of social services).
It can refer to guidelines, principles, legislation and activities that affect the living conditions conducive to human welfare, such as a person's quality of life. The Department of Social Policy at the London School of Economics defines social policy as "an interdisciplinary and applied subject concerned with the analysis of societies' responses to social need", which seeks to foster in its students a capacity to understand theory and evidence drawn from a wide range of social science disciplines, including economics, sociology, psychology, geography, history, law, philosophy and political science. The Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at Harvard University describes social policy as "public policy and practice in the areas of health care, human services, criminal justice, inequality, education, and labor". Social policy might also be described as actions that affect the well-being of members of a society through shaping the distribution of and access to goods and resources in that society. Social policy often deals with wicked problems.
The discussion of "social policy" in the United States and Canada can also apply to governmental policy on social issues such as tackling racism, LGBT issues (such as same-sex marriage) and the legal status of abortion, guns, euthanasia, recreational drugs and prostitution.
Social Policy is a quarterly magazine focused on labor and community organizing around the world. Its contributors are a mixture of academics, activists, leaders, and organizers.
Social Policy is published by the Labor Neighbor Research and Training Center. Publisher and editor-in-chief is Wade Rathke, veteran community and labor organizer, and founder of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and ACORN International.
The magazine serves as a forum for dialog about a wide range of activities involving policy and social change both globally and domestically. Regular columns discuss global events, technology, campaign and corporate research, and historical trends in organizing and development. Each issue usually includes substantial excerpts of important new contributions in the literature. There are regular, annual reports on international dialogs to various countries that are written by members of the delegation traveling with the Organizers’ Forum. These reports have been filed from Turkey, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam, for example.
Recent special issues have examined the state of organizing in the labor movement, the background of Barack Obama as a community organizer, the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast after Katrina, and the progress towards immigration reform in the United States. A program begun in 2011 also includes special on-line only features on topics of interest by authors such as Drummond Pike and Mike Miller and excerpts from Social Policy Press books.