"Strach gets beyond overheated political rhetoric and the so-called Culture Wars to examine how our conceptions of what families are and should be infuse many aspects of public policy, and to ask what happens to public policy when the structure and practice of family diverges from those expectations."
Christina Wolbrecht "[Patricia Strach] does contribute to this grand narrative by ... Read moreexploring the intricate relationships between family and state in contemporary America and by examining how policymakers use the concept of the family in fashioning, promoting, and opposing particular programs. The careful balance between quantitative and qualitative methods, the effort to avoid an ideological vantage point, and the attempt to incorporate findings from public policy in other areas make this a valuable work."
Political Science Quarterly "Patricia Strach lucidly and persuasively contrasts the ideal of the family in public policy with the more complex and changing reality. The book will be of interest not only to political scientists but to those interested in gender and social policy, a burgeoning field of academic debate."
Cambridge Journal "This book brings family into the academic study of policy in a new way, with significant payoffs for both the study of how family functions as an institution connected to governance and for political science more generally."
Julie Novkov "Strach provides a wealth of new data that highlights the strategic use of family by policy makers as a rhetorical device in the policy process... [This] book will be valuable to researchers and graduate students who study public policy and the US Congress."
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