Public Policy in a New Key brings together important contributions by a major social analyst on some of the most crucial policy questions of our time. Amitai Etzioni brings to these issues not only a lifetime's study of sociology and its sister social sciences but a critical commitment to societal change firmly rooted in democratic values and the ethics of social responsibility. Although these writings, half of which appear here for the first time, range widely over the spectrum of domestic and foreign policy questions, they are linked by a broadly conceived vision of sociological method that acts as a universal key to many social issues. Etzioni defines his approach to policy analysis as a macrosociology that deals with society in terms of its large-scale constituting units and their combinations. His method is flexible and superbly attuned to the dynamics of change that underlie the contexts of each issue treated here.^

His analyses are buttressed by an unfashionable emphasis on the importance of morality as the foundation of social stability and continuity. Etzioni notes areas in which the erosion of moral imperatives has contributed to economic and competitive decline and is severely critical of the ascendancy of rights over responsibilities in much contemporary political thought. Etzioni is especially critical of the notion of efficiency as the sole determinant of public policy. He warns of the potential for catastrophe in the rush to raw capitalism in the former Soviet bloc where democratic and social welfare institutions are not yet in place to act as stabilizing forces. In timely chapters on public health issues, he exposes the moral and practical fallacies of proposals for health care rationing and calls for increased political and community action in improving health and safety and combating the influence of special interest groups.^

Public Policy in a New Key is both a practical guide to the policy agenda for years to come and a major effort toward renewing the democratic reform impulse. It will be essential reading for political scientists, sociologists, policymakers, and public health specialists.