Michael J. Lacey – författare

One deep problem facing the Catholic church is the question of how its teaching authority is understood today. It is fairly clear that, while Rome continues to teach as if its authority were unchanged from the days before Vatican II (1962-65), the majority of Catholics - within the first-world church, at least - take a far more independent line, and increasingly understand themselves (rather than the church) as the final arbiters of decision-making, especially on ethical questions. This collection of essays explores the historical background and present ecclesial situation, explaining the dramatic shift in attitude on the part of contemporary Catholics in the U.S. and Europe. The overall purpose is neither to justify nor to repudiate the authority of the church's hierarchy, but to cast some light on: the context within which it operates, the complexities and ambiguities of the historical tradition of belief and behavior it speaks for, and the kinds of limits it confronts - consciously or otherwise. The authors do not hope to fix problems, although some of the essays make suggestions, but to contribute to a badly needed intra-Catholic dialogue without which, they believe, problems will continue to fester and solutions will remain elusive.

One deep problem facing the Catholic church is the question of how its teaching authority is understood today. It is fairly clear that, while Rome continues to teach as if its authority were unchanged from the days before Vatican II (1962-65), the majority of Catholics - within the first-world church, at least - take a far more independent line, and increasingly understand themselves (rather than the church) as the final arbiters of decision-making, especially on ethical questions. This collection of essays explores the historical background and present ecclesial situation, explaining the dramatic shift in attitude on the part of contemporary Catholics in the U.S. and Europe. The overall purpose is neither to justify nor to repudiate the authority of the church's hierarchy, but to cast some light on: the context within which it operates, the complexities and ambiguities of the historical tradition of belief and behavior it speaks for, and the kinds of limits it confronts - consciously or otherwise. The authors do not hope to fix problems, although some of the essays make suggestions, but to contribute to a badly needed intra-Catholic dialogue without which, they believe, problems will continue to fester and solutions will remain elusive.

The State and Social Investigation in Britain and the United States addresses the historical development of the knowledge base upon which the public policies of the democratic state depend. This comparative study stretches from the Enlightenment origins of the impulse to base legislation on scientific knowledge to the twentieth-century development of specialised institutions and professions engaged in social investigation and public policy-making. It probes investigators' biases and omissions as well as their strengths as factors shaping social learning. It illuminates the vital link between social empiricism and the late nineteenth-century emergence of the New Liberalism in both Britain and the United States. And it ponders the impact on social investigation and social policy today of relativism, antistatism, devolution and privatisation as these currents have developed in both societies since the 1970s.

The State and Social Investigation in Britain and the United States addresses the historical development of the knowledge base upon which the public policies of the democratic state depend. This comparative study stretches from the Enlightenment origins of the impulse to base legislation on scientific knowledge to the twentieth-century development of specialised institutions and professions engaged in social investigation and public policy-making. It probes investigators' biases and omissions as well as their strengths as factors shaping social learning. It illuminates the vital link between social empiricism and the late nineteenth-century emergence of the New Liberalism in both Britain and the United States. And it ponders the impact on social investigation and social policy today of relativism, antistatism, devolution and privatisation as these currents have developed in both societies since the 1970s.