Social policy is never static because both needs and resources alter. It must involve a responsiveness to social change on the part of the agencies involved. Originally published in 1969, this study employs this dynamic approach and sets the subject against a background of democratic involvement. It discusses the fundamental questions of the nature, scope and intent of social policy. Throughout the approach to the subject is integrative. The book explains issues in terms of social policy, not fragmented social policies, in the discussion of common factors and common problems and above all in the realistic appraisal of means and ends in contemporary society.