Morality Policies in Europe

<p>The regulation of issues like abortion euthanasia gun control same-sex unions pornography prostitution drugs or gambling is commonly referred to a special class of so called morality policies. The distinctive feature of these policies is that politics are shaped by conflicts over first principle: When does life end? When does it begin? Is gambling drug consumption or prostitution inherently malignant? The regulation of these value conflicts entails decisions about right or wrong and hence the validation of a particular set of basic values. Yet there is still a remarkable lack of scholarly attention on morality policies in particular with regard to general implications for the study of public policy. To stimulate further research in this area this book focuses on different concepts and theories of morality policy change in European countries. It is based on a broad and comparative empirical perspective on different morality issues including for instance the regulation of prostitution abortion euthanasia gambling drugs as well as gun controls.</p><p>This book was published as a special issue of the <em>Journal of European Public Policy</em>.</p>