In a context where the employment model of welfare is dominant, family policy has remained an area of limited and indirect competence for the European Community. Comparative analysis of Britain, France and the Federal Republic of Germany as examples of EC member states with different socio-cultural traditions and policy styles shows the limitations of theories about universalism, convergence and harmonisation of family structures and policies. Compared with Britain and Germany, the family policy making style in France is more explicit, visible, coherent and legitimate. Its objectives are overtly pro-natalist and it would seem to have had a stronger direct socio-economic impact.

This article reconsiders the origins of ‘self management’ in pre-school daycare services in the light of new data from a national study of playgroups in England. In the absence of comprehensive nursery education, playgroup provision has mushroomed in Britain. ‘Parental involvement’ has been a central premise in the philosophy of playgroups. However, data now available suggest that aspects of this premise require reassessment.

The study establishes that ‘parents’ who are playgroup managers are in fact mothers mostly drawn from white, higher income, higher educated groups. Furthermore, they tend to be resistant to taking on such management functions. Playgroup workers in turn are dissatisfied with available levels of support and effective management. Both groups however are subject to structural pressures – not least of which is women's increased participation in paid employment – and many of these pressures are likely to increase in the 1990s.

The future management of this sector therefore requires reconsideration within a broader public sector policy framework. Such an approach should address both the real cost of effective management and such employment policies as may facilitate the involvement of all parents – irrespective of gender, income or ethnic group – in services for their children.

The distribution of clean syringes to intravenous drug users has been accepted by many European countries as a necessary measure to prevent the spread of HIV. In Sweden however an official report recommending the widespread adoption of syringe exchange schemes was rejected after considerable debate in the press, at public meetings, in parliament and government. The medical consensus in favour of syringe exchange schemes was rejected by a much wider consensus of drug agency workers, militant pressure groups and the political establishment. It was felt that syringe exchange schemes would not only condone drug misuse but encourage it. The success of the restrictive line in this debate can only partially be explained through a pluralistic analysis of the principal actors involved. To understand why drug misuse in Sweden has come to symbolise a much greater threat to social stability and national values, a deeper analysis of Swedish institutions and culture is required.

This article provides an assessment of the Community Ownership programme in Scotland, which involved the transfer of council housing to par-value co-operatives and community-based housing associations. The evaluation is considered under four headings: resident involvement; the effectiveness of housing management; neighbourhood impacts; and financial appraisal. The findings lend support to the government's programme of breaking up council housing, but lead to criticisms of the emphasis on large-scale voluntary transfers and the neglect of ownership co-operatives in England. In Scotland, the lack of support for the formation of tenant management co-operatives is also criticised.