Table of contents : Title Page Preface Contents 1 Introduction 1.1. Introduction 1.2. What works in social policy? 1.3. Presented case studies 1.4. Overview of the book 2 The paradoxical policies of the Social Support Act 2.1. Introduction 2.2. The Dutch Social Support Act and research questions 2.3. State-promoted civic engagement and participation 2.4. Methodology and data 2.5. Results 2.6. Conclusions 2.7. Discussion 3 Polarisation, radicalisation and social policy 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Conceptualisations and research questions 3.3. Methodology 3.4. Evaluating the theories of change. 3.5. Conclusions3.6. Discussion 4. The softer side of urban regeneration 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Methodology 4.3. Conceptualizations and research questions 4.4. Results 4.5. Conclusions 4.6. Discussion 5. Validity in qualitative evaluation 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Qualitative research and the question of validity 5.3. Critique on validity standards in qualitative research 5.4. A model for validity in qualitative evaluation 5.5. Conclusions and discussion 6. Studying policy from multiple order perspectives 6.1. First order perspective 6.2. Second order perspective. 6.3. Third order perspective6.4. Themes for future research References Summary Samenvatting CURRICULUM VITAE.