Aus den Rezensionen: "... Der Band schliesst mit einer Bilanz, welche die Aktivierung als neues Element der Sozialpolitik der Staaten ansieht. Sie wird durch das Recht umfassend gefordert. Der Band gibt einen eindrucksvollen Einblick in eine komplexe Welt sozialer Reformen und analysiert die eingetroffenen Veranderungen uberzeugend." (Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Eberhard Eichenhofer, in: ZESAR Zeitschrift fur europaische Sozial- und Arbeitsrecht, 2009, Issue 5-6, S. 255) From the reviews: "Provides an overview of activation strategies in unemployment benefit systems and social assistance schemes in selected European countries and in the US. ... The book provides a very good overview of different solutions, concepts and results of activation. It serves as valuable research tool and will be of great interest for scholars from social sciences, economics and law, as well as for those engaged in comparative studies." (Stamatia Devetzi, European Journal of Social Security, Vol. 11 (3), 2009) "The book has a fairly standard format of an introduction, country specific chapters, and two summary style conclusions, one on evidence around activation and the other legal. ... book has a novel legal angle, which will appeal to readers of this journal ... it offers a description of emerging patterns of welfare reform that are fairly well documented elsewhere. ... This book is especially for those who want the extra legal context that this book offers, which will include many readers of this journal." (Paul Gregg, Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal, Vol. 31 (1), 2009)