Social Workers in Political Office

Tobias Kindler is Research Associate at the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences and a doctoral candidate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Sigrid Leitner is Professor of Social Policy at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences. Eva Maria Löffler is a social worker and Professor of Social Work at IU International University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg. Klaus Stolz is a political scientist and Professor of British and American Social and Cultural Studies at Chemnitz University of Technology.

• 1. Social workers in political office: Conceptual framework and research agenda - Klaus Stolz and Sigrid Leitner2. Austria: Social workers with political responsibility at the national level - Iris Kohlfürst3. Canada: Social Workers in the House of Commons - Anne-Marie McLaughlin4. Czechia: Social workers as members of the Czech parliament - Agnieszka Zogata-Kusz and Tatiana Matulayová5. Finland: Taking political office to a new level? - Christian Kroll, Sanni Salonen and Helena Blomberg6. Germany: Between civic engagement and social advocacy - Eva Maria Löffler7. Israel: A limited presence on the national level - John Gal, Idit Weiss-Gal, Noa Binder-Eilat8. Italy: Social workers in political office as a municipal phenomenon - Martina Francesconi and Riccardo Guidi9. Portugal: Delayed political engagement and short terms of office - Francisco Branco10. Switzerland: Strong representation of social workers in the cantonal and federal parliaments - Tobias Kindler11. United Kingdom: Social Workers in Westminster – Party or Profession? - Christin Reuter and Joanne Warner12. United States: Opportunities and barriers for social work members of Congress - Shannon Lane and Allysha Bryant13. Comparative considerations on social workers in political office - Klaus Stolz, Sigrid Leitner and Tobias Kindler

“Cutting-edge research and an important contribution to understanding and promoting the political engagement of social workers.” Günter Rieger, DHBW Stuttgart