Americans value happiness but block required policies. Book review of ‘‘The Politics of Happiness; what governments can learn from the new research on well-being’’ by Derek Bok, Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford, 2010

摘要

textabstractAbstract In his book ‘‘The Politics of Happiness’’ Derek Bok argues that happinessshould be a goal in public policy. He presents an inventory of social problems in the USwith negative effects on happiness, like inadequate education, chronic pain, sleep disorders,depressions, divorce, single-parent families, and financial hardship. He presentsinteresting options to deal with these problems. He also pays attention to some moregeneral happiness-issues for US-policymakers, like the question of economic growthwithout happiness and the reputation of the US-government. Bok’s findings are consistentwith available data about the high levels of negative feelings in the US: stress, depressions,sadness, anger and worry. His message is quite clear: policy-makers can use the findings ofhappiness-research to improve their decisions.