Religion and the Scandinavian Welfare State: Public Support for Socio-economic Rights in Times of Migration

2020 ◽  
pp. 261-275
Author(s):  
Pål Ketil Botvar
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Economic Rights

Family as a Redistributive Principle of the Welfare State. The Case of Germany

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
PATRICIA FRERICKS ◽  
MARTIN GURÍN ◽  
JULIA HÖPPNER
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Microsimulation Model ◽  
State Regulations ◽  
State Research ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
Support Family ◽  
The Welfare State

Abstract Family is one of the major principles of welfare state redistribution. It has, however, rarely been at the centre of welfare state research. This contribution intends to help remedy the research gap in family-related redistribution. By examining the German welfare state which is known to be both redistributive and family-oriented, we want to answer the question of how and how far the German welfare state institutionalises family as a redistributive principle. Our case-study of German welfare state regulations in terms of family is based on the tax-benefit microsimulation model EUROMOD and its Hypothetical Household Tool (HHoT). We differentiate 54 family forms to adequately reflect our three theoretical assumptions, which are: (1) redistributive logics differ across family forms, and in part markedly; (2) these differences are not the result of one coherent set of regulations, but of an interplay of partially contradictory regulations; (3) family as a redistributive principle manifests itself not only in terms of additional benefits to families, but also in terms of particular obligations of families to financially support family members before they are entitled to public support. These aspects have hardly been analysed before and combining them allows a clear evaluation of family-related redistribution.

Who Loves the Swedish Welfare State? Attitude Trends 1980–2010

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Svallfors
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Public Organization ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Degree Of Stability ◽  
The Welfare State

Attitudes toward social spending, collective financing, and public organization, willingness to pay taxes, suspicion about welfare abuse, and trust in the task performance of the welfare state show a large degree of stability in Sweden, and where change is registered, it tends to go in the direction of increasing support. More people state their willingness to pay higher taxes for welfare policy purposes; more people want collective financing of welfare policies; and fewer people perceive extensive welfare abuse. Class patterns change so that the salaried and the self-employed become more similar to workers in their attitudes. Hence, no attitudinal corrosive effects from increased marketization of the Swedish welfare state can be detected on public support for welfare policies.

scholarly journals Citizens’ Opinions About Basic Income Proposals Compared – A Conjoint Analysis of Finland and Switzerland

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 383-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
ISABELLE STADELMANN-STEFFEN ◽  
CLAU DERMONT
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Conjoint Analysis ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
Exact Design ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractThe basic income (BI) scheme is a fundamental reform of the welfare state that has recently gained widespread attention. Proposals for different variants of BI schemes have emerged to account for varying political and societal goals. This study investigates what citizens think about the idea of a BI, and to what extent citizens’ perceptions depend on the exact design of such a scheme and the context in which this policy is embedded. Empirically, we rely on conjoint experiments conducted in Finland and Switzerland – the two countries in which the introduction of a BI scheme has recently been discussed most intensely. We find that the level of public support for BI is higher in Finland than it is in Switzerland. Moreover, despite the contrasting designs of the BI proposals in the two countries, both Finnish and Swiss citizens tend to favor more generous schemes restricting non-nationals’ access to the provision.

Denmark: The Rise of Fascism and the Decline of the Nordic Model

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasna Balorda
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
People's Party ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Agendas ◽  
The Welfare State

Contrary to its conventional image as a social-democratic paragon, the Danish welfare state has, in recent decades, been undergoing significant changes as a response to the intrusion into the social sphere by self-regulating markets and a final departure from Keynesian politics of universalism and solidarity. This article examines the evident decline of the Nordic model as a result of neoliberal globalisation and establishes an association between the erosion of the welfare state and the emergence of fascist political sentiment in Denmark. An analysis of the Danish People's party and its growing public support among the disenfranchised working class communities in Denmark demonstrates how those overlooked by the free market and unrepresented by the liberal left become increasingly more receptive to the proposed social agendas of the far right campaigns.

‘I am not alone’: Understanding public support for the welfare state

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 768-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klarita Gërxhani ◽  
Ferry Koster
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Subjective Assessment ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
General Belief ◽  
Cross Country

This article explores to what extent and how individuals’ welfare state attitudes relate to their subjective assessment of the available social support. Using various sociological and sociopsychological theories the authors first provide a theoretical analysis of the micro–macro links between perceived social support (micro), social trust in support availability (macro) and public attitudes towards welfare states (micro). An empirical test based on a large cross-country dataset of 31,122 respondents in 25 European countries shows that the more welfare is provided by the state, the less of it is desired in countries where individuals have the general belief that they can rely on each other for support. Importantly, only when considered jointly, do welfare state provision and social trust in support availability become essential in explaining welfare state attitudes.

scholarly journals Allmänhetens syn på våldsbejakande extremism: En balans mellan sociala, ekonomiska och polisiära åtgärder

2020 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-216
Author(s):  
Lars Korsell ◽  
Tomas Axelson ◽  
Jonas Stier
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Swedish Population ◽  
The Public ◽  
Swedish Model ◽  
Violent Extremism ◽  
Swedish Society ◽  
Democratic Principles

AbstractThe so-called Swedish model of trust is characterised by strong public support for the idea of an individual-based and extensive welfare state, well-developed state individualism, high levels of social trust, widespread appreciation of the judiciary, openness, tolerance, and a free and independent press. Today, Swedish society faces several challenges. Will the Swedish model of trust be eroded or is it relatively resilient to stress? A Novus survey from 2019 found that a total of 74 percent of the Swedish population were very or quite worried about Islamic extremism, 66 percent very or quite worried about right-wing extremism and 46 percent very or quite worried about left-wing extremism. Other surveys show that the public is also concerned about the deterioration of the welfare state, social gaps, the increased number of refugees to Sweden and xenophobia. Moreover, the Novus survey shows that 65 percent believe that violence-promoting extremism will increase in Sweden in the coming ten-year period. 22 percent indicate that they have become suspicious of people they have encountered in everyday situations and 15 percent  have avoided large crowds, e.g. shopping malls, pedestrian areas and subways. When asked which measures are good for increasing security in society, common answers were to reduce social exclusion, increase camera surveillance in public places and provide more information on democratic principles and values. These answers indicate that Swedish public opinion has a relatively balanced view of public measures against violent extremism, which is consistent withthe Swedish model of trust. In general, the public does not propose the implementation of overly excessive measures against violent extremism. However, given continued public concern over the development of violent extremism, the long term stability of the Swedish model of trust remains in question.

scholarly journals Revealing the “Hidden welfare state”: How policy information influences public attitudes about tax expenditures

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Guardino ◽  
Suzanne Mettler
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
News Media ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Tax Expenditures ◽  
Policy Information

In this article, we explore how specific policy information shapes public opinion toward the “hidden welfare state” of tax expenditures. These politically and socioeconomically consequential policies—most of which bestow their greatest benefits on upper-income people—are complex and opaque, and scholars’ understanding of citizen attitudes toward them is limited. In response, we use a randomized, general population, online survey experiment to test the effects of providing people with varying amounts and kinds of information about three policies. We find that learning the basic design and rationale of key tax expenditures tends to increase public support for them. However, when informed of the distributive effects of the two policies that favor upper-income people, subjects become much less supportive of these policies. Moreover, policy-specific information appears to help subjects align their preferences with their immediate material interests. Learning the upward tilt of tax expenditures especially makes lower- and middle-income people less supportive of the policies. Our results suggest that if political elites, government administrators and news media routinely offered clear information about tax expenditures, public opinion toward the hidden welfare state would be more firmly grounded. By virtue of their design, these policies discourage public awareness of their mechanisms and distributive effects. Still, greater informational outreach regarding complicated and arcane tax expenditures could bolster public accountability for government actions that favor economically narrow and privileged segments of the population.

Redistribution and the Quality of Government: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Bilyana Petrova
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Welfare State

Abstract The welfare state literature has largely ignored the impact of a country's quality of government on its levels of redistribution. Using cross-sectional time-series analysis of twenty-one Central and Eastern European countries, this article shows that environments characterized by higher levels of corruption, rampant bureaucratic inefficiency and ineffective enforcement of the rule of law are associated with lower levels of redistribution. Poor government directly affects the supply side of the redistribution process by hindering countries’ ability to allocate funds to redistribution and deliver them to their beneficiaries. Contrary to existing demand-oriented perspectives, the proposed causal mechanism does not blame lower redistribution on the lack of public support for the welfare state. Rather, it focuses on the capacity of states to adopt and implement inequality-reducing policies. The results are robust to numerous extensions and model specifications.

Fixed or Variable Needs? Public Support and Welfare State Reform

2007 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carsten Jensen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
State Reform ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Politics ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
Welfare State Reform

AbstractThe study of welfare state reform has in the last decade been strongly influenced by the ‘new politics’ literature. A fundamental assumption of this literature is that the public has fixed attitudes concerning welfare benefits; however, this may be hard to sustain empirically. Instead, this article argues that public support differs depending on whether a welfare programme aims at relieving fixed or variable needs. By analysing reforms of old-age pension schemes and the introduction of workfare strategies in the United States, France and Denmark, the fruitfulness of this approach is indicated.

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