From Retrenchment to Selective Social Policy Expansion: The Politics of Federal Cash Benefits in Canada

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Daniel Béland ◽  
Michael J. Prince ◽  
R. Kent Weaver
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Pension Plan ◽  
New Politics ◽  
Old Age Security ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Employment Insurance ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Partisan Competition

Abstract While much has been written about the politics of retrenchment, in a number of advanced industrial societies social policy expansion does occur today, which raises issues about how to study it in a post-retrenchment era. The present article explores the new politics of social policy expansion in Canada. Drawing on the work of Paul Pierson, we use an integrated framework that highlights the interaction of five factors: the availability of fiscal resources; the emergence of new social risks; the intensity and nature of partisan competition; the policy preferences of the main political parties; and the role of political institutions, especially federalism. Empirically, the article studies the politics of federal social policy expansion during the Harper (2006–2015) and Justin Trudeau (2015–) years, with a focus on three policy areas: child benefits (Universal Child Care Benefit and Canada Child Benefit), pensions (Old Age Security and Canada/Quebec Pension Plan) and Employment Insurance.

scholarly journals Education as social policy: An introduction

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Di Stasio ◽  
Heike Solga
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Long Run

This Special Issue considers education as a social policy in its own right, from a life-course perspective and in relation to other policy areas. It recognizes the complexity of education systems and their multi-stage architecture. The volume broadens our understanding of the role of ‘education as social policy’ by addressing four different aspects: the importance of education providers, education as a means of social stratification, education as an interconnected regime component and public opinion on education as an important foundation of welfare state policies and a prerequisite for their sustainability in the long run. From a theoretical perspective, all authors critically engage with the social investment state approach that sees in education and training investment the lynchpin of a pre-distribution agenda protecting individuals from the new social risks of a competitive, knowledge-driven economy. The examples provided in this Special Issue expose the multifaceted role of education as social policy, drawing attention to both its formative and stratifying function across a number of European welfare states.

Towards Employment Insurance?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Günther Schmid
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Market Work ◽  
Income Volatility ◽  
Family Work ◽  
Life Course Transitions ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Employment Insurance ◽  
Labour Division ◽  
The Life Course

New social risks have arisen due to the deepening of global labour division and the invasion of digital technologies into the production of goods and the delivery of services, but also due to changing preferences and individual work capacities over the life course. As these risks are not only connected with unemployment but also with income volatility due to critical life-course transitions (in particular, between family work and labour-market work, lifelong learning and employment), the need to extend unemployment insurance (UI) towards a system of employment insurance becomes evident. This argument is developed by focusing on the investment character of social insurance against the mainstream view of moral hazard related to any insurance, and by providing good practices or opportunities from various European member states.

Social versus Private Insurance

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Pestieau ◽  
Mathieu Lefebvre
Keyword(s):  
Social Insurance ◽  
Private Insurance ◽  
Population Ageing ◽  
Fiscal Competition ◽  
Public Insurance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
The Family ◽  
Private And Public

This chapter looks at the role of the public versus the private sector in the provision of insurance against social risks. After having discussed the evolution of the role of the family as support in the first place, the specificity of social insurance is emphasized in opposition to private insurance. Figures show the extent of spending on both private and public insurance and the chapter presents economic reasons to why the latter is more developed than the former. Issues related to moral hazard and adverse selection are addressed. The chapter also discusses somewhat more general arguments supporting social insurance such as population ageing, unemployment, fiscal competition and social dumping.

Comparative Political Economy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Menz
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Comparative Political Economy ◽  
Technological Parameters ◽  
Private Debt

This new and comprehensive volume invites the reader on a tour of the exciting subfield of comparative political economy. The book provides an in-depth account of the theoretical debates surrounding different models of capitalism. Tracing the origins of the field back to Adam Smith and the French Physiocrats, the development of the study of models of political-economic governance is laid out and reviewed. Comparative Political Economy (CPE) sets itself apart from International Political Economy (IPE), focusing on domestic economic and political institutions that compose in combination diverse models of political economy. Drawing on evidence from the US, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, and Japan, the volume affords detailed coverage of the systems of industrial relations, finance, welfare states, and the economic role of the state. There is also a chapter that charts the politics of public and private debt. Much of the focus in CPE has rested on ideas, interests, and institutions, but the subfield ought to take the role of culture more seriously. This book offers suggestions for doing so. It is intended as an introduction to the field for postgraduate students, yet it also offers new insights and fresh inspiration for established scholars. The Varieties of Capitalism approach seems to have reached an impasse, but it could be rejuvenated by exploring the composite elements of different models and what makes them hang together. Rapidly changing technological parameters, new and more recent environmental challenges, demographic change, and immigration will all affect the governance of the various political economy models throughout the OECD. The final section of the book analyses how these impending challenges will reconfigure and threaten to destabilize established national systems of capitalism.

scholarly journals Political Institutions and Coups in Dictatorships

2021 ◽  
pp. 001041402199716
Author(s):  
Nam Kyu Kim ◽  
Jun Koga Sudduth
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
The Creation

Does the creation of nominally democratic institutions help dictators stay in power by diminishing the risk of coups? We posit that the effectiveness of political institutions in deterring coups crucially depends on the types of plotters and their political goals. By providing a means to address the ruling coalition’s primary concerns about a dictator’s opportunism or incompetence, institutions reduce the necessity of reshuffling coups, in which the ruling coalition replaces an incumbent leader but keeps the regime intact. However, such institutions do not diminish the risk of regime-changing coups, because the plotters’ goals of overthrowing the entire regime and changing the group of ruling coalition are not achievable via activities within the institutions. Our empirical analysis provides strong empirical support for our expectations. Our findings highlight that the role of “democratic” institutions in deterring coups is rather limited as it only applies to less than 38% of coup attempts.

The Role of Social Casework in Social Policy

1952 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 315-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy

THE ROLE OF LIBERAL IDEOLOGY IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE STATE IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (11) ◽  
pp. 15-20
Author(s):  
Irina N. Mysliaeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Liberal Ideology

The article examines the causes and directions of transformation of the social functions of the state. The role of liberal ideology in changing the forms and methods of state social policy in the context of globalization is determined. The interrelation between specific measures of social support of the population and the interests of large transnational capital in modern society is revealed.

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