Ideology, Conflict and Social Policy

1975 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Birrell ◽  
Alan Murie
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Services ◽  
The Political ◽  
Allocation Of Resources ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
The Government ◽  
Significant Factors ◽  
The Welfare State

ABSTRACTSocial policy in Northern Ireland offers examples of social policies strongly influenced by ideological considerations. There are a number of factors which determine how susceptible services and policies are to ideological influences. Some services are particularly sensitive to ideological values and demands, for example, education. In certain areas the distribution of services and the allocation of resources has been significant in maintaining the political structure. The distribution of administrative responsibility, the absence of pressure from Britain for maintaining parity in social services, and the absence of non-secretarian pressures on the government are other significant factors. The process of analysing problems and formulating social policy reflects deep ideological divisions. This can be contrasted with the rational, empirical and pragmatic models of policy making, implicit in the development of social policy in Britain. With some minor modifications the British model of the Welfare State operates in Northern Ireland. In some areas it operates to serve ends other than those of redistribution or meeting social need. This provides insights into some of the assumptions made about social policy and the Welfare State in Britain.

scholarly journals Welfare State Policy Model as A Poverty Reduction Strategy in the West Sumatra Districts and Cities

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 227
Author(s):  
Azwar Azwar Azwar ◽  
Emeraldy Chatra ◽  
Zuldesni Zuldesni
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
State Model ◽  
The West ◽  
Policy Model ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
West Sumatra ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Welfare State

Poverty is one of the social problems that the government can never completely solve. As a result, other, more significant social issues arise and cause social vulnerability, such as conflict and crime. As a province that is experiencing rapid growth in the last ten years, the West Sumatra find difficulty to overcome the number of poor people in several districts and cities.  The research outcomes are the models and forms of social policy made by West Sumatra regencies and cities governments in improving the welfare of poor communities. It is also covering the constraints or obstacles to the implementation of social policy and the selection of welfare state models for the poor in some districts and municipalities of West Sumatra. This research is conducted qualitatively with a sociological approach that uses social perspective on searching and explaining social facts that happened to needy groups. Based on research conducted that the social policy model adopted by the government in responding to social problems in the districts and cities of West Sumatra reflects the welfare state model given to the poor. There is a strong relationship between the welfare state model and the form of social policy made by the government.

Comparative Social Policy and Political Conflict in Advanced Welfare States: Denmark and Sweden

1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gøsta Esping-Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Welfare State

There has developed an abundant literature on the social and political determinants of social policies, but few have addressed the question of how state policies, once implemented, affect the system of stratification in civil society. This article examines the political consequences of social policy in Denmark and Sweden, countries in which a social democratic labor movement has predominated for decades. Superficially, these two highly developed welfare states appear very similar. Yet, the political and social contexts in which their social policies have evolved differ substantially. I shall demonstrate the argument that the traditional welfare state approach may be conducive to a new and powerful political conflict, which directly questions the legitimacy of the welfare state itself, unless government is successful in subordinating private capitalist growth to effective public regulation. In Denmark, where social democratic governments have failed to match welfare state growth with more control of private capital, social policy has tended to undermine the political unity of the working class. Consequently, the Social Democratic Party has been weakened. Social welfare programs, in effect, have helped create new forms of stratification within the working class. In Sweden, social democratic governments have been quite successful in shifting a decisive degree of power over the private market to the state. This has helped avert a crisis of the welfare state, and has also been an important condition for continued social democratic hegemony and working-class unity. I conclude that social reform politics tend to be problematic from the point of view of the future power of social democratic movements.

scholarly journals Vorwärts – und nichts vergessen

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (116) ◽  
pp. 411-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Lessenich
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Scientific Debate ◽  
The Core ◽  
Crisis Scenarios ◽  
Post War ◽  
Time Specific ◽  
State Interventions ◽  
The Welfare State

The recent scientific debate on the functions of social policy and the transformation of the welfare state evidences an ever waning sense of the dialectics that lies at the core of modern state interventionism. The consequences of this decline of dialectical thinking on social policy matters are now beginning to affect as well the political discourse on the reform of the welfare state in Germany. This discourse is utterly dominated by onedimensional crisis scenarios and equally one-sided reform proposals, the latter opting for straightforward re-commodification strategies as opposed to the classical, post-war decommodification consensus. In this context, the paper constitutes a plea for regaining consciousness, conceptualizing social policy as what it is and always has been: the at a time specific and historically changing combination of commodifying and de-commodifying state interventions.

scholarly journals DIGITAL ECONOMY AS A FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SOCIAL STATE

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 155-162
Author(s):  
Alla Silenko ◽  
Vira Bezrodna ◽  
Olga Nikogosyan
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Development Trend ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
The State ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Welfare State

The digital economy is becoming a development trend in most modern countries, the basis for sustainable economic growth and living standards of the population. In this regard, it seems relevant to consider the significance of the impact of the digital economy on the welfare state. The purpose of the article is to study the influence of the digital economy on the quality and living conditions of citizens in a welfare state. Methodology. The study is based on a systemic approach, within which the digital economy has been viewed as an external phenomenon (input) that has been able to affect the welfare state system (output). Results. The hypothesis of the study that the digital economy improves the quality and living conditions of citizens in a welfare state was partially confirmed. However, it became clear that in addition to positive, the digital economy has negative consequences for people. For example, the digital economy improves the ability to solve many social problems, but at the same time creates new problems. For example, it creates new jobs, new professions, as a result of which workers in traditional professions become unclaimed. The digital economy not only solves and creates problems, but also exposes them. So, it has clearly outlined the problem of social inequality in Ukraine. Undoubtedly, the digitalization of public social services makes life easier for people, but only if they are prepared for this process. Digital illiteracy of the population, characteristic of countries lagging behind in technological development, including Ukraine, is an obstacle to the introduction of digitalization into the social sphere. At the same time, the state is not ready for the active introduction of digital technologies into the system of social policy yet due to the lack of necessary resources. Digitalization will not improve people’s lives until the state has funds for social policy. And yet, some measures are being taken in this direction.

scholarly journals Idræt og velfærd i et historisk perspektiv. En fortælling om gensidig afhængighed

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Else Trangbæk
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare Policy ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Government ◽  
Welfare Model ◽  
The Welfare State

Artiklen reflekterer over de normer og forventninger, der har været og styrer den politiske tækning i forhold til idræt og velfærdspolitik. Idrættens autonomi diskuteres desuden.  In recent years, the welfare state and the welfare model have been put on the political agenda in Denmark. Some politicians argue that the state has to reduce the costs for welfare, not least because of the increasing expenses caused by the increasing life expectancy of the population. Others believe that the »burden« should be shifted from the government to the civil society or the market. Despite disagreements, there is quite a large consensus that the welfare state has to be preserved, but that it must be reassessed. The article reflects the norms and expectations that have been and still are the basis of political reflections about the Danish sports and welfare policy. In addition, it is argued that the focus on the autonomy of sport should be replaced by a dialogue and an analysis of the interdependence of sport and welfare.

1. What is the welfare state?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Garland
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Relationship ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Economic Management ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Welfare State

There are three general conceptions used for the welfare state: the first characterizes the welfare state as welfare for the poor; the second focuses on social insurance, social rights, and social services; and the third highlights economic management and the role that the ‘government of the economy’ plays in every welfare state. ‘What is the welfare state?’ explains that welfare states are varied, complex, and difficult to define. There is no simple theory that clearly expresses what they do, no simple vision that neatly captures what they are for. The welfare state is a damage-limiting, problem-solving device rather than anyone’s ideal social relationship.

The Expansion of Regulation in Welfare Governance

2020 ◽  
Vol 691 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-29
Author(s):  
Avishai Benish ◽  
David Levi-Faur
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Social Goals ◽  
Regulatory State ◽  
Theoretical Account ◽  
New Public ◽  
The Welfare State

This article provides an historical and theoretical account of the emerging regulatory welfare state, which is greatly understudied in contemporary regulatory and welfare research. We analyze the interplay between the welfare state and the regulatory state in an age in which regulation is expanding through liberalization, privatization, and the new public management of social services. We then provide a multi faceted framework for understanding the regulatory welfare state and discuss its implications in terms of 1) the normative social goals of the state; 2) the ways in which social policy is delivered through institutions; and 3) the implications of the framework for individuals’ rights and duties.

scholarly journals Economic Crises and the Welfare State in Korea: Reforms and Future Challenges

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-192
Author(s):  
Kwon Huck Ju ◽  
Dong Grami ◽  
Moon Hyun Gyung
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Economic Crises ◽  
Labor Market Reform ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Welfare State

"East Asian countries have been hit yet again by economic crisis, this time of a global nature, after having endured the Asian economic crisis of 1997-98. Social protection for the weak in society during the crisis poses a great policy challenge. This paper examines Korea’s social policy responses to these economic crises in the context of the evolution of the welfare state. Faced with the economic crisis of 1997-98, the welfare state was extended and strengthened in terms of coverage and benefits in order to facilitate labor market reform. In the current global economic crisis, social policies such as public assistance and unemployment benefits, together with extra job-retaining measures that the government put into place, have enabled Korea to respond much more effectively to social risks arising from the crisis than it did during the earlier Asian crisis. However, it is imperative for Korea to further strengthen the welfare state, particularly in the areas of social services for children and the elderly, in order to maintain its economic potential in the face of dramatic demographic transitions and changes in family structure that are likely to occur in the future."

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