Efficiency and the Rise of the Welfare State

2020 ◽  
pp. 149-186
Author(s):  
Joseph Heath
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Economic Model ◽  
Economic Models ◽  
State Spending ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Economic ◽  
Western Democracies ◽  
The Welfare State

Even among supporters of the welfare state there are several different theoretical reconstructions of the normative commitments that are taken to underlie it, all of which are in tension with one another. The three normative purposes most commonly cited are equality, community, and efficiency. These give rise to a corresponding set of models, which I refer to as the egalitarian, communitarian, and public-economic models of the welfare state. The objective of this chapter is to show that the public-economic model of the welfare state, though the least popular among political philosophers, is actually the most plausible. Not only does it provide a superior account of the existing configuration of welfare-state activities, but it alone is able to explain why, in all Western democracies, state spending rose almost continuously over the course of the 20th century.

Zum Aufstieg und Niedergang des Normalarbeitsverhältnisses in Deutschland 1800-2010 - ein Forschungsprojekt

2009 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni Pierenkemper ◽  
Klaus F. Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Employment Contract ◽  
Unemployment Rates ◽  
The Future ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractThis paper attempts to trace the construction of the standard employment contract in Germany from the beginning of the 19th century onwards. In 20th century Germany, it was reinforced alongside with the consolidation of the welfare state and developed into the modern concept of the standard employment contract. Due to globalization forces and dynamics of capitalist market economies, the standard employment contract has turned into an obstacle in the way of modern economy’s progress. The future might be determined by increasing work flexibility, rising working hours, falling income and increasing unemployment rates, rendering the standard employment contract anachronistic and obsolete.

scholarly journals REGULATIONS IN THE SOCIAL WELFARE STATE: NORDIC COUNTRIES AND TURKEY EXAMPLE

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nagihan Ozkanca Andic ◽  
Ekrem Karayilmazlar
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Public Expenditure ◽  
Nordic Countries ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Welfare State

The Public Expenditure/GDP ratio is one of the most significant metrics that measure the state's share of the economy. It can be said that there is an interventionist state type in countries where this rate is high, or it can be argued that the share of the public sector in the economy is low in countries where this rate is low. It is also possible to argue that the countries' economic, sociological, and political factors play an essential role in determining this ratio. Regulations, which are the most important tools of the welfare state, may arise through economic controls as well as through social policies. This study aims to find an answer to the question of whether this situation is possible for a developing country such as Turkey while Nordic countries, which determine a system different from other welfare models, succeed in raising social welfare without giving up the principles such as equality and justice that they have despite the globalization effect. The data obtained by various methods were subjected to comparison using the Data Envelopment Analysis method in order to achieve this purpose. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0777/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Ripples from the First Wave: The Monarchical Origins of the Welfare State

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 992-1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen McDonagh
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Public Provision ◽  
The Public ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Parental Roles ◽  
The People ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Welfare State

Before the welfare state, people were protected from disabilities resulting from illness, old age, and other infirmities by care work provided within the family. When the state assumes responsibility for care-work tasks, in effect it assumes parental roles, thereby becoming a form offamilial governmentin which the public provision of goods and services is analogous to care work provided in the family. My research pushes back the origins of the state’s obligation to care for people to a preindustrial form of government, hereditary monarchies—what Max Weber termed patrimonialism. It explicates how monarchs were cast as the parents of the people, thereby constituting kingship as a care work regime that assigned to political rulers parental responsibility for the welfare of the people. Using historical and quantitative analysis, I establish that retaining the legitimacy of monarchies as the first form of familial government in the course of Western European democratizing makes it more credible to the public and to political elites to accept the welfare state as the second form of familial government. That, in turn, promotes a more robust public sector supportive of social provision. The results reformulate conceptions of the contemporary welfare state and its developmental legacies.

The Beveridge Report and the Implementation of the Welfare State

2018 ◽  
pp. 260-285
Author(s):  
George R. Boyer
Keyword(s):  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Universal Coverage ◽  
Social Welfare Policy ◽  
Economic Insecurity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Welfare Reforms ◽  
The Welfare State

This chapter explores the story of the 1942 Beveridge Report and the beginnings of the welfare state. The policies proposed by Beveridge and the 1945–48 legislation were logical extensions of government's expanding role in social welfare policy beginning with the Liberal Welfare Reforms. This does not mean that the importance of the postwar legislation should be downplayed. Because of the adoption of the National Health Service, universal coverage, and equality of treatment, Britain after 1948 deserves to be called a welfare state, while Edwardian and interwar Britain do not. Unfortunately, despite the enthusiasm with which the public greeted the welfare state, the postwar policies did not eliminate economic insecurity.

Last Rights? Funerals, Poverty and Social Exclusion

1998 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARK DRAKEFORD
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Poor People ◽  
The Public ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Welfare State

This article considers the current state of help with funeral expenses in Britain. It argues that assistance has been progressively and deliberately eroded to the point where the famous ‘from the cradle to the grave’ protection of the welfare state has been removed from increasing numbers of poor people. The article sets these developments within the context of the contemporary British funeral industry, with emphasis upon its treatment of less-well-off consumers. The changing nature of social security provision for funeral expenses is traced in detail, including the actions of the incoming 1997 Labour government. This article investigates the public health role of local authorities in the case of burials, concluding that such services are insufficiently robust to meet the new weight placed upon them. The article ends with a consideration of the impact which these different changes produce in the lives of individuals upon whom they have an effect.

scholarly journals Government-Voluntary Sector Compacts Reconsidered

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Rathgeb Smith
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Voluntary Sector ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractAs the articles in this special issue demonstrate, the emergence of government-voluntary sector compacts around the world is intimately linked to comprehensive transformations the welfare state is undergoing in many countries. The fact that the first compact was developed in England is significant; since the early 20th century, the development of the welfare state in many societies has been significantly influenced by the ideas coming from policymakers, scholars and advocates in the United Kingdom.

Abbau von Inflexibilitäten auf dem Arbeitsmarkt – Ist die Wirtschaftspolitik auf dem richtigen Weg?

2000 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-250
Author(s):  
Norbert Berthold
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Employment Protection ◽  
Economic Environment ◽  
Economic Damage ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
The Public ◽  
Protection Legislation ◽  
Generous Welfare ◽  
The Welfare State

Abstract The situation on the German labour market is still a catastrophe. The institutional set-ups on the labour market and the welfare state obviously no longer fit the fundamentally changed economic environment. There is next to no competition on the labour market and unions and employers' associations use the generous welfare state to transfer the burden of adjustment to changes in the economic environment onto the public at large. Institutional mismatch is prevalent. The red-green coalition government has not only realized that persistently high unemployment inflicts tremendous economic damage but that it is also politically destabilizing. It has therefore announced that the performance on the labour market during its term of office shall be its own measure of success or failure. This paper discusses whether the regulatory steps taken by the red-green coalition government, like implementing stricter employment protection legislation, reintroducing full pay when sick, and changing the law concerning low-paid jobs, are suitable for reducing this institutional mismatch.

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