Governance

2021 ◽  
pp. 172-187
Author(s):  
Daniel Béland ◽  
Kimberly J. Morgan

The creation of every social programme entails decisions about governance—about how these programmes are to be funded and administered. Policymakers have made varying choices about the territorial organization of social programme governance, as well as the mix of public and private actors involved in their financing, administration, and delivery. These decisions are highly consequential, shaping the relative power of different constituencies and governing bodies. Governance systems also reflect views about central versus local power, the role of religious and other groups in social provision, and the balance between markets versus states in providing for human welfare needs. This chapter examines social programme governance from a historical and a cross-national perspective to elucidate key patterns and trends. The first half of the chapter focuses on the public–private mix in welfare governance, while the second explores territorial governance, with a specific focus on federalism. One important theme in this chapter concerns the need to challenge assumptions that welfare states are monolithic, highly centralized, and state dominated. Instead, contemporary welfare regimes are mixed systems in which policy development and implementation often take place through non-state actors and/or at subnational levels of government.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah J. Milly

PurposeThis article analyzes recent Japanese efforts to recruit care labor from seven Asian countries to identify the relative contributions to migrants and their respective countries' health systems. Besides considering the factors affecting migration from, and benefits to, sending countries, it asks how differences in the role of public and private actors may matter.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses two stages of analysis. The first uses quantitative and qualitative data for seven countries that send care labor migrants to Japan to identify differences in benefits for individual migrants and health care systems in the sending countries. The second stage examines recent initiatives for funding care worker training in Japan to assess the relative impacts of different public-private cooperative arrangements, especially in terms of Vietnam.FindingsIn addition to general migration policy mechanisms provided by the destination country, bilateral relationships and foreign assistance, along with economic, demographic and health care conditions in the origin countries, contribute to the relative benefits of migration. Among countries supplying care labor to Japan, Vietnam is obtaining the most benefits for its health care system in return.Originality/valueResponding to central concerns surrounding care labor migration, the article compares across countries sending care workers to a single country. The comparison highlights a constellation of factors that contribute the greatest benefits. The article identifies how different types of public and private relationships can influence this process. The study provides observations applicable to other welfare states developing care labor migration relationships.


2005 ◽  
Vol 13 (S1) ◽  
pp. 161-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
HERBERT OBINGER ◽  
STEPHAN LEIBFRIED ◽  
CLAUDIA BOGEDAN ◽  
EDITH GINDULIS ◽  
JULIA MOSER ◽  
...  

We examine whether a fundamental change in the core dimension of modern 20th century statehood, the welfare state, has become evident in response to changed exogenous and endogenous challenges. By combining quantitative and qualitative approaches we take stock of social policy development in four advanced welfare states – Austria, Denmark, New Zealand and Switzerland – over the last 30 years. Neither spending patterns nor structural changes support a ‘race to the bottom thesis’, according to which the changed environment of welfare state policies has led to a downward spiral in benefit provision. On the contrary, we show that social spending levels have risen, mainly due to a catch-up of former welfare state laggards. In structural terms, a blurring of welfare regimes can be observed. This twofold process can be described as dual convergence.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suyoung Kim

AbstractAlthough the voluntary sector is internationally valued as an integral component of the welfare mix, studies on East Asian welfare regimes have primarily focused on state-market-family interactions, paying scant attention to the long-standing and pivotal role of voluntary agencies in their construction. This case study illuminates this less-known aspect of modern welfare history in the context of South Korea, with a particular focus on the activities of voluntary organizations. The study categorizes South Korean voluntary associations into four types and examines their different contributions in shaping South Korea’s welfare regime, by applying Young’s framework on government–voluntary organizations relations. This historical exploration on the South Korean voluntary sector aims to deepen understanding of an East Asian welfare state regime. It further suggests that current welfare mix debates, focusing on the service delivery role of voluntary organizations within Western European welfare states, should be broadened.


2005 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 921-948 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Brady ◽  
Jason Beckfield ◽  
Martin Seeleib-Kaiser

Previous scholarship is sharply divided over how or if globalization influences welfare states. The effects of globalization may be positive causing expansion, negative triggering crisis and reduction, curvilinear contributing to convergence, or insignificant. We bring new evidence to bear on this debate with an analysis of three welfare state measures and a comprehensive array of economic globalization indicators for 17 affluent democracies from 1975 to 2001. The analysis suggests several conclusions. First, state-of-the-art welfare state models warrant revision in the globalization era. Second, most indicators of economic globalization do not have significant effects, but a few affect the welfare state and improve models of welfare state variation. Third, the few significant globalization effects are in differing directions and often inconsistent with extant theories. Fourth, the globalization effects are far smaller than the effects of domestic political and economic factors. Fifth, the effects of globalization are not systematically different between European and non-European countries, or liberal and non-liberal welfare regimes. Increased globalization and a modest convergence of the welfare state have occurred, but globalization does not clearly cause welfare state expansion, crisis, and reduction or convergence. Ultimately, this study suggests skepticism toward bold claims about globalization's effect on the welfare state.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (suppl 2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinesh Abrol ◽  
T. Sundararaman ◽  
Harilal Madhavan ◽  
K. J. Joseph

Abstract: This article presents an overview of the changes that are taking place within the public and private health innovation systems in India including delivery of medical care, pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and Indian traditional medicine. The nature of the flaws that exist in the health innovation system is pinpointed. The response by the government, the health, technology and medical institutions, and the evolving industry is addressed on a national level. The article also discusses how the alignment of policies and institutions was developed within the scope of national health innovation systems, and how the government and the industry are dealing with the challenges to integrate health system, industry, and social policy development processes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 189 (4) ◽  
pp. 354-357
Author(s):  
Mikael Rostila

Abstract In this issue of the Journal, Baranyi et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2019;000(00):000–000) examine the longitudinal associations of perceived neighborhood disorder and social cohesion with depressive symptoms among persons aged 50 years or more in 16 different countries. An important contribution of their article is that they study how neighborhood-level social capital relates to depression in different welfare-state contexts. Although the authors provide empirical evidence for some significant differences between welfare states in the relationship between social capital and depression, they say little about potential explanations. In this commentary, I draw attention to welfare-state theory and how it could provide us with a greater understanding of Baranyi et al.’s findings. I also discuss the potential downsides of grouping countries into welfare regimes. I primarily focus on the associations between social cohesion and depression, as these associations were generally stronger than those for neighborhood disorder and depression. Finally, I provide some suggestions for future research within the field and discuss whether the findings could be used to guide policies aimed at increasing social cohesion and health.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 1591-1602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut K. Anheier

Comparative studies on philanthropic foundations are still in their infancy. To advance the comparative understanding, the article proposes to use two countries—the United States and Germany—as comparative cases against which to assess the main contours of foundations in other countries. Both countries have large foundations communities; yet both are rather distinct in terms of their historical development as well as in terms of their institutional characteristics, patterns, and activities. Looking at the positioning, roles, advantages, and disadvantages of foundations, the article offers a framework for their comparative study using the varieties of capitalism, welfare regimes, and the social origins classifications.


2021 ◽  
pp. 103985622110528
Author(s):  
Jeffrey C.L. Looi ◽  
Michelle Atchison ◽  
May Matias

Objective: We explore the previous research and current context regarding opportunities for shared-care partnerships between public and private psychiatric practice. Conclusions: Since the early 2000s, when there was impetus for the development of public-private psychiatric shared-care models as part of a previous National Mental Health Strategy, there has been surprisingly little research and policy development. Given an apparent exodus of psychiatrists to private practice due to current challenges facing the public health sector, it is timely to reconsider models of private and public sector shared-care that may improve the quality of public mental healthcare.


2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 559-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bettina Grimmer ◽  
Jennifer Hobbins

Purpose – With a particular focus on cultural understandings and the concepts behind welfare policies, the purpose of this paper is to analyse commonalities and dissimilarities in the patterns of social policy, and more precisely youth unemployment policies, in Sweden and Germany. Design/methodology/approach – A document analysis of Swedish and German youth unemployment policies was conducted with regard to how the two welfare regimes’ policies define the underlying problem, the instruments through which this problem is tackled, and the aim of youth activation policies. Findings – The findings show congruency concerning the definitions of the problem of youth unemployment, in which the unemployed are regarded as lacking in discipline, as well as in the policies through which the problem is tackled: through conditionality and pastoral power as policy tools. The solution of the problem on the other hand, found in the notion of the ideal worker to be produced, diverges between active entrepreneurs in one country, and blue-collar workers in the other. The authors conclude that the introduction of supranational policy concepts is not a matter of mere implementation, and that concepts like activation are reinterpreted according to differing cultural ideologies and accommodated into the context of particular welfare states. Originality/value – This paper provides an innovative framework for the understanding of the influence of cultural understandings on policy making, but also on challenges facing activation governance on the one hand and European Union policy initiatives and transnational policy diffusion on the other.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Afeez Olalekan Sanni

The implementation of public private partnership (PPP) procurement method is expected to help governments in the development of infrastructures and provides an opportunity for the reduction in the governments’ debt profiles. This method has been adopted in Nigeria for more than a decade and with these years of implementation, few infrastructural projects have been developed using this method while some have been unsuccessful. This study aims to examine the PPP projects implementation in Nigeria and identify the most critical factors that could determine the success of such projects. A total of 184 questionnaires were received from public and private sectors’ participants in the implementation of PPP projects. An exploratory factor analysis identified seven critical success factors as projects feedback, leadership focus, risk allocation and economic policy, good governance and political support, short construction period, favourable socio-economic factors, and delivering publicly needed service. This study shows that more developmental projects could be delivered through PPP if the government could focus on these main factors in the implementation process. The result will influence policy development towards PPP and guide the partners in the development of PPP projects. 


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