Polity, Politics, and Policies

2020 ◽  
pp. 683-700
Author(s):  
Peter Munk Christiansen ◽  
Jørgen Elklit ◽  
Peter Nedergaard
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Party System ◽  
State Policies ◽  
Faroe Islands ◽  
Small State ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Flexible Adaptation ◽  
The Welfare State

This final chapter wraps up some of the conclusions and provides some afterthoughts. The Constitution and the Community of the Realm (Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands) have demonstrated stability over the years and yet allowed for flexible adaptation. The political institutions, such as the Parliament and the administration, are well-functioning although increasing distrust has been a problem, even though trust is now on the rise again. The party system has shown continuity over time in spite of disruptions. The old parties still dominate Parliament as well as minority governments. However, a declining membership base means that parties increasingly lack bottom-up legitimacy. A specific characteristic of Danish politics is the local and regional governmental sectors, which is one of the biggest in the world. The policy section put a critical spotlight on Denmark’s position vis-à-vis the outside world. Since Denmark became a small state in 1864, it has been a story of continuous adaptation to the strongest power of relevance. The welfare state policies include relatively market-accommodating economic, business, and labour market policies, which are necessary in order to fund the welfare state as well as very costly environmental and climate policies.

Public Opinion, Party Politics, and the Welfare State

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Lindvall ◽  
David Rueda
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Party System ◽  
Median Voter ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Party Positions ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Welfare State

This chapter examines the long-run relationship between public opinion, party politics, and the welfare state. It argues that when large parties receive a clear signal concerning the median voter’s position on the welfare state, vote-seeking motivations dominate and the large parties in the party system converge on the position of the median voter. When the position of the median voter is more difficult to discern, however, policy-seeking motivations dominate, and party positions diverge. This argument implies that the effects of government partisanship on welfare state policy are more ambiguous than generally understood. The countries covered in the chapter are Denmark, France, Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom (going back to the 1960s). The number of observations is (necessarily) limited, but the diverse cases illustrate a common electoral dynamic centered around the position of the median voter.

The Impact of Collective and Competitive Veto Points on Public Expenditures in the Global Age

2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus M. L. Crepaz ◽  
Ann W. Moser
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Public Expenditures ◽  
Domestic Political Institutions ◽  
Global Age ◽  
Social Transfers ◽  
Veto Points ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Welfare State

This study examines the determinants of public expenditures in advanced market economies by simultaneously assessing the impact of domestic political institutions and globalization. A distinction is made between collective veto points and competitive veto points, demonstrating that not all veto points have restrictive effects. It is shown that public expenditures are significantly and positively affected by collective veto points, whereas the oppositeis true for competitive veto points thereby indicating that not all veto points are created equal. In addition to veto points, the effects of globalization are also assessed revealing that globalization is exerting little reform pressures on the welfare state with strong evidence indicating that more globalization buoys public expenditures. Current disbursements and social transfers are both positively influenced by globalization. These findings suggest that domestic political institutions continue to shape policy trajectories in this purported global age.

The Welfare State

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Howard
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Rational Design ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Important Influence ◽  
Single Factor ◽  
The Welfare State

The American welfare state has a long and complicated history. Political institutions, organized groups, ideas, and values have worked singly and in myriad combinations to shape US social policy; no single factor stands out as the most important influence. The end result, however, is increasingly clear. Built over many decades and shaped by so many different hands, the American welfare state has emerged as a large, jerry-rigged contraption capable of helping some groups of citizens far more than others. While citizens, pundits, and policymakers alike may lament the lack of rational design, a historical perspective helps us understand why the contemporary American welfare state fails to deliver on some of its promises.

Northern Neighbours

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
State Education ◽  
Political Relationships ◽  
Resource Ownership ◽  
Development Paths ◽  
The Welfare State

This book, which has a Preface by Scotland’s leading historian, Sir Tom Devine, is a comparative study of the economic, social and political development of Norway and Scotland, mainly since about 1800. The authors are from Scotland, Norway, Denmark, England and Finland. It starts with an overview of the histories of the two countries, which were closely intertwined between the 8th and 17th Centuries, and the economic, social and political relationships between them. It includes specific chapters dealing with the comparative development of political institutions and democracy, agriculture and land ownership, industry, local government, money and banking, the welfare state, education, outdoor activities and recreation and religion. There are additional chapters on the impacts of the two World Wars on political relations between Scotland and Norway, on core issue in the comparison of social developments in the two countries, and on the theories that may help us to understand to diverse development paths of Norway and Scotland. The content and focus of the book is unique and original, and joins historians, economists, political scientists, anthropologists, geographers and sociologists in an important example of comparative analysis covering the long term. It is intended to provide analysis that will be helpful for debates on the future of Scotland after Brexit, whether within or outside the United Kingdom, for example on the monetary and banking questions, the welfare state, early childhood education, land and resource ownership, North Sea oil and gas, local government and decentralisation, agriculture and rural development, religion, and external relations, among others.

scholarly journals State Policies Towards Precarious Work: Employment and Unemployment in Contemporary Portugal

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (S24) ◽  
pp. 263-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Varela
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
State Policies ◽  
The State ◽  
Precarious Work ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
The Third ◽  
Short Overview ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractIn the context of the Global Collaboratory on the History of Labour Relations, in this article, we relate the analysis of precarious work in Portugal to the state, in particular, as a direct participant functioning as both employer and mediator. In the second part, we present a short overview of the evolution of casualization in the context of employment and unemployment in contemporary Portugal (1974–2014). In the third section, we discuss state policies on labour relations, particularly in the context of the welfare state. Finally, we compare this present analysis with Swedish research done from the perspective of the state as a direct participant and mediator over the past four decades.

Welfare, Church and the Pursuit of Justice in the Land of the Long White Cloud

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-107
Author(s):  
Anthony Dancer
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Promised Land ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Mother Country ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractThe relationship between Christianity and social development in New Zealand has been an historically complex one. Many of the early settlers to these islands came to escape a life of poverty in their mother country. Yet wherever there is wealth, there is poverty social problems, and they cast a long shadow over the promised land for the early colonizers and the indigenous Maori. The emergence of the welfare state in the 1930s paved the way for significant social transformation. It was understood by some to express 'applied Christianity'. With the comparatively recent demise of the Welfare State in New Zealand at the hands of neo-liberalism it is reasonable to consider whether this can equally be understood to indicate the demise of the Christianity's social import. Yet an appreciation of the church's predominantly informal social involvement throughout the history of these islands provides both a helpful interpretative key to the past and the future. Aotearoa New Zealand history may be one signifier that the priority for the pursuit of justice is to be found primarily at the margins amidst the informality of the ordinary, and far less at the centre of formality, systems and political institutions, and that the role of intentional Christian community in this might be as significant to the identity of the church as it is to the state.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document