Agents, Armies, Allies: Semantics of Public-Private Partnerships in US Welfare Reform

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander-Kenneth Nagel
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
World Order ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Public Private Partnerships ◽  
Charitable Choice ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
New Era ◽  
The Public Sphere

Global competition and demographic change have put modern welfare states under pressure. To ensure budget consolidation without too harsh a retrenchment of benefits, privatization and competition have become white hopes in the social-political debate. As states are courting civil society to take over responsibility in the realm of social welfare, they create opportunity structures for religious communities to re-enter the public sphere. While it has become fashionable to announce the resurgence of religion in heroic diagnoses of the world order, little attention has been given to what is going on below on the meso-level of public-private collaboration between religious and non-religious organizations. In this article I will examine US welfare reform as a strong case of privatization and communalization of welfare responsibility, which involves an explicit invitation to religious communities to join in as public social service providers. I will argue for a religious studies perspective to religion and social politics that focuses on the semantic patterns of the political discourse and explore the guiding semantics of public-private partnerships from the initial Charitable Choice legislation under the Clinton government to George W. Bush’s Faith-based Initiative and finally to the New Era of Partnerships announced by Barack Obama.

Charitable Choice: The Religious Component of the US-Welfare-Reform — Theoretical and Methodological Reflections on "Faith-Based-Organizations" as Social Service Agencies

Numen ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander-Kenneth Nagel
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Religious Organizations ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Charitable Choice ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Faith Based Organizations

AbstractAre religious institutions gaining new strength in the modern welfare state? The concept of "Charitable Choice" is part of a comprehensive welfare reform under the Clinton-Government in 1996. It aims at the formal inclusion of religious organizations ("Faith-Based-Organizations") into the public welfare system. The new relevance of religious organizations as social service providers goes along with a shift of ideas of social inequality and deviant behaviour in terms of having not only structural and economic but also behavioural and moral reasons. The question arises, what is so productive about Faith-Based-Organizations, and, are religious institutions perhaps even more efficient than "secular" agencies? In this essay, I will discuss these questions from a theoretical and methodological point of view, arguing that religious studies have to adjust their analytical framework to the new situation. Religion has by no means lost its collective and material dimension. Therefore, I shall present neo-institutional- and neo-capital-theories as more appropriate approaches than the outdated remains of secularization theory or postmodern etherealism.

The Fight to Save Welfare for Low-Income Older Asian Immigrants: The Role of National Asian American Organizations

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Yoo
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Bill Clinton ◽  
Asian Immigrants ◽  
Central Question ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Welfare Reform Law ◽  
Selection Of

The welfare reform law of August 1996 signed by President Bill Clinton put an end to immigrants’ eligibility of federal means tested entitlements. The rollbacks on welfare are the most drastic for older, low-income Asian immigrants who are on Supplemental Security Income. The article’s focus is in on national Asian American organizations who are involved in this political debate. The central question discuss is how did national Asian American organizations characterize and affect the 1996 federal welfare reform and immigrant debate. The selection of organizations that was studied and the findings of that investigation, along with the assessment of its effectiveness and the resources barriers they face are discussed.

The Chaste Parricide: Murder, Femininity and the Subversion of Authority in the Reception of the First Performance of Shelley’s The Cenci, 1886

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-211
Author(s):  
Lee Michael-Berger
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Mass Culture ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
The Public ◽  
True Story ◽  
The Public Sphere

The story of The Cenci’s first production is intriguing, since the play, based on the true story of a sixteenth-century Roman family and revolving around the theme of parricide, was published in 1819 but was denied a licence for many years. The Shelley Society finally presented it in 1886, although it was vetoed by the Lord Chamberlain, and to avoid censorship it had to be proclaimed as a private event. This article examines the political and social context of the production, especially the reception of actress’s Alma Murray’s rendition of Beatrice, the parricide, thus probing the ways in which The Cenci question was reframed, and placed in the public sphere, despite censorship. The staging of the play became the site of a political debate and the performance – an act of defiance against institutionalised power, but also an act of defiance against the alleged tyranny of mass culture.

Religion, Class, and the Postwar Development of the Dutch Welfare State

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennie Oude Nijhuis
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Labor Union ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Christian Democracy ◽  
Union Movement ◽  
Welfare Systems ◽  
Welfare Generosity ◽  
Post War ◽  
Distribution Of Income

This book examines how the Netherlands managed to create and maintain one of the world’s most generous and inclusive welfare systems despite having been dominated by Christian-democratic or ŸconservativeŒ, rather than socialist dominated governments, for most of the post-war period. It emphasizes that such systems have strong consequences for the distribution of income and risk among different segments of society and argues that they could consequently only emerge in countries where middle class groups were unable to utilize their key electoral and strong labor market position to mobilize against the adverse consequences of redistribution for them. By illustrating their key role in the coming about of solidaristic welfare reform in the Netherlands, the book also offers a novel view of the roles of Christian-democracy and the labor union movement in the development of modern welfare states. By highlighting how welfare reform contributed to the employment miracle of the 1990s, the book sheds new light on how countries are able to combine high levels of welfare generosity and solidarity with successful macro-economic performance.

Data for Alabama Taxation and Changing Discourse from Reconstruction to Redemption

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasey Hendricks
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
General Role ◽  
Proposition 13 ◽  
New Era ◽  
Princeton University

At their most basic level taxes carry, in the words of Schumpeter ([1918] 1991), “the thunder of history” (p. 101). They say something about the ever-changing structures of social, economic, and political life. Taxes offer a blueprint, in both symbolic and concrete terms, for uncovering the most fundamental arrangements in society – stratification included. The historical retellings captured within these data highlight the politics of taxation in Alabama from 1856 to 1901, including conflicts over whom money is expended upon as well as struggles over who carries their fair share of the tax burden. The selected timeline overlaps with the formation of five of six constitutions adopted in the State of Alabama, including 1861, 1865, 1868, 1875, and 1901. Having these years as the focal point makes for an especially meaningful case study, given how much these constitutional formations made the state a site for much political debate. These data contain 5,121 pages of periodicals from newspapers throughout the state, including: Alabama Sentinel, Alabama State Intelligencer, Alabama State Journal, Athens Herald, Daily Alabama Journal, Daily Confederation, Elyton Herald, Mobile Daily Tribune, Mobile Tribune, Mobile Weekly Tribune, Morning Herald, Nationalist, New Era, Observer, Tuscaloosa Observer, Tuskegee News, Universalist Herald, and Wilcox News and Pacificator. The contemporary relevance of these historical debates manifests in Alabama’s current constitution which was adopted in 1901. This constitution departs from well-established conventions of treating the document as a legal framework that specifies a general role of governance but is firm enough to protect the civil rights and liberties of the population. Instead, it stands more as a legislative document, or procedural straightjacket, that preempts through statutory material what regulatory action is possible by the state. These barriers included a refusal to establish a state board of education and enact a tax structure for local education in addition to debt and tax limitations that constrained government capacity more broadly. Prohibitive features like these are among the reasons that, by 2020, the 1901 Constitution has been amended nearly 1,000 times since its adoption. However, similar procedural barriers have been duplicated across the U.S. since (e.g., California’s Proposition 13 of 1978). Reference: Schumpeter, Joseph. [1918] 1991. “The Crisis of the Tax State.” Pp. 99-140 in The Economics and Sociology of Capitalism, edited by Richard Swedberg. Princeton University Press.

The Portuguese Road to Neoliberalism (1976–1989)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Ricardo Noronha
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
State Planning ◽  
The Public ◽  
Development Models ◽  
Market Order ◽  
Privatisation Programme ◽  
Market Approach ◽  
The Public Sphere

The Portuguese constitution, passed in April 1976, considered the nationalisations undertaken after the Carnation Revolution to be ‘irreversible’, prescribing a development model based on state planning. Changes made to the constitutional text, in 1989, allowed for a privatisation programme that curtailed government intervention and reinforced market provision. This mirrored a previous shift in the public sphere. Whereas political debate in 1976 was mostly centred on state-led development models, the next decade witnessed the rise of a pro-market approach. Two crises of the balance of payments encouraged a growing number of economists, businessmen, journalists and politicians to argue for the need to revise the constitution, enhancing the role and scope of markets. This article focuses on the rise of a neoliberal intellectual field in Portugal between 1976 and 1989, analysing its efforts to overcome the legacy of the Carnation Revolution and build a competitive market order in a semiperipheral context.

scholarly journals Service Providers' Perception of Factors that Help or Hinder Homeless Families

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth W. Lindsey
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Social Supports ◽  
Homeless Shelter ◽  
Homeless Families ◽  
Southern States ◽  
Reform Legislation ◽  
Significant Barrier

Homeless shelter directors in two southern states were surveyed to ascertain their perceptions of factors that help or hinder homeless, mother-headed families in emerging from homelessness. Respondents believed that mothers' attitudes and motivation were the most important factors in getting and keeping housing and that lack of social supports and relationship difficulties were the most significant problems families faced in their attempts to emerge from homelessness. Scarce housing was seen as the most significant barrier within the community. The findings are compared with findings from other studies, and explanations for differing results are presented. The author discusses the implications of the findings for service providers and communities in light of recent welfare-reform legislation.

Winning the peace: America and world order in the new era

1997 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 781-782
Author(s):  
David Adams
Keyword(s):  
World Order ◽  
New Era

The Expendables: Community Organizations and Governance Dynamics in the Canadian Settlement Sector

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 597-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Acheson ◽  
Rachel Laforest
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Community Organizations ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Policy Regime ◽  
Immigrant Settlement ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Immigrant Organizations ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Représentation Politique

Abstract.An emerging pattern of governance in contemporary liberal democratic welfare states is a move away from interest group representation and a public sphere organized around demands for extensions of rights to something much more constrained. This article asks how such a profound shift in representation has occurred through governance spaces that are co-constructed by community organizations. It examines the case of Canadian immigrant settlement where beliefs about citizen representation, the role of the state and the nature of the public sphere have undergone profound change, leaving immigrant organizations as either marginal players or fully incorporated in state sanctioned immigrant service provision. Drawing on documentary evidence and interviews with immigrant organizations and public officials in Ottawa, it shows how immigrant organizations have actively interpreted their interests in the light of this changing web of beliefs to co-construct a new policy regime that favours organizational interests over citizen participation.Résumé.Au cours des dernières décennies, une des tendance de gouvernance qui se desssine dans la plupart des États providence est que l'espace de représentation politique et de la défense des droits collectifs est devenu de plus en plus restraint. Cet article examine comment ce changement a pris forme dans des espaces de gouvernance qui sont de plus en plus marqués par une interaction dynamique de coconstruction des politiques publiques. L'analyse est basée sur une étude de cas d'organismes communautaires oeuvrant dans le domaine de l'intégration des immigrants dans la ville d'Ottawa. L'analyse de documents et les entrevues qualitatives révèlent que les organismes ont stratégiquement redéfinis leurs intérêts en matière de représentation politique et ont contribué à la coconstruction d'un nouveau régime de gouvernance qui privilégie les intérêts organisationnels au-dessus de la participation citoyenne.

Varieties of Atheism in Science

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Howard Ecklund ◽  
David R. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Science And Religion ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Daniel Dennett ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Science In Society ◽  
New Atheism ◽  
Depth Interviews

Not all atheists are New Atheists, but thanks in large part to the prominence and influence of New Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens, New Atheism has claimed the pulpit of secularity in Western society. New Atheists have given voice to marginalized nonreligious individuals and underscored the importance of science in society. They have also advanced a derisive view of religion and forcefully argued that science and religion are intrinsically in conflict. Many in the public think that all scientists are atheists and all atheist scientists are New Atheists, militantly against religion and religious people. But what do everyday atheist scientists actually think about religion? Drawing on a survey of 1,293 atheist scientists in the U.S. and U.K., and 81 follow-up in-depth interviews, this book explains the pathways that led to atheism among scientists, the diverse views of religion they hold, their perspectives on the limits of what science can explain, and their views of meaning and morality. The findings reveal a vast gulf between the rhetoric of New Atheism in the public sphere and the reality of atheism in science. The story of the varieties of atheism in science is consequential for scientific and religious communities and points to tools for dialogue between these seemingly disparate groups.

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