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.

Political Institutions

2021 ◽  
pp. 312-328
Author(s):  
Ellen M. Immergut
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Veto Players ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
The Political ◽  
Consensus Democracy ◽  
Welfare State Development ◽  
Veto Points ◽  
The Impact

This chapter surveys theories and empirical evidence about the impact of state structures and political institutions on welfare state structures and outcomes. It shows that the political-institutional analysis of welfare states has shifted over time from an interest in static structures to a much more dynamic analysis of the interplay amongst preferences, structures, ideas, and institutions. It reviews different approaches to the study of political institutions, including majoritarian versus consensus democracy, veto points, and veto players. The impact of veto points on welfare state development and change, as well as the links between electoral systems and electoral dynamics on social policy outcomes, are explained and discussed. The chapter concludes with a review of the impact of past policies on welfare state politics and outcomes.

Public and Private Social Welfare

2021 ◽  
pp. 152-172
Author(s):  
Willem Adema ◽  
Peter Whiteford
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Public Spending ◽  
Social Expenditure ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Incorrect Measurement ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Distributional Impact ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Welfare State

This chapter contributes to the discussion of public and private social welfare by drawing together recent information on these different ways of providing social benefits. It presents data on public social expenditure for 2015–17 and accounts for the impact of the tax system and private social expenditure to develop indicators on net social expenditure for 2015. The chapter shows that conventional estimates of gross public spending differ significantly from estimates of net public spending and net total social expenditure, leading to an incorrect measurement and ranking of total social welfare effort across countries.Just as importantly, the fact that total social welfare support is incorrectly measured implies that the outcomes of welfare state support may also be incorrectly measured. Thus, the main objectives of the chapter include considering the implications of this more comprehensive definition of welfare state effort for analysis of the distributional impact of the welfare state and for an assessment of the efficiency and incentive effects of different welfare state arrangements.

scholarly journals The development of the Welfare State in Portugal: trends in social expenditure between 1938 and 2003

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Fernando Carolo ◽  
José António Pereirinha
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Data Series ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Social Expenditure ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Institutional Structures ◽  
Risk Protection ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractThis paper presents a data series on social expenditure in Portugal for the period 1938-2003. The series was built with the aim of identifying and characterizing the most significant phases in the process leading up to the current welfare state system in this country. The establishment of a social insurance (Previdência) in 1935 was one of the founding pillars of the Estado Novo (New State). Reforms to Social Welfare (Previdência Social) in 1962, while in the full throes of the New State, policy measures taken after the revolution of 1974 and a new orientation for social policy following the accession of Portugal to the European Economic Community (EEC) in the mid-1980s brought about significant transformations in the institutional organizational structure that provided welfare and conferred social rights in Portugal. To understand this process, knowledge is needed of the transformations to the institutional structures governing the organizations that provided welfare, welfare coverage in terms of the type of benefit and the population entitled to social risk protection, the magnitude of spending on benefits associated with these risks, as well as how benefits were allocated between the institutions. We built a data series for the period 1938-1980, which can then be matched to data already published in the OECD Social Expenditure Database from 1980 onwards. As a result, a consistent series for social expenditure from 1938 to 2003 was obtained. The methodology used to create the series enabled us to measure the impact of the variation in population coverage for social risks and the average generosity of benefits on the relative share of social expenditure in GDP. We present an interpretive reading for the full period, covering the New State and the Democracy from 1974, of the process of building the welfare state in Portugal.

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.

Hidden Costs of the Welfare State: Employers' Compliance Costs and the Working Tax Credit

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Godwin ◽  
Colin Lawson
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Delivery System ◽  
Tax Credit ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Compliance Costs ◽  
Policy Perspective ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Welfare State

This paper explores the impact of the decision to make the Working Tax Credit (WTC) payable via the employer, until March 2006. A unique survey shows the unequal distribution of compliance costs across firms and industries. It also suggests that the arrangement had some unanticipated results, and may have damaged the effectiveness of the WTC. Some employers' compliance costs may have been shifted to employees. So from a social policy perspective administration is policy – the delivery system affects outcomes. However the switch to payments through HMRC from April 2006 does not remove all compliance costs from employers.

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.

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