Placing Dignity at the Center of Welfare Policy

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chak Kwan Chan

In response to the vagueness of dignity and its limited application in social welfare, this article attempts to explore the content of dignity and discuss its implications for welfare policies. Dignity concerns living respectfully, for which having equal value, self-respect, autonomy and positive mutuality is essential. The article argues that institutional dignification, community respect and human development are three welfare directions for facilitating the possession of dignity.

Author(s):  
Joel Blau

This chapter examines the main themes in social welfare policy. These themes include the assumption that poor people are responsible for their own poverty; a belief in the marketplace as the best means of addressing human needs; and a consequent wariness of federal social welfare interventions. Analyzing social welfare policy’s multiple and conflicting roles, it then traces these themes as they have manifested themselves throughout U.S. history. The chapter concludes by contending that while these historical factors may have all contributed to less comprehensive social welfare policies, their inadequacies effectively reopen the issue of what social welfare should become in the twenty-first century, when neoliberalism and rising income inequality have heightened the fears of so many Americans about their declining standard of living.


Author(s):  
Michael D. Minta

This chapter examines the advocacy efforts of members of Congress for policies designed to help poor people. It investigates whether the differences that exist between black, Latino, and white legislators in racial and ethnic hearings also occur in social welfare hearings. It examine legislators' interventions in committee deliberations during part of the Clinton era (1993–1997) and the first term of the George W. Bush presidency (2001–2003). It focuses on how actively legislators engaged in the deliberations in terms of questioning witnesses and interacting with fellow members of Congress. It also examines other legislative interventions, such as testifying at hearings in favor of social welfare policies that benefit the poor and requesting hearings designed to help poor people, who are disproportionately minorities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 678-684
Author(s):  
Mareks Niklass

This study seeks to find out how social welfare policy preferences have changed over time and what factors account for those preferences in Latvia. The author analyses ISSP survey data gathered in 1996, 2007 and 2016. The data analysis shows that most Latvians still support government interventions in providing social welfare. However, economic factors like material wellbeing and self-interest have decreased the overall support for social welfare policies during the last 20 years. The article provides a long-term perspective missing in previous studies on social welfare policy preferences in Eastern Europe.


The chapter explores the origin of social welfare policies in welfare states in Western democratic countries. It traces the state of poverty in most Western democracies before the Great Depression of 1930s, and states' interventions with welfare social assistance programs previously handled by communities, churches, and charitable organizations. The chapter, therefore, examines the historical context of social welfare policy, the nature of the welfare state regime, modern welfare state approaches to social welfare policy, and the market and global economies and the welfare state.


2020 ◽  
pp. 003232172093899
Author(s):  
Sung Min Han ◽  
Kangwook Han

This study analyzes how political leaders’ material backgrounds affect redistributive policies in democracies. Building on political socialization theory, we argue that politicians with personal experience of economic hardship are more likely to have sympathetic attitudes toward redistribution than those without such experience, particularly where political constraints are weak. We posit that firsthand knowledge of economic hardship helps political leaders understand why the poor need government redistribution, and leads them to support more generous social welfare policies. Analyzing an original dataset of leaders’ material background in 74 democratic countries between 1980 and 2011, we find that leaders who experienced economic hardship in their youth increase social welfare spending during their tenure, particularly when political constraints are weak. Following prior studies on leaders’ personal experiences and policy outcomes, this study provides a new approach to redistribution and welfare policy.


Author(s):  
Mark Carl Rom

This article examines social welfare policies and policymaking, which concern programs that either redistribute income or provide services to individuals to improve the quality of their lives. The author explains major social welfare policy areas, their history, and their content. The article then explores the politics of policymaking in this policy area, with particular attention to the roles of institutions, federalism, and reform, as well as the politics of policy implementation and the important role of race in this policy area. Avenues for future research are discussed.


Author(s):  
Carina Gallo ◽  
Mimi E. Kim

This essay provides a synthesis of criminological and social welfare theoretical frameworks, along with empirical data illuminating the links between crime policy and welfare policy. It also reviews current debates regarding the extent to which European countries are undergoing a shift toward more punitive welfare or crime policies. Building upon Gøsta Esping-Andersen’s classic typology of welfare regimes, current scholarship ties liberal welfare regimes to punitive penal ideologies and high rates of incarceration and social democratic welfare regimes to lenient attitudes toward punishment and low incarceration rates. Research also underscores the significance of economic and social inequality in the production and outcomes of crime and welfare policies. Comparative empirical data supports the persistence of penal-welfarism in Europe, particularly in social democratic states, exemplified by Sweden, while indicating more punitive policies targeting marginalized sectors of the population, notably immigrants.


2006 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-161
Author(s):  
Durre-e- Nayab

The Local Government Ordinance (LGO), formulated by the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) in 2000 and promulgated by provincial governments in August 2001, assigns powers, responsibilities, and service delivery functions to three levels of local governments: district, tehsil, and union. Responsibilities for the delivery of social and human development services, such as primary and basic health, education and social welfare, are delegated to the district level, whereas municipal services, such as water, sanitation and urban services are assigned to the tehsil level. The LGO does not only deal with the delivery of public services in its plan but also stresses the need for fiscal decentralisation, claiming that “Fiscal decentralisation is the heart of any devolution exercise. Without fiscal decentralisation no authority is devolved.”


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