The Aftermath of the Welfare State. Comments on Organizational Implications of Cuts in Public-Sector Expenditure in the Netherlands

1984 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaston Sporre
Author(s):  
Sven Schreurs

Abstract In academia and beyond, it has become commonplace to regard populist parties – in particular, those on the radical right – as the archetypical embodiment of politics of nostalgia. Demand-side studies suggest that nostalgic sentiments motivate populist radical-right (PRR) voting and welfare chauvinist attitudes, yet systematic analyses of the nostalgic discourse that these parties promote have not been forthcoming. This paper seeks to fill that lacuna by analysing how the Freedom Party of Austria, the Dutch Party for Freedom and the Sweden Democrats framed the historical fate of the welfare state in their electoral discourse between 2008 and 2018. It demonstrates that their commitment to welfare chauvinism finds expression in a common repertoire of “welfare nostalgia,” manifested in the different modes of “reaction,” “conservation” and “modernisation.” Giving substance to a widespread intuition about PRR nostalgia, the paper breaks ground for further research into nostalgic ideas about social policy.


1952 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-367
Author(s):  
J. Edward Gerald

The first issues of the I. P. I. Report, published by the International Press Institute, appeared during this quarter. They furnish an unequalled report on communications around the world. L'Echo de la Presse became a weekly on April 11, realizing a seven-year dream of Editor Jacquemart. News developments included progress on reform of the British law of libel, evidence of the growth of advertising in Great Britain during the Socialist emphasis on the welfare state, and consideration of new basic press laws in West Germany, Pakistan and France. The chief editor of a leading Catholic daily in The Netherlands was dismissed. La Prensa of Buenos Aires reappeared as the painted darling of the Peron dictatorship and La Razon of La Paz appeared dead of intimidation by Estenssoro's revolutionary gangs. A leading Communist editor went to jail in France as part of the government's gesture of warning against armed agitation. A new international federation of journalists, the West's answer to the Communist IOJ, elected a famed British labor leader as president.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Ozga

AbstractThis paper draws on recent research in Europe and England to discuss the politics of accountability. It is suggested that, as policies in education are increasingly focused on delivering technical-managerial accountability, that is accountability understood as evidenced in international, national, institutional and individual comparative measures of performance, so the shifting power relations of system redesign supported by data use are concealed and suppressed. System redesign is promoted by ‘networked’ governance and the de-centred state, in institutional ‘freedom’ from bureaucracy, in the de-professionalisation of public sector workers, in the proliferation of managers, in the redefinition of citizens as consumers. The implications of such reforms for politics are profound, as political legitimacy is a fundamental precondition for the sustainability of the welfare state and welfare state organizations are dependent on active political processes of producing legitimacy and political accountability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Choroszewicz ◽  
Beata Mäihäniemi

This article uses the sociolegal perspective to address current problems surrounding data protection and the experimental use of automated decision-making systems. This article outlines and discusses the hard laws regarding national adaptations of the European General Data Protection Regulation and other regulations as well as the use of automated decision-making in the public sector in six European countries (Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Finland, France, and the Netherlands). Despite its limitations, the General Data Protection Regulation has impacted the geopolitics of the global data market by empowering citizens and data protection authorities to voice their complaints and conduct investigations regarding data breaches. We draw on the Esping-Andersen welfare state typology to advance our understanding of the different approaches of states to citizens’ data protection and data use for automated decision-making between countries in the Nordic regime and the Conservative-Corporatist regime. Our study clearly indicates a need for additional legislation regarding the use of citizens’ data for automated decision-making and regulation of automated decision-making. Our results also indicate that legislation in Finland, Sweden, and Denmark draws upon the mutual trust between public administrations and citizens and thus offers only general guarantees regarding the use of citizens’ data. In contrast, Germany, France, and the Netherlands have enacted a combination of general and sectoral regulations to protect and restrict citizens’ rights. We also identify some problematic national policy responses to the General Data Protection Regulation that empower governments and related institutions to make citizens accountable to states’ stricter obligations and tougher sanctions. The article contributes to the discussion on the current phase of the developing digital welfare state in Europe and the role of new technologies (i.e., automated decision-making) in this phase. We argue that states and public institutions should play a central role in strengthening the social norms associated with data privacy and protection as well as citizens’ right to social security.


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