The changing institutionalization of social services in England and Wales, France and Germany: is the welfare state on the retreat?

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Bahle
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 906-936
Author(s):  
Fernando da Cruz Souza ◽  
Nelson Russo de Moraes

A austeridade permanente e a disputa de quem ganha o quê, quando e como, lógica intrínseca às políticas públicas, colocam as políticas sociais brasileiras em constantes testes. O universalismo tentativo iniciado com a Constituição de 1988 pareceu caminhar para uma ampliação da cidadania social no país, mas tem sofrido constantes ataques por falta de um compromisso de classes em torno de um projeto de país mais ou menos homogêneo. Diante dessa falta de precisão no estabelecimento Estado de Bem-estar brasileiro, em especial, pelo encolhimento no investimento público previsto para os próximos anos e com os governos mais alinhados a maior mercadorização dos serviços sociais, torna-se importante revisitar a trajetória do Welfare State em suas origens e objetivos, a fim de compreender como chegamos até aqui, o que podemos esperar do futuro e quais a intervenções necessárias para que nos aproximemos de uma inclusão sensível do grande contingente de pessoas ainda sujeitas a uma cidadania de segunda classe no Brasil. Para atender a esse objetivo, este trabalho realizou uma revisão bibliográfica convencional sobre o Estado de Bem-Estar Social, elencando a partir dela as razões históricas de seu surgimento, a tipologia de Esping-Andersen, a noção de funcionamentos e capacitações de Amartya Sen e os períodos constitutivos do bem-estar no Brasil.   PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Proteção social. Desenvolvimento. Direitos sociais.     ABSTRACT The permanent austerity and the dispute over who wins what, when and how, logic intrinsic to public policies, puts Brazilian social policies in constant tests. The tentative universalism that began with the 1988 Constitution seemed to be heading for a broadening of social citizenship in the country, but it has been under constant attack for the lack of a class compromise around a homogeneous country project. Given this lack of precision in the establishment of the Brazilian Welfare State due to the shrinking public investment expected in the coming years and with the governments most aligned to the greater commodification of social services, it is important to revisit the trajectory of the Welfare State in its origins and objectives, in order to understand how far we have come, what we can expect from the future and what interventions are needed to bring us closer to a sensitive inclusion of the large contingent of people still subject to second class citizenship in Brazil. To meet this objective, this paper has carried out a conventional bibliographical review of the Welfare State, listing from it the historical reasons for its emergence, Esping-Andersen's typology, Amartya Sen's notion of functioning and capabilities and the constitutive periods of welfare in Brazil.   KEYWORDS: Social protection. Development. Social rights.     RESUMEN La austeridad permanente y la disputa sobre quién gana qué, cuándo y cómo, la lógica intrínseca a las políticas públicas, pone a las políticas sociales brasileñas en pruebas constantes. El tentativo universalismo que comenzó con la Constitución de 1988 parecía dirigirse a una ampliación de la ciudadanía social en el país, pero ha estado bajo ataque constante por la falta de un compromiso de clase en torno a un proyecto de país más o menos homogéneo. Dada esta falta de precisión en el establecimiento del Estado de bienestar brasileño, en particular, debido a la reducción de la inversión pública esperada en los próximos años y con los gobiernos más alineados con la mayor mercantilización de los servicios sociales, es importante revisar la trayectoria del Estado de bienestar en sus orígenes y objetivos, para comprender cómo hemos llegado hasta ahora, qué podemos esperar del futuro y qué intervenciones son necesarias para acercarnos a una inclusión sensible del gran contingente de personas aún sujetas a una ciudadanía de segunda clase en Brasil. Para cumplir con este objetivo, este documento ha llevado a cabo una revisión bibliográfica convencional del Estado del Bienestar, enumerando de él las razones históricas de su surgimiento, la tipología de Esping-Andersen, la noción de funcionamiento y capacidadess de Amartya Sen, y períodos constitutivos de bienestar en Brasil.   PALABRAS CLAVE: Protección social. Desarrollo. Derechos sociales.  


1989 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney Lowe

ABSTRACTBetween 1955–7 welfare expenditure in Britain came under serious attack. The main protagonist was the Treasury and its chosen implement a five-year review of the social services, to be presided over by a ministerial Social Services Committee. The attack rebounded, for the Committee provided the opportunity for the consolidation of the defence of welfare expenditure and for a frontal attack on Treasury assumptions. This neglected episode in Conservative government social policy places in historical context the early defeat of monetarism (with Thorneycroft's resignation in 1958) and provides the background to the establishment of the Plowden Committee and of the Public Expenditure Survey Committee. It also raises questions about the degree of post-war consensus and the failure to make the constructive development of the welfare state an objective of ‘conviction’ politics.


2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
SCOTT L. GREER

AbstractThe relationship between political decentralisation and the welfare state is much studied, and large-scale studies have repeatedly found that decentralised states have less generous welfare states. How do we fit that with other studies that emphasise the potential of decentralisation to raise welfare standards? This article argues that decentralisation, as a variable, is too broad and it is more efficient to focus on the structure of veto players in the central state, intergovernmental relations and intergovernmental finance. Those are the actual mechanisms that connect decentralisation to the welfare states, and they can all vary independently of decentralisation. It uses recent changes in the United States and United Kingdom as examples. The fragmentation and average weakness of the US welfare state is mostly due to a federal government riddled with internal veto points that permits considerable interstate variation and low overall average provision, while tight central control on finances in the UK means that most variation is in the organisation, rather than levels, of social services.


2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 745-759
Author(s):  
CELIA LESSA KERSTENETZKY

ABSTRACT In this essay, I propose an agenda for the welfare state of the 21st century that emphasizes its role as a mechanism of resource allocation. Since social and environmental problems are getting out of hand, the time for mere compensation is over: we need a mechanism for directly influencing systems of production and patterns of consumption in the direction of addressing those problems. This partially translates into a decisive sectoral shift towards public social services led by the welfare state. Among the advantages of this move, in addition to more socially balanced outcomes, are quality jobs and fulfillment of social needs in an environment-friendly way. The allocative task which gives the welfare state a constitutive role in shaping the socioeconomy complements its classic function as problem fixer. The allocative welfare state must be prepared to limit the domain of market allocation.


Author(s):  
David Garland

The newly-emergent welfare states shared a distinctive set of features that set them apart both from the old poor laws and from state socialism. ‘The Welfare State 1.0’ identifies these defining features and describes how welfare states are structured. Welfare states generally have five institutional sectors: social insurance; social assistance; publicly funded social services; social work and personal social services; and economic governance. The WS 1.0 forms that predominated from the 1940s until the 1980s are described. Another feature of the welfare state landscape is sometimes called the ‘hidden welfare state’; it consists of welfare benefits that are channelled through the tax system or through private employment contracts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 691 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-173
Author(s):  
Lihi Lahat

Many welfare states have increased their regulatory role, but little attention has been given to historical changes in the regulatory role of government ministries. This study embraces a mezzo perspective and explores the regulatory role of the Welfare Ministry of Israel in the field of personal social services, asking the following questions: 1) What are the changes in regulatory expectations versus practices over the last five decades? and 2) How can we explain these changes and their outcomes? The study is based on the qualitative analysis of comptroller reports and other resources. It reveals a growing gap between society’s expectations of the Ministry as a regulator and the Ministry’s capacities over five decades. Notably, it points to the variety of regulatory spaces that have appeared in a regulatory welfare state. The Israeli case is relevant for other countries that have experienced processes of outsourcing and privatization in the welfare state and whose ministries had to change their role.


1975 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Birrell ◽  
Alan Murie

ABSTRACTSocial policy in Northern Ireland offers examples of social policies strongly influenced by ideological considerations. There are a number of factors which determine how susceptible services and policies are to ideological influences. Some services are particularly sensitive to ideological values and demands, for example, education. In certain areas the distribution of services and the allocation of resources has been significant in maintaining the political structure. The distribution of administrative responsibility, the absence of pressure from Britain for maintaining parity in social services, and the absence of non-secretarian pressures on the government are other significant factors. The process of analysing problems and formulating social policy reflects deep ideological divisions. This can be contrasted with the rational, empirical and pragmatic models of policy making, implicit in the development of social policy in Britain. With some minor modifications the British model of the Welfare State operates in Northern Ireland. In some areas it operates to serve ends other than those of redistribution or meeting social need. This provides insights into some of the assumptions made about social policy and the Welfare State in Britain.


2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-48
Author(s):  
Agota Giedrė Raišienė ◽  
Laura Gardziulevičienė

The phenomenon of the welfare state is characterized by complexity of indicators. To determine in which areas the country is closer to the welfare state, various areas of social policy are analysed. In this article, we set out to investigate one of them, i.e., the accessibility of social services for children with disabilities. The European Union ensures the basic preconditions for the well-being of children with disabilities and emphasizes the compatibility of health, social and educational services (European Commission, 2021). In addition, Member States are free to introduce specific measures for social inclusion (COM, 2021). The well-being of children with disabilities is inseparable from that of adults, usually the family in which the children live. Depending on the child’s disability, the family has to devote time to the child’s special needs, so opportunities to function in society, such as working and earning an income, become dependent on the social assistance received for the disabled child. Research shows that participation in labour market processes reduces the social exclusion of families with children with disabilities and improves quality of life indicators in general (Stefanidis & Strogilos 2020). However, analysis of good practice is more common, while information about the lack of services that parents face difficulties remains overboard. Thus, our research contributes to a better understanding of how families raising children with disabilities use state-provided social services and what solutions and measures are needed to improve the quality of life of children with disabilities and their relatives. The practical implications of our article are revealed through the possibility of more confidently shaping the decisions and measures of the welfare state.The article presents results of a survey of 68 families with disabled children. Our research was conducted in Druskininkai municipality which has typical infrastructure of social services for the disabled and their families in Lithuania.Our study has shown that social services in Lithuania poorly meet needs of families with disabled children. Though social inclusion is one of the most important features of the welfare state, the provision of social services to disabled and their families goes beyond the concept in Druskininkai municipality at least. Families have little information about social guarantees and support provided by the state and municipality. The families are limited to services reported by health care and education institutions. Moreover, the most significant problem hindering social integration of disabled and their families is a small portion of disabled children using services of day care centre. As a result, children suffer at risk of social exclusion while disabled children’s parents lack of opportunities to fully participate in the labour market.Based on the results of the study we state that increasing the availability of social services that meet the needs of families with disabled children is a necessary social policy solution, without which the development of a welfare state in Lithuania is hardly possible.


Author(s):  
Miryam de la Concepcion Gonzalez-Rabanal

Recent events - especially the economic crisis- have revealed the need to maintain the welfare state, especially in developed countries (the most attacked by the crisis) which are also hit the hardest by the recession and job losses. On the one hand, the increase in demand for social services joins the decreased capacity to collect taxes as a result of the fall in economic activity and declining social contributions because of the rising unemployment. On the other, economic difficulties to prop up the welfare of citizens have caused the most unrest and political debate about whether social spending is precisely that what must suffer cuts to balance the public accounts. The answer of each country to this question will depend on its ability to meet new challenges without compromising the future of younger generations. The objective of this paper is to discuss the Spanish model of welfare, taking into special consideration the demographic effects of an aging population and the reversal of migration flows in order to discern which direction and what concrete measures can answer the previous question. This has been a response that in the Spanish case, has highlighted the need to review the excessive benevolence in granting a benefits system and the existing pockets of fraud in the tax system.


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