Public Sector Employment as a Social Welfare Policy: The “Social Contract” and Failed Job Creation for Youth in Egypt

2021 ◽  
pp. 234779892110507
Author(s):  
Yusuke Kawamura
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Social Welfare Policy ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Public Sector Reforms ◽  
The Social

Although the IMF and the World Bank have advocated public sector reforms for market-oriented economic development, Egyptian authoritarian leaders have avoided such reforms. Egypt maintains a large public sector with a significant number of young Egyptians among its ranks. However, the public sector has shortcomings such as overstaffed government departments, deteriorating working conditions, and employee protests. This study uses the “social contract” concept to understand why Egypt’s political leaders have preserved this inefficient institution. The logic of the “social contract” works under two conditions: generous welfare as the main source of the regime’s legitimacy and a lack of accurate information concerning the extent to which people can tolerate painful reforms under authoritarian rule. Contrary to the conventional understanding, a lack of democratic institutions imposes “shackles” upon authoritarian leaders rather than giving them wide discretion regarding policymaking and the manipulation of institutions for their survival. The findings thus offer important insights into the dynamics of authoritarianism.

scholarly journals Anwar Shah (ed.). Public Expenditure Analysis. Washington, D. C.: The World Bank, 2005. xxxi+256 pages. Paperback. Price not given.

2005 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-228
Author(s):  
Kalbe Abbas
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Public Expenditure ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Not Given ◽  
The Public ◽  
7Th Edition ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Public Sector Reforms ◽  
Citizen Empowerment

Public Expenditure Analysis is the 7th edition in the “Public Sector Governance and Accountability Series” edited by Anwar Shah. The book attempts to contribute to public sector reforms by improving governance in the public expenditure analysis—to disburse the benefits to grossroots levels in the developing countries. It deals with the intricate issue of equity in both the tax burdens and public spending and evaluates performance of government in safeguarding the interests of the poor and other disadvantaged groups of the society, such as women, children, and minorities. The eight chapters of the book that consist of papers prepared by distinguished authors systematically develop a framework for a right-based approach to citizen empowerment by creating an institutional design with appropriate rules, restraints, and incentives to make the public sector responsive and accountable to the average voter.

ICT and Unemployment in Nigeria

2012 ◽  
pp. 51-59
Author(s):  
N.D. Oye ◽  
Inuwa Ibrahim ◽  
Muhammad Shakil Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Gross Domestic Product ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Inverse Relationship ◽  
Domestic Product ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Reforms ◽  
Community Centre

A number of telecentres have been established in places like shops, schools, community centre, police stations and clinics. The population of Nigeria, according to the national population commission (NPC) figures stands at over 140, 000,000, and 60% of this number is made up of unemployed youths. With the institutions of learning in Nigeria churning out graduates of various levels and degrees on a yearly basis, a rising trend has seen these graduates coming out of the nation’s universities and polytechnics to join those who graduated ahead of them but without any means of livelihood for years. This chapter examines the role played by unemployment on the making of the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for a period of nine years (2000 - 2008). The objectives of the study are to examine the effects of unemployment on the Nigerian GDP for the selected years, to observe the kind of association that existing between the unemployment and the makings of the Nigerian GDP. Data was collected and analyzed using the regression analysis. Findings showed that unemployment has an enormous effect (over 65%) on the making of the Nigerian GDP, and there exists an inverse relationship between the model (unemployment) and the GDP - increase in the model leads to decrease on the GDP and vice versa. The role of ICT on unemployment and GDP is reviewed. In addition ICT as a tool of combating unemployment corruption is discussed. Recommendations are proffered based on the study that unemployment can be combated through the public sector reforms and the use of ICT.

The Social Media Politicians

2020 ◽  
pp. 272-286
Author(s):  
Víctor Hernández-Santaolalla
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Political Candidates ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
Private Lives ◽  
The Social

Social media brings to the forefront two very important factors to today's politics: the prominent role of the internet and the importance of personalisation which is closely tied to a tendency of political candidates to overexpose their private lives. This does not mean that the candidate becomes more relevant than the political party or the ideological platforms thereof, but the interest tends to fall on the candidate's lifestyle; on their personal characteristics and their most intimate surroundings, which blurs the line between the public and private spheres. Online profiles are used as a showcase for the public agenda of the politician at the same time as they gather, on a daily basis, the thoughts, tastes and leisure time activities of the candidates. This chapter offers a reflection of the ways in which political leaders develop their digital narratives, and how they use the social media environment to approach citizens.

Another Voluntarism

Legitimacy ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 43-66
Author(s):  
Paul Weithman
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Social Contract Theory ◽  
The Public ◽  
Corporate Body ◽  
The Social ◽  
Real Work ◽  
Moral Claims ◽  
Philosophical Questions

John Rawls’s presentation of his famous principle of legitimacy raises a number of exegetical and philosophical questions which his texts leave unresolved. The key to their solution lies in a claim Rawls makes about the character of political power. Rawls uses language familiar from social contract theory to describe that power, saying that it is the power of the public as a corporate body. This chapter considers but ultimately rejects the suggestion that Rawls’s treatment of legitimacy is Lockean. Rather, Rawls follows Kant in thinking that talk of a contractual incorporation is best understood as a way of expressing fundamental moral claims about the object of a constitution, about citizens’ standing, and about legislators’ duties. These are the claims that do the real work in Rawls’s account of legitimacy. To show this, the chapter lays out Kant’s conception of the social contract and argues that we can draw on that conception to understand Rawls’s account of political legitimacy. It then spells out the philosophical pay-offs of the reading offered here by showing how it solves some textual puzzles and how Rawls’s account differs from others that have recently been defended in political philosophy. The chapter concludes by mentioning some lingering questions about Rawlsian legitimacy.

From the Politics of Bureaucracy to the politics of representative bureaucracy

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 494-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eckhard Schröter
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Representative Bureaucracy ◽  
Organisational Performance ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Treat All

The Politics of Bureaucracy provides an important impetus for the research of representative bureaucracy and at the same time serves as an analytical frame for a research agenda on representativeness in the public sector. The major impetus comes from one of the book’s core messages that public administration is tightly interwoven with politics and society. As a reform paradigm, representative bureaucracy aims for a public sector workforce that mirrors the social composition of the society it is supposed to serve. If successful, this measure is expected to improve organisational performance, relations with social groups and also overall political legitimacy. However, representativeness is no panacea to treat all problems of diverse societies and non-responsive bureaucracies. Rather, potential benefits have to be discounted against likely pitfalls and extra costs incurred through the pursuit of representativeness. What is more, the inherent tensions with competing reform paradigms have to be taken into account.

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