German Angst in a liberalised world of welfare capitalism: the hidden problem with post-conservative welfare policies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigrid Betzelt ◽  
Ingo Bode
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Welfare Capitalism ◽  
Welfare Provision ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Welfare Reforms ◽  
Generous Welfare

This chapter provides an understanding of the emotional states of those experiencing welfare retrenchment. According to a widespread reading, Germany, subsequent to the financial crisis of the late 2000s, has seen a stunning comeback as a social model allowing for both a booming economy and generous welfare provision. However, in the recent past Germany has been facing a social crisis that is poorly understood in both the public debate and major contributions to welfare policy analysis. This crisis refers to the hostile reaction of parts of the population to the massive immigration of refugees starting in 2015, and is indicative of a more deep-seated transformation of Germany's social model — namely its creeping liberalisation. This transformation comes with a hidden problem, that is, emotional states of fear — or a new ‘German Angst’ — engendered by both path-breaking welfare reforms and a ‘de-securitised’ life course.

Copenhagen: contenimento della disuguaglianza o aumento della segregazione?

TERRITORIO ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 40-46
Author(s):  
Roberta Cucca
Keyword(s):  
Central Government ◽  
Housing Stock ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
The Public ◽  
Welfare Systems ◽  
The World ◽  
The City ◽  
Generous Welfare

Throughout the second half of the 20th century, Copenhagen was represented as the ‘welfare city', in consideration of the high percentage of the labour force employed in the public sector, the share of social housing that characterized its housing stock and the support furnished by one of the most generous welfare systems in the world. Following a substantial financial crisis in the early 1990s and action taken by a central government ori¬ented towards introducing a more neo-laissez-faire idea of urban development for its capital, the profile of the city was greatly modified. This paper describes the major transformations that have occurred, and in particular sheds light on how, alongside a process of economic rebirth of the city, which thanks to major infrastructural interventions became the most important hub in Northern Europe as well as one of the most liveable and sustain¬able cities in the world, transformations were begun that created a serious crisis for its social model.

scholarly journals Assessing the sustainable nature of housing-related taxation receipts: the case of Ireland

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diarmaid Addison Smyth ◽  
Kieran McQuinn
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Housing Market ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Finances ◽  
Financial Market Regulation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Recent Financial Crisis ◽  
Run Up

Purpose The Irish fiscal position was significantly affected by the recent financial crisis. Budgetary surpluses quickly gave way to significant deficits post 2007, culminating into a lengthy excessive deficit procedure and entry into a formal EU/IMF assistance programme in 2010. Much of the deterioration in the public finances was caused by a sharp decline in property-related taxes because the Irish housing market rapidly contracted. In this paper, the authors quantify the extent to which disequilibria in the housing market can affect the tax take, finding significant implications over an extended period. Design/methodology/approach The authors attempt to quantify the extent of housing-related tax windfall gains and losses in Ireland over a 30-year period as a result of disequilibrium in the housing market. This involves a three-step modelling approach where we relate property-dependent taxes to the housing market while estimating equilibrium in the latter before solving for the tax take consistent with that equilibrium. In so doing, the authors find that the fiscal position compatible with equilibrium in the housing market has at times diverged greatly from actual outturns. Findings This paper confirms the significant role played by the housing market in influencing both the tax-take and the overall fiscal position. The authors find that there have been a number of instances where excesses in the housing market have spilled over into fiscal aggregates, notably in the housing bubble period between 2003 and 2008. However, with the on-going adjustments in the housing market, it would appear that prices and volumes have overcorrected in recent years. Overall, much greater emphasis should be given to the role of the housing market in forecasting key taxation aggregates. Originality/value The recent crisis highlighted how domestic policy mistakes (both in terms of budgetary planning and financial market regulation) can greatly amplify economic shocks. Irish budgetary policy in the run up to the financial crisis of 2008/2009 was clearly based on unsustainable levels of housing-related tax receipts. This paper highlights the need for a much more granular approach in framing tax forecasts and in assessing the public finances by more explicitly factoring in housing market developments.

The trope of the vulnerable child in conditional welfare discourses: An Australian case study

2021 ◽  
pp. 144078332110089
Author(s):  
Michelle Peterie ◽  
Greg Marston ◽  
Louise Humpage ◽  
Philip Mendes ◽  
Shelley Bielefeld ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Parliamentary Debates ◽  
Vulnerable Child ◽  
Australian Case ◽  
Welfare Discourse ◽  
Welfare Reforms

Conditional welfare policies are frequently underpinned by pejorative representations of those they target. Vulnerable children, under physical or moral threat from their welfare-dependent parents, are a mainstay of these constructions, yet the nuances of this trope have received little focused attention. Through a discourse analysis of parliamentary debates at the introduction of compulsory income management (CIM) to Australia, this article explores the complexities of the vulnerable child trope. It shows how the figure of the child was leveraged to justify hard-line welfare reforms in Australia, and offers a deeper and more intersectional understanding of how social and economic marginalisation is reproduced through welfare discourse.

A Problem Shared? The Role of the Public in the Legitimation of Policy: A Case Study of Gendered Welfare Change in the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Richards-Gray
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Disadvantaged Women ◽  
Welfare Change

Abstract This article argues that shared problematizations—shared political and public ways of thinking—legitimize policies and their outcomes. To support this argument, it examines the legitimation of gendered welfare reform in the recent U.K. context. Drawing on focus groups with the public, it provides evidence that the public’s problematization of welfare, specifically that reform was necessary to “make work pay” and “restore fairness”, aligned with that of politicians. It argues that the assumptions and silences underpinning this shared problematization, especially silences relating to the value and necessity of care, have allowed for welfare policies that have disadvantaged women.

The Impact of Cutbacks From a Major State Financial Crisis on Organizational Trust

2021 ◽  
pp. 027507402110530
Author(s):  
Marco Tulio Zanini ◽  
Carmen Migueles ◽  
Juliana Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Organizational Trust ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Negative Behaviors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Impact

Previous research has shown that cutbacks in public spending often impact the range and quality of the public services delivered, leading to negative behaviors on the part of public servants. This article examines how sudden cutbacks caused by a major state financial crisis have an impact on interpersonal trust within a special police unit. We present the results of a longitudinal case study using a combination of qualitative methods. The lack of foreseeability and reliability caused by drastic changes resulting from cutbacks has a negative effect on members’ trust in their capacity to perform.

The Beveridge Report and the Implementation of the Welfare State

2018 ◽  
pp. 260-285
Author(s):  
George R. Boyer
Keyword(s):  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Universal Coverage ◽  
Social Welfare Policy ◽  
Economic Insecurity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Welfare Reforms ◽  
The Welfare State

This chapter explores the story of the 1942 Beveridge Report and the beginnings of the welfare state. The policies proposed by Beveridge and the 1945–48 legislation were logical extensions of government's expanding role in social welfare policy beginning with the Liberal Welfare Reforms. This does not mean that the importance of the postwar legislation should be downplayed. Because of the adoption of the National Health Service, universal coverage, and equality of treatment, Britain after 1948 deserves to be called a welfare state, while Edwardian and interwar Britain do not. Unfortunately, despite the enthusiasm with which the public greeted the welfare state, the postwar policies did not eliminate economic insecurity.

Living Standards in Edwardian England and the Liberal Welfare Reforms

2018 ◽  
pp. 169-216
Author(s):  
George R. Boyer
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Social Welfare Policy ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
The First World War ◽  
History Of ◽  
First World ◽  
Welfare Reforms

This chapter argues that the Liberal Welfare Reforms of 1906–11, which created a safety net reducing the economic insecurity associated with industrial capitalism, marked a watershed in the history of British social welfare policy. Their timing is explained by increased middle-class knowledge of workers' insecurity and by the greater willingness of Parliament to act as a result of growing working-class political influence. The chapter then compares British social welfare policies with social policies elsewhere in Western Europe. Britain's welfare reforms did not take place in isolation—several European nations adopted social welfare policies in the decades leading up to 1914. Indeed, Britain was a bit of a latecomer in the adoption of social programs, although it caught up quickly after 1906 and by the eve of the First World War was a leader in social welfare protection.

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