Towards a whole-economy approach to the welfare state: citizens, corporations and the state within the broad welfare mix

Author(s):  
Kevin Farnsworth

This chapter argues for a broadening of social policy focus, beyond the mixed economy approach (which incorporates social, private, informal/familial, voluntary, fiscal and occupational welfare) towards a whole economy approach that ‘brings in’ corporate welfare and a broader focus on taxation, public policies that overlap with social policy objectives, power and the economy.

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-96
Author(s):  
Kevin Farnsworth

This article is an attempt to take stock and critically reflect on the UK’s decade of austerity and social policy hostility over the past decade. It distinguishes between economic and political austerity and digs deeper into the data on expenditure in order to examine the impact of austerity on British public expenditure and politics. It argues that the decade of austerity was a hostile one for British social policy which not only undermined the financial base of key parts of the welfare state, it reshaped it and redefined its priorities, setting in train a series of subsequent events that would further change, not just British social policies, but British economics, polity and politics. And, as subsequent crises – notably Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic – testify, crisis events tend to be linked, and each one shapes and influences the ability of the state to respond to the next.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 155-162
Author(s):  
Alla Silenko ◽  
Vira Bezrodna ◽  
Olga Nikogosyan

The digital economy is becoming a development trend in most modern countries, the basis for sustainable economic growth and living standards of the population. In this regard, it seems relevant to consider the significance of the impact of the digital economy on the welfare state. The purpose of the article is to study the influence of the digital economy on the quality and living conditions of citizens in a welfare state. Methodology. The study is based on a systemic approach, within which the digital economy has been viewed as an external phenomenon (input) that has been able to affect the welfare state system (output). Results. The hypothesis of the study that the digital economy improves the quality and living conditions of citizens in a welfare state was partially confirmed. However, it became clear that in addition to positive, the digital economy has negative consequences for people. For example, the digital economy improves the ability to solve many social problems, but at the same time creates new problems. For example, it creates new jobs, new professions, as a result of which workers in traditional professions become unclaimed. The digital economy not only solves and creates problems, but also exposes them. So, it has clearly outlined the problem of social inequality in Ukraine. Undoubtedly, the digitalization of public social services makes life easier for people, but only if they are prepared for this process. Digital illiteracy of the population, characteristic of countries lagging behind in technological development, including Ukraine, is an obstacle to the introduction of digitalization into the social sphere. At the same time, the state is not ready for the active introduction of digital technologies into the system of social policy yet due to the lack of necessary resources. Digitalization will not improve people’s lives until the state has funds for social policy. And yet, some measures are being taken in this direction.


1987 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael O'Higgins

ABSTRACTThe focus of this paper is on the nature of the egalitarian policy objectives of the welfare state, and on the evaluation and assessment of social policies in the light of those objectives. This focus reflects the pervasive but often ill-defined presence of equality as an objective for social policy, without asserting that it is either unique or uncontested as an objective. The paper does not offer an evaluation of the success or failure of the welfare state in relation to equality; rather it is concerned with exploring what might be and is meant by equality as a target for social policy, with presenting some contrasting conceptions of equality, and with discussing the implications of the multiple meanings of equality for the way in which we think about issues in social policy and, in particular, about the impact of social welfare programmes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-55
Author(s):  
Liga Ekaterina M. ◽  

In recent years, the rapid development of the institutions of self-organization of citizens emerging and existing in various forms actualizes the issues related to their emergence and role in the implementation of social policy. This type of organization whose task was to provide social assistance and support to social risk groups has become the subject of scientific discussions and research in recent years. Scientists focus on various aspects and directions of development of the welfare state, forms of implementation, models of social policy, factors that determine its evolution, which includes the formation, flourishing and entry into an era of crisis. The purpose of the study is to consider the evolution of the welfare state as the basis for the emergence of institutions of self-organization of citizens. The methodological basis of the study is formed by the concepts of post-industrial society, which made it possible to consider the emergence and evolution of institutions of self-organization of citizens as a reflection of the processes taking place in society, to determine their place and role in the state of general welfare. A historical approach was also used, which made it possible to analyze the stages of the emergence of socially-oriented non-profit organizations (SO NPOs), the forms of their involvement in the social policy of the state; a method for identifying cause-and-effect relationships, which made it possible to identify factors that influence the interaction of SO NPOs and the state. This article describes the activities of various forms of the welfare state in the field of social protection of the population. We highlighted the positions on the problem of the emergence of institutions of self-organization of citizens in scientific thought and analyzed the reasons for the emergence of SO NPOs. The conclusion was drawn that it was the evolution of the welfare state that became the basis for the emergence of institutions of self-organization of citizens. Keywords: social structure, types of welfare state, institution of citizens’ self-organization, confrontation, rivalry, social policy, socially oriented non-profit organizations – SO NPOs


Author(s):  
Viktor V. Lyublinsky ◽  

The new social reality puts issues related to the welfare state on the political agenda primarily in 3 main contexts. That is the formation of a new model of governance based on the principles of efficiency and participation, expanding the possibility of citizens’ influence on current and strategic policy; transforming the sphere of labor and employment; changing the system of social support for citizens and ensuring their socio- economic and political rights. The activity of social networks around the state is not an indicator of its social effectiveness, since the situation does not change fundamentally. The struggle of diff erentpolitical, social and economic groups unfolds around the state. Meanwhile, in modern world the state must play a new role in accordance with the new reality in order to support democratization of political relations, maximize results of social interactions and minimize conflicts. Digitalization produces internal effects of modernization of the welfare state. Network and remote management of the welfare sphere is being developed, which can streamline and optimize development everywhere, including Russia. In the new reality the tasks of social policy are changing, but in many respects they remain the same. Poverty does not disappear, it transforms and expands. The uncertainty is increasing. Obviously, a civilized and moral society cannot afford to abandon the universal character of social policy, since it has become an important factor in solving social and other problems. The issue of improving the quality of human capital comes to the fore, as well as improving the system of vocational training, because competition is becoming more acute in all major areas, including labor and employment. Therefore, a social development model is needed that rejects the primacy of the market-insurance principles in favor of the universal support, ensuring growth of incomes and welfare of all citizens and taking into account differences in capabilities of everyone.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianpaolo Poggio Smanio (Universidade Mackenzie) ◽  
Orly Kibrit (Universidade Mackenzie)

O presente artigo trata da necessidade de efetivação da cidadania no Estado Social. Aborda a necessidade de formulação de políticas públicas com esse objetivo, demonstrando a superação do modelo de Estado Liberal. A partir dessa ideia, mostra que a formulação e execução de políticas públicas competem, de acordo com a teoria clássica da separação de poderes, aos Poderes Legislativo e Executivo. Todavia, no Estado Social, em que os direitos fundamentais são constitucionalmente assegurados, ao Poder Judiciário é permitido interferir nessas funções, diante de omissão dos demais Poderes, a fim de fazer valer tais direitos. Pela análise de recente julgado proferido pelo Supremo Tribunal Federal, pretende demonstrar que tal possibilidade é assegurada em nosso ordenamento jurídico, sendo plenamente válida a atuação do Poder Judiciário para fazer valer os direitos fundamentais diante da omissão dos outros poderes estatais.


Author(s):  
Jordanna Bailkin

This chapter asks how refugee camps transformed people as well as spaces, altering the identities of the individuals and communities who lived in and near them. It considers how camps forged and fractured economic, religious, and ethnic identities, constructing different kinds of unity and disunity. Camps had unpredictable effects on how refugees and Britons thought of themselves, and how they saw their relationship to upward and downward mobility. As the impoverished Briton emerged more clearly in the imagination of the welfare state, the refugee was his constant companion and critic. The state struggled to determine whether refugees required the same care as the poor, or if they warranted their own structures of aid.


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