scholarly journals Silent Non-Exit and Broken Voice. Early Postcommunist Social Policies as Protest-Preempting Strategies

Südosteuropa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-174
Author(s):  
Pieter Vanhuysse
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Action Theory ◽  
Political Sociology ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
Distributive Conflict

Abstract This essay contributes to the development of an analytical political sociology examination of postcommunist policy pathways and applies such an analysis in a reinterpretation of the social policy pathways taken by Hungary and Poland. During the critical historical juncture of the early 1990s, governments in these new democracies used social policies to proactively create new labor market outsiders (rather than merely accommodate or deal with existing outsiders) in an effort to stifle disruptive repertoires of political voice. Microcollective action theory helps to elucidate how the break-up of hitherto relatively homogeneous clusters of threatened workers into newly competing interest groups shaped the nature of distributive conflict in the formative first decade of these new democracies. In this light, we see how the analytical political sociology of postcommunist social policy can advance and modify current, predominantly Western-oriented theories of insider/outsider conflict and welfare retrenchment policy, and can inform future debates about emerging social policy biases in Eastern Europe.

scholarly journals Comment: American Civilization, Catholic Social Thought, and the Populist-Oriented Social Policy of President Donald J. Trump

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 255-263
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Varacalli ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Thought ◽  
Tea Party ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Catholic Social Thought ◽  
The Social ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
The Relationship

This Comment concerns itself with the relationship between the social policies of U.S. President Donald J. Trump and, respectively, American civilization and Catholic social thought. Also included are discussions of two recent American populist social movements, the Tea Party and that one generated by a commitment to the Trump Presidency, insofar as the latter relates to the primary focus of this Comment.

Marshall revisited: EU social policy from a social-rights perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 421-435
Author(s):  
Stefanie Börner
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Social Citizenship ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Level ◽  
Social Commitment ◽  
Economic Framework ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Social

The common legal and economic framework of the European Union (EU) has turned the vast socio-economic differences within Europe into virulent problems of social inequality – issues that it attempts to tackle within its limited resources. The article takes the EU’s self-expressed social commitment as a starting point and analyses its approaches to social policy from a social-rights perspective. It first discusses why Marshall’s social-citizenship concept provides a useful analytical tool to assess the social policies enacted so far at the European level and then presents an institutional analysis of the EU’s four major social-policy activities: harmonising, funding, coordination and cooperation. This analysis focuses on the horizontal and vertical relationships and the addressees of these policies to determine how these policies measure up against social-rights standards. The findings point to the poor development of transnational social citizenship given the special nature of EU social policies. The only social rights that exist at the European level are in the field of social-security coordination. And even those are marked by a double selectivity that excludes citizens who are not transnationally active and those who are but lack the necessary means to provide for themselves.

scholarly journals Personnel vs. Social Company Policy on the Modern Market

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-13
Author(s):  
Ксения Карасёва ◽  
Kseniya Karasyova
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Social Orientation ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Personnel Policy ◽  
Company Policy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Increase Productivity ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Market Relations

The paper features the personnel and the social company policies and their interdependence. It contains classical definitions, as well as basic directions of staff management and personnel policy. In addition, the paper introduces an authentic definition of personnel policy. Social policy is interpreted from the point of view of "narrow" and "broad" approaches. Formation and implementation of personnel and social policies are regarded as key conditions for the effective functioning of business under the influence of market relations, competition and social orientation of companies. The author's vision of the correlation and interrelation between the personnel and social policies is revealed through their general characteristics. Personnel and social policies are inextricably linked. Their aim is to increase productivity by narrowing the gap between the interests of the employees and the interests of the organization.

Correlation of changes in the modern labor market and the development of the social sphere in the context of the new technological realit

2021 ◽  
pp. 16-18
Author(s):  
Mariya Viktorovna Kudryavtseva
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Labor Relations ◽  
Educational Services ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
The Social ◽  
Socio Economic Development ◽  
Current Stage

The article presents the fundamental trends typical for the current stage of socio-economic development. The role of the integration of innovative technologies and digitalization of the economy is emphasized, and some tasks and problems associated with these processes are outlined. It is noted that in the conditions of the new technological order, social and labor relations and the position of the Russian labor market are changing. The changes under consideration determine the transformation of the nature of work and the requirements for modern specialists. The article highlights some of the contradictions that exist today between the educational services market and the labor market. The correlation of changes in the modern labor market and the prospects for the development of the social sphere in the new conditions is shown. The role of social policy in these processes is emphasized, and some issues characteristic of the current stage of the development of Russian social policy are noted.

Ask rather than assume: the capability approach in the practitioner setting1

2019 ◽  
pp. 107-124
Author(s):  
Jana Javornik ◽  
Mara A. Yerkes ◽  
Erik Jansen
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Features ◽  
The Capability Approach

This chapter investigates the relationships between science and society, in particular social policy 'practice', by consulting the social policy actors (i.e. researchers, professionals and practitioners who deal with or implement diverse policy decisions). The purpose of the chapter is to develop our innovative communication initiative, in which we engaged with social policy professionals and practitioners in a two-way, mutually enriching theory-practice dialogue. Using the capability approach as an analytical lens hereallows for a fresh look at social policy implementation and delivery and helps to better understand how social policies in their entirety play out in different contexts. The historical and political contexts of social policies and people's different needs and values, the cornerstone of the CA, are increasingly recognised by policy practitioners and professionals who have first-hand experience with policy delivery or application at the local level. This chapter demonstrates that their experience with multiple access and eligibility-related issues on the ground sheds new light on the applicability of the CA, and how this approach may help to identify key features grounded in local knowledge, be it around social policy design, delivery or implementation.

scholarly journals National and Supranational in the Social Policy of the European Union in a Period of Global Transformations

2020 ◽  
pp. 87-97
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Historical Review ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Field ◽  
Complete Control ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Eu

The paper presents specific aspects and goals of social policy of the European Un­ion (EU). The historical review chronologically presents the development of the EU’s social policy along with the development of the euro­integration. The specific features of EU social policy have been analyzed: limited legislative powers of EU institutions, almost complete control of the national governments of mem­ber states in the social field, and the indirect mechanisms of influence and monitoring on national policy by EU institutions. Special at­tention is paid to the study of mechanisms for implementing EU social policies that support national social policies, i.e. the labour mar­ket, employment and unemployment control; working conditions, free access to jobs and the fight against all forms of discrimination; social support, health and pensions; solu­tions in the field of demographic policy, the fight against poverty and social exclusion, and much more. As a result, the possibilities of structural, investment and social funds distrib­uted by the EU to beneficiaries in member states to achieve the common goals of the Union, as well as the EU regulatory mecha­nisms for implementing common standards through programs, rules and directives, have been studied. Achievements in the social field of the EU, new challenges, problems and prospects for the development of social policy of the EU have been analyzed.

Policy Coercion

2019 ◽  
pp. 113-150
Author(s):  
Isabela Mares ◽  
Lauren E. Young
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Policy Position ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
The Social

Chapter 5 explores the use of non-programmatic strategies premised on welfare coercion. Drawing on ethnographic research, it documents the use of different coercive practices used by candidates in the region. “Blackmail” involves the initial toleration of some irregularities (such as non-payment of taxes), which are exploited at elections. Welfare coercion, by contrast, involves threats to cut off access to long-term benefits. The chapter argues that the use of coercion is a politically attractive strategy in localities where eligibility to welfare benefits is particularly politicized. In such localities, the use of clientelistic strategies premised on welfare favors is likely to be electorally costly. By contrast, the use of coercion allows mayors to maximize electoral support from beneficiaries of social policies, while at the same time signaling a policy position of toughness on welfare to opponents of the social policy programs. Using listexperiments, the chapter documents the use of coercive strategies and shows that the incidence of such strategies is higher in localities where a larger share of voters cannot meet the eligibility criteria for social policy benefits. It also examines how voters evaluate candidates that use coercive clientelistic strategies as opposed to strategies premised on favors and find that the use of coercion is usually viewed more harshly.

Comparative Social Policy and Political Conflict in Advanced Welfare States: Denmark and Sweden

1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gøsta Esping-Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Welfare State

There has developed an abundant literature on the social and political determinants of social policies, but few have addressed the question of how state policies, once implemented, affect the system of stratification in civil society. This article examines the political consequences of social policy in Denmark and Sweden, countries in which a social democratic labor movement has predominated for decades. Superficially, these two highly developed welfare states appear very similar. Yet, the political and social contexts in which their social policies have evolved differ substantially. I shall demonstrate the argument that the traditional welfare state approach may be conducive to a new and powerful political conflict, which directly questions the legitimacy of the welfare state itself, unless government is successful in subordinating private capitalist growth to effective public regulation. In Denmark, where social democratic governments have failed to match welfare state growth with more control of private capital, social policy has tended to undermine the political unity of the working class. Consequently, the Social Democratic Party has been weakened. Social welfare programs, in effect, have helped create new forms of stratification within the working class. In Sweden, social democratic governments have been quite successful in shifting a decisive degree of power over the private market to the state. This has helped avert a crisis of the welfare state, and has also been an important condition for continued social democratic hegemony and working-class unity. I conclude that social reform politics tend to be problematic from the point of view of the future power of social democratic movements.

Social Control Theories of Social Policy

1980 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Higgins
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Control ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Individual Freedom ◽  
Urban Crisis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Control Theories

ABSTRACTThe concept of social control is crucial in explaining both the growth of social policies and their effects. It raises important questions about the legitimacy of state intervention, the maintenance of order and the protection of individual freedom. The term is widely used in the social policy literature but there have been few attempts to define it or to explore its various meanings and connotations. The aim of this article is to examine some of these issues. It begins with an account of the growth of social control theories focusing particularly upon recent developments in Marxist thought and the literature on the ‘urban crisis’ and ‘radical social work’. The second and third sections of the article explore the different usages of the notion of social control and evaluate some of the main propositions of social control theories of social policy.

Social Policy: Unilateral Transfer or Reciprocal Exchange

1973 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Pruger
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Deleterious Effect ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Social Bond ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Market Exchange ◽  
Social Exchanges ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
The Social

There is absolutely no way to attack poverty through the transfer of economic resources without also profoundly affecting, for better or ill, the social bond. Definitions of social welfare generally recognize ‘…the mutually supportive obligations of people to each other’. Yet many serious and competent social thinkers apparently deny the significance of reciprocity in those social exchanges that are arranged as a matter of social policy. The predominant view is that social policies are ‘…characterized not so much by exchange by which a quid is gotten for a quo as by unilateral transfers that are justified by some kind of appeal to a status or legitimacy, identity or community’. Titmuss refers to the grant or gift as a unilateral transfer which ‘…is the distinguishing mark of the social (in policy and administration) just as exchange or bilateral transfer is the mark of the economic’. It will be argued here that this view, useful in some ways, also seriously distorts perceptions and has a deleterious effect on the design and implementation of programmes that make up the official helping enterprise in general, and programmes of income maintenance in particular. Most often social policy transactions are erroneously conceived in ideal or pure terms, bearing little or no resemblance to economic or market exchange. In reality, however, the vast majority of all transactions, economic and social, occur on a continuum between these theoretical poles.

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