scholarly journals Social Capital. Viewing Nordic Paths of Management

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Noralv Veggeland
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mixed Use ◽  
Output Side ◽  
Path Dependent ◽  
Post War

How do Nordic states conduct policies in order to bring people closer to the socio-economic realm, in the sense that they, being social capital, tend to be integrated as active and participatory citizens? How do the interventionist and expensive Nordic welfare states survive in the global age, with demanding and ever changing claims to international competitiveness? This paper addresses these questions. Social capital and partnership building are introduced as terms and policy concepts in order to find answers in the framework of intended or unintended strategic endeavours. As a critical approach claims a contextual conceptualisation, we shall here view different European social models and administrative traditions in relation to comparative basic contexts in order to arrive at analytical answers. Leaning especially on the Anglo-Saxon model, the traditional Scandinavian universal welfare state model of the post-war Keynesian order has gradually been transformed into the contemporary Nordic model (Veggeland 2007). Contextual regulatory innovations and path-dependent processes have generated the survival of universal welfare state arrangements and collective action but with the mixed use of Market-Type Mechanisms (MTM) in the public sector of Anglo-Saxon origin. In summary, this blending of policies has resulted in the advantageous social capital of what is called flexicurity, social security combined with a flexible participatory labour market. We shall discuss both flexicurity policy and participatory subsidiarity defined downwards as contribution to an explanation of why the expensive welfare states of the Nordic type have not only so far been doing well but have also sustained both democratic and output-side legitimacy.

The welfare state debate

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Powell
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Civic Culture ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Social Expenditure ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mediterranean Countries ◽  
Shared Language ◽  
Post War

This chapter analyses the post-war evolution of a welfare state in Ireland. It explores the tension between traditionalist influences (clientelism, localism, and religion) and the modernising forces of social democracy that were reshaping civic culture and the idea of citizenship into what T. H. Marshall (1950) has called a ‘three-legged stool’ of civil rights, political rights, and social rights. The Irish welfare state is often categorised as belonging to the Anglo-Saxon model. However, Ireland's ideological orientation (driven by Catholic social teaching in the form of the principle of subsidiarity) and an informal Church–State alliance suggests the Irish welfare state had more in common with the Mediterranean countries (Spain, Portugal, Italy), Nonetheless, a shared language and popular culture did influence the public imaginary concept of the ideal of a welfare state and similarly shape public demands for higher levels of social expenditure.

Criticality, Empathy and Welfare in Educational Discourses

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.V. Varghese
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Market Failure ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Indian Context ◽  
Educational Processes ◽  
Post War

Criticality is the ability to question current theories and practices in any sector to make them more receptive to social realities. Empathy is the ability to identify with what someone else is thinking or feeling. Empathy forms the foundation for welfare state and its liberal social welfare programmes. The state-led development strategies during the post-war period stemmed from a belief in the idea of welfare state and in the redistribution of resources and opportunities in favour of the deprived groups. The market-led globalisation process has put brakes on the scope of welfare provisions even in democratic societies. The public-funded stimulus packages during the recent economic crisis helped save economies from market failure and reinforced the need for state intervention even for an efficient functioning of markets. Based on an analysis of global trends and Indian context, this paper argues for the need of the educational processes to develop criticality in thinking and empathy in action to help develop a support base for public policies benefiting the poor and the disadvantaged.

scholarly journals Invited Commentary: Social Cohesion, Depression, and the Role of Welfare States

2019 ◽  
Vol 189 (4) ◽  
pp. 354-357
Author(s):  
Mikael Rostila
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
State Theory ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Neighborhood Disorder ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract In this issue of the Journal, Baranyi et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2019;000(00):000–000) examine the longitudinal associations of perceived neighborhood disorder and social cohesion with depressive symptoms among persons aged 50 years or more in 16 different countries. An important contribution of their article is that they study how neighborhood-level social capital relates to depression in different welfare-state contexts. Although the authors provide empirical evidence for some significant differences between welfare states in the relationship between social capital and depression, they say little about potential explanations. In this commentary, I draw attention to welfare-state theory and how it could provide us with a greater understanding of Baranyi et al.’s findings. I also discuss the potential downsides of grouping countries into welfare regimes. I primarily focus on the associations between social cohesion and depression, as these associations were generally stronger than those for neighborhood disorder and depression. Finally, I provide some suggestions for future research within the field and discuss whether the findings could be used to guide policies aimed at increasing social cohesion and health.

Models of the Welfare State

2021 ◽  
pp. 786-802
Author(s):  
Philip Manow
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Short Discussion ◽  
The West ◽  
Welfare Capitalism ◽  
European Model ◽  
The Past ◽  
State Research ◽  
The Welfare State

IN 1990, Gøsta Esping-Andersen published The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, a work which has turned out to be the single most important and decisive contribution to welfare state research in the past thirty to forty years. In essence, Esping-Andersen argued that we can observe systematic variation in the character of the developed welfare states of the West, which he grouped into three distinct welfare state models: a Scandinavian social democratic model, a conservative continental European model, and a liberal Anglo-Saxon model. This chapter provides a short description of Esping-Andersen’s three regimes; introduces a fourth, Southern European model, which will then be described in somewhat more detail; and outlines a historical and genealogical account of the development of all four models. Finally, the chapter briefly expands on the comparative perspective with a short discussion on whether the regime concept or the understanding of distinct welfare models can also be applied to other regions, such as Latin America and Asia.

‘Citizens as Consumers’: A Discussion of New Emergent Forms of Marginalisation in the Nordic Welfare States

2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pernille Hohnen ◽  
Torbjörn Hjort
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
The Public ◽  
Consumer Citizenship ◽  
High Degree ◽  
The Welfare State

The Nordic welfare state has traditionally been associated with principles of universalism, a high degree of collective welfare redistribution and an encompassing state. However in recent years, in line with the rest of Europe, we have seen a tendency towards a more market-oriented welfare state, reflected in policy changes characterised by a renewed division of welfare responsibility between public and private, a movement from a direct protection of citizens towards enabling them to individually satisfy their welfare needs within markets, thereby promoting freedom of choice as a significant dimension of welfare services. However, although this is not usually part of the public debate concerning increased marketisation of the welfare state, these changes require a specific set of individual competences and capacities to navigate, foresee and plan one's own future and calculate one's future welfare needs. Based on empirical data analysing financial practices and orientation amongst two different groups of citizens, the paper discusses the possible implications of this increased individualisation of welfare for different groups of citizens – low-income and middle-income groups. Although both groups show a high degree of willingness to comply with norms associated with consumer-citizenship, clear distinctions arise when we look at the actual possibilities and ‘capabilities’ of complying with the emerging role and assumed behaviour inherent in the development of the consumer-citizenship welfare regime.

scholarly journals The University and the State in a Global Age: Renegotiating the Traditional Social Contract?

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 324-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Kwiek
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
The State ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The Public ◽  
Global Age ◽  
Social Pact ◽  
Post War ◽  
The University ◽  
The Welfare State

This article is based on the Keynote Address to the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER), Dublin, Ireland, 7–10 September 2005. It argues that we are facing the simultaneous renegotiation of the major post-war social contract (concerning the welfare state) in Europe and the renegotiation of a smaller-scale modern social pact: the pact between the university and the nation-state. It suggests that the current, and especially future, transformations of the university are not fully clear outside of the context of transformations to the state (and to the public sector) under global pressures. These pressures, both directly and indirectly, will not leave the university as an institution unaffected. Thus it is more useful today than ever before to discuss the future of the university in the context of the current transformations of the state. The study is divided into four sections: a brief introduction; a section on the university and the welfare state in Europe; a section on the university and the nation-state in Europe; and tentative conclusions.

scholarly journals Welfare-State Retrenchment Revisited: Entitlement Cuts, Public Sector Restructuring, and Inegalitarian Trends in Advanced Capitalist Societies

1998 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Clayton ◽  
Jonas Pontusson
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Welfare State ◽  
Advanced Capitalist

In recent years it has become commonplace for comparativists to emphasize the resilience of welfare states in advanced capitalist societies and the failure of neoliberal efforts to dismantle the welfare state. Challenging some tenets of the resilience thesis, this article seeks to broaden the discussion of welfare-state retrenchment. The authors argue that a sharp deceleration of social spending has occurred in most OECD countries since 1980, that welfare states have failed to offset the rise of market-generated inequality and insecurity, and that welfare programs have become less universalistic. They stress the distributive and political consequences of market-oriented reforms of the public sector.

scholarly journals The Erosion of The Institutional Pillars of the German Sozialstaat

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-103
Author(s):  
Schiller Christof ◽  
Kuhnle Stein
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Analytical Review ◽  
Path Dependent ◽  
Welfare Reforms

In scholarly literature, Germany often serves as a prime example of the conservative welfare state par excellence. Notwithstanding, a huge number of welfare reforms have been introduced since 1980, in particular during the last ten years. The article examines whether the institutional welfare elements attributed to Germany are still intact based on an analytical review of reforms in the areas of pensions, long-term care, and policies regarding families, the labor market, and health care. Have reforms been path-dependent adjustments, or are signs of transformative change evident? The conclusion is that the model conservative welfare state no longer exists, and that a new hybrid welfare state, combining elements from several types of welfare states, is developing. While we find substantial liberalization (of social risks) in most social policy areas, we also find extended state responsibility and more universalism (inspired by Scandinavian countries) in the area of family policy.

3. Birth of the welfare state

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Garland
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
National Insurance ◽  
Post War ◽  
The New Deal ◽  
The Welfare State

‘Birth of the welfare state’ describes the embryonic version of the welfare state in Germany with Chancellor Bismarck’s social insurance laws in the 1880s. A decade later governments in Denmark, New Zealand, and Australia launched the first old age pension schemes. In the early 1900s Liberal governments in Britain introduced workmen’s compensation, old age pensions, labour exchanges, and a system of National Insurance for sickness, invalidity, and unemployment. In the 1930s President Roosevelt established the American welfare state with the ‘New Deal’ legislation. The new welfare states were expanded post-war and by 1960 every developed nation had a core of welfare state institutions and every government had accepted responsibility for managing its national economy.

Social Policy in Europe in the Twentieth Century

1993 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-201
Author(s):  
Paul Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
National Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
State Expenditure ◽  
Post War ◽  
Economic Growth Rates ◽  
European Welfare States

The 1980s proved to be a tough decade for European welfare states. The post-war ‘welfare consensus’, which perhaps had never been quite so strong or coherent as many contemporary historians and commentators had assumed, was finally laid to rest. The five great spectres identified by Beveridge want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness had not been humbled by public welfare provision despite its ever growing scale and cost. At the beginning of the 1980s the OECD published a report on The Welfare State in Crisis which pointed out that as welfare state expenditure had roughly doubled as a percentage of national income in most west European countries since the late 1950s, so economic growth rates had plummeted. The European welfare states appeared to produce few positive welfare benefits, and this minimal achievement was produced at enormous cost which was to the detriment of overall economic growth and societal well-being.

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