Competition, Constituencies, and Welfare Policies in American States

1979 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 414-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward T. Jennings
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
State Policies ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Economic Class ◽  
American States ◽  
Competition Hypothesis ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Party Characteristics ◽  
Generous Welfare

This article examines the logic underlying standard formulations of the interparty competition hypothesis in the comparative state policy literature, suggests a reformulation which provides some new insights into the conditions under which we might expect state policies to change as a result of party characteristics, and undertakes an initial test of the reformulation.I develop two propositions. The first is that party systems which divide the electorate along economic class lines will generate more generous welfare policies than party systems which do not so organize the electorate. The second is that within states with class-based electoral systems, change in welfare policy will be positively related to the degree to which the party or faction with lower- and working-class support gains control of government.I analyze welfare policies of selected American states for the period 1938 to 1970. My analysis suggests that (1) the class basis of electoral politics does influence state welfare policies and (2) parties and factions which differ in their constituency bases produce different types of policies when they are in control of government.

Dilemmas of Inclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafaela M. Dancygier
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Political Incorporation ◽  
Party Positions ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
Equality And Diversity

As Europe's Muslim communities continue to grow, so does their impact on electoral politics and the potential for inclusion dilemmas. In vote-rich enclaves, Muslim views on religion, tradition, and gender roles can deviate sharply from those of the majority electorate, generating severe trade-offs for parties seeking to broaden their coalitions. This book explains when and why European political parties include Muslim candidates and voters, revealing that the ways in which parties recruit this new electorate can have lasting consequences. The book sheds new light on when minority recruitment will match up with existing party positions and uphold electoral alignments and when it will undermine party brands and shake up party systems. It demonstrates that when parties are seduced by the quick delivery of ethno-religious bloc votes, they undercut their ideological coherence, fail to establish programmatic linkages with Muslim voters, and miss their opportunity to build cross-ethnic, class-based coalitions. The book highlights how the politics of minority inclusion can become a testing ground for parties, showing just how far their commitments to equality and diversity will take them when push comes to electoral shove. Providing a unified theoretical framework for understanding the causes and consequences of minority political incorporation, and especially as these pertain to European Muslim populations, the book advances our knowledge about how ethnic and religious diversity reshapes domestic politics in today's democracies.

Ideology signaling in electoral politics

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisashi Sawaki
Keyword(s):  
Private Information ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Extreme Direction

This paper considers an electoral model in which an incumbent and a challenger have ideological policy preferences that are private information. The incumbent may bias pre-electoral policies to signal preferences to the electorate with the aim of affecting the outcome of the election. When the two candidates are of completely different types, such a policy bias can occur only in a moderate direction. However, when their possible types overlap, a policy bias can be created in either a moderate or an extreme direction.

Learning without Widespread Policy Adoption: Early Childhood Education in the American States

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-29
Author(s):  
Kelly B Smith
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
State Policies ◽  
Policy Adoption ◽  
Budget Process ◽  
Elected Officials ◽  
State Action ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
American States ◽  
New Policies

Abstract Do states learn from other states through venues other than the legislative enactment of new policies? This article demonstrates that two-way learning can occur through alternative venues: (1) legislators can adjust the budget of similar state policies to mirror other states’ policies and (2) bureaucrats can learn from other states’ policies and incorporate that learning through non-legislative state action, such as standards. Using an original forty-three state, thirteen-year dataset, I find that elected officials can learn from nearby states’ policies and adjust other policies to mirror those states through the budget process. Using an additional and original forty-three state, nineteen-year dataset, I also find the bureaucrats can learn from other states’ policies and incorporate that learning into the development of their own standards. This article assesses how states learn from other states through venues other than legislative enactment of new, diffusing legislation.

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.

scholarly journals Caught between nationalism and transnationalism: How Central and East European states respond to East–West emigration

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myra A Waterbury
Keyword(s):  
State Policies ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Large Wave ◽  
East European ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Transnational Engagement ◽  
East West

This article seeks to explain the varied policy responses to the large wave of emigration from Central and Eastern European states during the last two decades, focusing on the cases of Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and Poland. Differing degrees of emigrant engagement by these states are explained by the role of internal minorities as active members of the emigrant population and the overall political and demographic relevance of historical kin. This study contributes to our understanding of what shapes state policies towards different types of external populations. It also highlights the particular challenges of state-led transnational engagement in a supranational border regime.

Indirect British Rule, State Formation, and Welfarism in Kerala, India, 1860–1957

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manali Desai
Keyword(s):  
State Formation ◽  
Historical Sociology ◽  
State Policies ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Comparative Historical Sociology ◽  
British Rule ◽  
Political Struggles ◽  
Determining Factors ◽  
The Relationship

This article examines the relationship between a strong nineteenth-century welfarist expansion between the 1860s and early 1940s, in Kerala, India, under indirect British rule, and the “exceptional” antipoverty regime that democratically elected Communists implemented during the postcolonial (post 1947) era in the state. While much attention has focused on Kerala as a model of social development and on postindependence state policies in creating it, no single work has attempted to understand the significance of its prior legacy of welfare. This article uses methods of comparative historical sociology to trace the historical making of Kerala's “exceptionalism.” It argues that the early welfare policies in Kerala were implemented in a dependent colonial context and aimed at warding off annexation by the British, but their unintended consequences were to stimulate what they were precisely designed to avoid—radical caste and class movements. The analysis suggests that the form and content of welfare policies are shaped by the exigencies of state formation, as state autonomy theorists would argue; however, it shows that political struggles are the decisive determining factors of the former.

scholarly journals A Note on the Extent, Operation and Results of Enterprise Zones in American States

1987 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
R. Lawson Veasey ◽  
Hayward D. Horton
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Nationwide Survey ◽  
Supply Side ◽  
Demand Side ◽  
Enterprise Zones ◽  
Public Programs ◽  
Apparent Lack ◽  
American States ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Urban Blight

Since at least the early 1960s, redistributive politics and demand-side economics have formed the basis for most public programs attempting to deal with urban blight. The apparent lack of success of these policies has raised suggestions for new urban program-policies innovations based upon a different economic orientation. Enterprise Zones (EZs) are the supply-side economics alternative for dealing with urban blight. In this note, we: describe the nature of EZs and briefly their history; present reported cost-benefit effects of EZs as a result of a nationwide survey of state-administered EZ programs; discuss the variety of EZ programs across the states; and suggest the problems of administering the myriad different types of EZs among the states. Finally, we offer several questions posed by this study which will require further investigation regarding the overall impact of EZs on the subnational level.

The Puzzle of Indian Politics: Social Cleavages and the Indian Party System

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradeep K. Chhibber ◽  
John R. Petrocik
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Theory Analysis ◽  
Social Cleavages ◽  
Indian Politics ◽  
Congress Party ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Cleavage

The social cleavage theory of parly systems has provided a major framework for the study of Western party systems. It has been quite unimportant in studying other party systems, especially those of developing countries, where comparative development, and not mass electoral politics, has been the focus of study. This article reports the results of an attempt to bridge these traditions by analysing popular support for the Congress Party of India in terms of the expectations of the social cleavage theory of parties. This analysis illustrates the degree to which Indian partisanship conforms to the expectations of the theory. More importantly, this social cleavage theory analysis offers some new perspectives on (1) the inability of the Indian political system to develop national parties other than the Congress and (2) the ‘disaggregation’ of the Congress party.

Religion

2021 ◽  
pp. 363-379
Author(s):  
Kees van Kersbergen ◽  
Philip Manow
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Economic Class ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Catholic Organizations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Generous Welfare

This chapter discusses the impact of religion on welfare state development in Europe, North America, and the Antipodes. In one perspective, religion is seen as a cultural force: the tenets of the Christian doctrines have strongly influenced the notions of social justice on which modern social policies were built. Varying ethical principles gave rise to different institutional forms of distribution, redistribution, and social protection and to different demands for social security, which ultimately translated into distinctive economic and social outcomes. In another view, religion is seen as a political force: the social and political movements of organized religion, particularly Christian democracy and Catholic organizations, have shaped programmes of social reform and influenced social policy formation and outcomes.Both perspectives have major shortcoming and this chapter therefore promotes a re-specification of the link between religion and the welfare state to refine and improve upon the existing views. The new approach highlights the interplay between socio-economic (class) and religious (state–church) cleavages on the one hand, and electoral systems (majoritarian or proportional) on the other. In majoritarian systems, pro-welfare state political coalitions are less likely to emerge than in proportional systems. This explains the huge contrast between the Anglo-Saxon lean welfare states and the more generous welfare states in Europe. However, taking into account the difference in cleavage structures and the party systems between Nordic and continental Europe, the new approach also explains why the former developed more universal and generous welfare systems than the latter.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document