8a.3a Flashcards
What is the relationship between economic and social progress dependent on
on decisions made by governments on the importance of social progress; this ranges from
- best case: welfare state with high levels of social spending to
- worst: totalitarian regimes run by elites with low levels of spending on health and education.
What is a welfare state like
- The wellbeing of all citizens is regarded as a priority and spending on health care and education is high
- Taxes have to be high to covert it, or income from manufactured goods must be very good
What is social progress and what is its role?
- Thinks about economic structure, political structure, social structure
- Aim: meet basic human needs, and create opportunities
What is the issue in venezuela
Currently protesting because of lack o poverty, destitution, starvation, suffering and ideological slavery
What is being done to resolve issues in venezuela
- Pres. Hugo Chavez set up this system, but his successor have deployed security forces
- Huge reliance of oil / petrodollars to pay – high value in 2008 ($150/barrel), whilst today is $45
- Leaders involved in international drug trafficking
What can governments prioritise when making decisions
- economic development: infrastructure spendig
-environmental development: reduce pollution, protect ecosystems and species - social development:L healthcare, education, freedom and equality
What is social progress index made up of
- basic human needs -> nutrition, medical care, shelter, water, sanitation and safety
- foundations of wellbeing -> education, access to internet and mobile phones, life expectancy, pollution levels
- opportunity -> personal rights, political freedom, gender equality, tolerance of immigrants and access to advanced education.
Discuss authoritarian vs welfare states
- the democratic countries of Sweden and Costa Rica spend large sums, in relation to income per capita, on health and education, and this leads to high SPI scores because of the impact of a welfare state.
- authoritarian/totalitarian (people cannot choose leaders, so can’t influence or criticise policy) Russia and Ethipia are run by elites, who provide far less to their people and hence SPI scores are low.
Sweden SPI scores
human needs :95
foundation of wellbeing: 90
opportunity: 83
Russia SPI scores
79 (basic human needs)
72 (foundations of wellbeing)
50 (opportunity)