Poli 427 Midterm Flashcards
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What is social policy?
- Social policy is “the policy of governments [that directly impacts] the welfare of the citizens by providing them with services and income.” (T.H. Marshall)
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What is a welfare state?
- Focuses on the development and politics of social programs
- All of these social programs together make up a welfare state
- Welfare state development is shaped by several economic and political factors ranging from economic growth and cultural values to partisan mobilization and political institutions.
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What are the 5 theoretical perspectives on welfare states?
1) Industrialism
2) National values
3) Power resource
4) Business power
5) Historical institutionalism
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What is the industrial perspective?
- It is the functionalist sturctural explanation
- Industrialization and related demographic and social trends foster welfare expansion (Wilensky);
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What is the national values theoretical perspective?
- It is a functionalist ideational explanation
- Variation in cultural beliefs explains cross-national variation in social policy
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What is the power resource theoretical perspective?
- It is conflict-based institutional explanation.
- The political strength of the working class is the key factor (Korpi)
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What is the business power theoretical perspective?
- It is conflict-based structural explanation
- Business power is the key factor
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What is the historical institutionalism theoretical perspective?
- It is an institutional explanation
- Stresses the impact of political institutions and policy legacies overtime
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What are the three main types of social programs?
1) Social assistance
2) Social insurance
3) Universal transfers and services
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What differentiates the three types?
1) Operation
2) Who pays (where does the money come from)
3) Under which criteria is someone entitledto the service and/or money?
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What is the difference between unemployed and jobless?
- Unemployed: looking for a job
- Jobless: not looking
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What are factors which influence the type of social program someone receives?
- Kids
- Single and/or married
- Are you able to work?
- Do you have a permanent disability or is it temporary?
- Age (65 or over?)
- Race
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
How does social assistance operate, what is the criteria, are there issues and name an example
Operation:
- Is the oldest form of social program.
- Based on need, entitled to benefit based on perceived need (poor)
- Operates based on self-reliance and dependence: dependent on others who do pay taxes
Target populations: Some target populations are better perceived than others (temporary disability = lazy)
Who pays:
- Money comes from general tax
- Redistribution of taxes
Criteria:
- Do not need to pay taxes to receive benefit (not dependent on fiscal contribution)
- Income tested: how much money you earn (Less intrusive than mean-tested)
- Are you under the threshold
- Unemployed = get assistance
- Means-tested: about income and assets.
Controversial because inspectors have to visit the house (invasive)
Issues with program:
- Hard to prove you have a disability
- You have to continually reprove that you need the money
- Welfare is a tainted word, all about language
- People do not stay on social assistance as long as people perceive
**Example: **
Provincial welfare benefits; Guaranteed Income Supplement)
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
How does social insurance operate, what is the criteria, are there issues and name an example
Operation:
- Benefits related to payroll contributions for wageworkers
- Called that because it reduces uncertainty
- Not related to poverty
- Pensions: age –> allocated to a certain purpose
Who pays:
- Income tax
- Note: payroll contribution and income tax are the same thing
- Some can be covered by general tax
Criteria:
- Related to employment status
- You contribute overtime through income tax
- You lose your job but contributed for a long time = you get the money (or 65 and up)
- There is a ceiling = there is a max amount of money you can get
Issues with program:
- Despite being entitled to the benefit because you contributed does not always mean you’ll receive the money
- You pay someone else’s employment insurance
- If you die before receiving it it just disappears
- Government misuse
**Examples: **
- Employment Insurance and Canada Pension Plan
Important distinctions:
- Social insurance = can’t opt out -> you are protecting people through mandatory coverage
- Private insurance = can opt out
- Note: if you could opt out it would be perceived as selfish, it is a moral hazard -> someone ends up homeless because you decided not to pay
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
How do universal transfers and services operate, what is the criteria, are there issues and name an example
Operation:
- Universal benefits financed by general revenues for citizens and permanent residents
- Coverage varies just as procedure does
- All people have access to the same services
Who pays:
-General tax
Criteria:
- We decide who is considered based on the law (asylum, tourists etc)
Issues with programs:
- Access is not the same, people in rural areas have different access (helicopters to the hospitals, racial prejudice, discrimination)
- It is universal for certain groups (citizens etc)
**Examples: **
Example: Medicare and Old Age Security
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
Who founded the three types of welfare regimes?
- In his book The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Esping-Andersen draws a line between three types of welfare state regimes.
- Note: alternate typologies are available in literature.
- His approach is well knoen because it is elegant and simple.
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What are the main relationships Esping-Andersen focuses on?
- Each of these regimes are about a particular relationship between states, markets, and families (mix of power resource and historical institutionalism)
- States: governments, the state decides what are private and public markets
- Markets: who provides the benefits
- Also focuses on pensions and unemployment benefits (about income not health insurance)
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What are the three main welfare state regimes?
1) Liberal Regime: Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States
2) Conservative (Bismarckian) regime: Austria, France, Germany
3) Social democratic regime: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What characterizes Liberal regimes?
- Residual role of the state
- Market does most of the regulating until the market fails
- Low benefits to encourage return to work
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What characterizes conservative welfare regimes?
- Continental Europe
- Reliance on social insurance: less focus on assistance
- Increase payroll taxes
- Conservative because traditional gender roles are affirmed (hierarchical and proportional to income)
- Some are more generous over others: different sectors, stratified, traditional family roles
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What characterizes social democratic welfare regimes?
- State is the largest in terms of welfare
- Challenge traditional roles –> encourage women to work
- Feminist movements have played a large role
- Egalitarian (central)
- Universal benefits
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What are potential criticisms of Esping-Andersen’s notion of welfare states?
- Feminist scholars have long criticized Esping-Andersen’s work for his limited attention to asymmetrical gender relations.
- Does not consider non-political actors
Capitalism and Welfare Regimes
What are critiques of welfare regimes?
- These things should be done by families
- Stephen Harper: instead of subsidizing child care, send money to families directly, let them choose whether they want to go to daycare or not
The Politics of Social Policy in Canada
What factors influence social policy orientation?
- Electoral and fiscal situations
- Revenues, voters, preferences etc
- Political party= brokerage party (adapt to various political climates)
- Blame avoidance
The Politics of Social Policy in Canada
What are the policy orientations when it comes to social policy?
- They are a mix of paradigms and political ideologies
- Within the same country people don;t agree on what type of welfare state to be…
- Typically: Left leaning = ♥️ and right leaning= 💔 however it is all relative
The Politics of Social Policy in Canada
What are the three orientations of social policy?
1) Economic liberalism
2) Social protection
3) Cultural recognition
The Politics of Social Policy in Canada
What is the economic liberal policy orientation?
- Emphasizes individualism, the central role of self-regulated markets, and residual, limited social programming
- Traces back to Adam Smith/ predates modern welfare state
- Neo-liberals have backlash against modern neoliberalism, they are against the expansion of the welfare state)
- Note, not opposed to welfare state as a whole rather encourages reduced market regulations and back to work incentives
- Argue for lower taxes (fiscal conservatism)
The Politics of Social Policy in Canada
What is the social protection policy orientation?
- Emphasizes redistribution, the positive role of labor unions, and large, public social programs
- These types of social politicist fight for social inequality
- Argue for large social programs
- Example: NDP, Quebec Solidaire
- Justin Trudeau: encourages economic liberalism and social protection on the back burner
- 1995 most neoliberal budget ever seen in Canada
The Politics of Social Policy in Canada
What is the cultural recognition policy orientation?
- Emphasizes diversity, the legacies of colonialism, the need to fight discrimination, and the rights of ethno-cultural minorities.
- Mobilization of indigenous people
- Reconciliation (equal access to services)
- More than money, it is justice (emotional)
- Immigration, racism, 2SLGBTQ+