welfare and public policy Flashcards
advanced welfare state definition
a capitalist society in which the state has intervened in the form of social policies, programs, and standards, and regulations in order to mitigate class conflict and to provide for, answer, or accommodate certain social needs for which the capitalist mode of production in itself has no solution or makes no provision
difference between welfare state and non-welfare state
historical
* industrialized countries became welfare after ww2
– in most welfare countries, the great depression was a key factor in why they adopted welfare state policies
- concerns education, employment, healthcare
– to preserve capitalist markets: wanted to keep middle class from being radicalized
dichotomous welfare state typology
residual welfare state and institutional welfare state
residual welfare state
smaller range of social welfare measures
- targets those who are less well off in society
- stringent eligibility criteria and rules
– means testing: requirement to demonstrate little or no income
* sometimes have to exhaust resources to be eligible - waiting periods and short entitlement periods
- little state commitment to reducing poverty
comparable to market model
institutional welfare state
benefits and services are citizen-entitled social protections and social investments
- promotion of well being and prevention of problems
- comprehensive benefits
– cover more contingencies
– more generous
– higher quality
– more easily accessed - free market allocation of resources seen as inferior means of addressing social need
comparable to polis model
Esping-Andersen’s Typology
Liberal welfare state: Aus, canada, ireland, UK, US
Conservative welfare state: Belgium, france, Germany, netherlands, Switzerland
Social Democratic welfare state: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden
Liberal welfare state commodification and social stratification
commodification: citizens are dependent on market and earned income for social good and services
social stratification: maintain and reinforce existing patterns of inequality
conservative welfare state commodification and social stratification
commodification: less emphasis on market and more emphasis on families providing social welfare
social stratification: maintain inequalities but alleviate suffering from being on bottom
social democratic welfare state commodification and social stratification
commodification: social good and services provided as a matter of citizen rights
Social stratification: committed to reducing inequality and poverty
liberal welfare state
**liberal not in the sense of being liberal like left wing or progressive
emphasis on market and commodification
- social safety net with low benefit
usually means or income tested
assistance to only the least well off
little redistribution
benefits seen as last resort
**used in sense of neoliberalism, responds to residual welfare state
Australia, Canada, Ireland, UK, US
Conservative welfare states
note conservative not in the sense of being right wing
retains status differences but less emphasis on markets and commodification than liberal model
creating egalitarian society is not central goal
social insurance rather than social assistance or universal measures
redistribution of income over people’s lifetimes
- resistant to change, values tradition, less emphasis on commodification
Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands
social democratic welfare states
Broad, extensive, comprehensive programs
emphasis on elimination of poverty and promotion of equality
universal rather than targeted social welfare
decommodificatios of social services and benefits
key priority is full employment (employment training is extensive)
strong, active labour movements and labour policies
- what we call liberal in terms of politics, more emphasis on rights
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland
Social democratic types of spending and policies
health care
education and training
pensions
support for people with disabilities
unemployment benefits
social assistance or welfare
minimum wage
What does Andersen’s typology show
supposed to show how social democratic welfare states spend more on health, pensions, and support for people with disabilities
but US spends more on health and pensions than Denmark and Sweden which doesn’t support the Social democratic idea
– shows that you can’t just put countries into categories
