Government, Governance and Welfare Reform

Government, Governance and Welfare Reform PDF Author: Alberto Brugnoli
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1781009066
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 197

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Book Description
'Alberto Brugnoli and Alessandro Colombo have put together an important collection of essays on government and governance in Italy and Britain. This richly documented comparative study proposes to answer two key questions: how does the change from government to governance emerge, and what enables this transformation to survive and even to displace State-centric solutions to public policy issues? The book will be a milestone in highlighting the distinctive and original role of the principle of subsidiarity, in examining and assessing governance regimes, their philosophy and their organizational choices and in linking subsidiarity with the prospects of freedom, responsibility and self-governing societies in the modern world. I know of no other book that brings the principle of subsidiarity to the frontier of the most current research in social science.' – Filippo Sabetti, McGill University, Canada This unique and original book focuses on institutional changes, welfare reforms and transformations in both Britain and Italy over the last three decades. The book illustrates that although it was a widely held belief in both countries that the arena of social and economic governance would shift to the national level, to the surprise of many, a different trend has emerged. In otherwise very different national experiences, both Britain and Italy have seen the sub-national level of governance become crucial in redefining public services, and in designing, delivering, and monitoring key services. The expert contributors use a distinctive and original principle – subsidiarity – as a lens through which to examine and assess these governance regimes, their philosophies, and their organizational choices. Academics, researchers and students of social policy, public policy, public administration and regional studies will find this book to be a highly fascinating read. It will also provide a wealth of information for policymakers and think tanks.

Government, Governance and Welfare Reform

Government, Governance and Welfare Reform PDF Author: Alberto Brugnoli
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1781009066
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 197

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Book Description
'Alberto Brugnoli and Alessandro Colombo have put together an important collection of essays on government and governance in Italy and Britain. This richly documented comparative study proposes to answer two key questions: how does the change from government to governance emerge, and what enables this transformation to survive and even to displace State-centric solutions to public policy issues? The book will be a milestone in highlighting the distinctive and original role of the principle of subsidiarity, in examining and assessing governance regimes, their philosophy and their organizational choices and in linking subsidiarity with the prospects of freedom, responsibility and self-governing societies in the modern world. I know of no other book that brings the principle of subsidiarity to the frontier of the most current research in social science.' – Filippo Sabetti, McGill University, Canada This unique and original book focuses on institutional changes, welfare reforms and transformations in both Britain and Italy over the last three decades. The book illustrates that although it was a widely held belief in both countries that the arena of social and economic governance would shift to the national level, to the surprise of many, a different trend has emerged. In otherwise very different national experiences, both Britain and Italy have seen the sub-national level of governance become crucial in redefining public services, and in designing, delivering, and monitoring key services. The expert contributors use a distinctive and original principle – subsidiarity – as a lens through which to examine and assess these governance regimes, their philosophies, and their organizational choices. Academics, researchers and students of social policy, public policy, public administration and regional studies will find this book to be a highly fascinating read. It will also provide a wealth of information for policymakers and think tanks.

The Politics of Policy Change

The Politics of Policy Change PDF Author: Daniel Béland
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 1589018842
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
For generations, debating the expansion or contraction of the American welfare state has produced some of the nation's most heated legislative battles. Attempting social policy reform is both risky and complicated, especially when it involves dealing with powerful vested interests, sharp ideological disagreements, and a nervous public. The Politics of Policy Change compares and contrasts recent developments in three major federal policy areas in the United States: welfare, Medicare, and Social Security. Daniel Béland and Alex Waddan argue that we should pay close attention to the role of ideas when explaining the motivations for, and obstacles to, policy change. This insightful book concentrates on three cases of social policy reform (or attempted reform) that took place during the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Béland and Waddan further employ their framework to help explain the meaning of the 2010 health insurance reform and other developments that have taken place during the Obama presidency. The result is a book that will improve our understanding of the politics of policy change in contemporary federal politics.

OECD Public Governance Reviews Greece: Reform of Social Welfare Programmes

OECD Public Governance Reviews Greece: Reform of Social Welfare Programmes PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264196498
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
This review provides an analytical perspective of the current situation, including the construction of a database, in order to help the Greek government define reforms to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and fairness of selected social programmes.

Government Matters

Government Matters PDF Author: Lawrence M. Mead
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691123802
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
It was the achievement of legislators and administrators who were unusually high-minded and effective by national standards. Their decade-long struggle to overhaul welfare is a gripping story that inspires hope for better solutions to poverty nationwide."--Jacket.

From Rhetoric To Reform?

From Rhetoric To Reform? PDF Author: Anne Marie Cammisa
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429968884
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
By framing the dilemma in American politics in terms of helping the poor or reducing dependency, this book examines the question of what government assistance can do. It explains why some people believe that focusing on dependency moves us away from the real problem of welfare reform.

The Delegated Welfare State

The Delegated Welfare State PDF Author: Kimberly J. Morgan
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199875634
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Why are so many American social programs delegated to private actors? And what are the consequences for efficiency, accountability, and the well-being of beneficiaries? The Delegated Welfare State examines the development of the American welfare state through the lens of delegation: how policymakers have avoided direct governmental provision of benefits and services, turning to non-state actors for the governance of social programs. Utilizing case studies of Medicare and the 2009-10 health care reform, Morgan and Campbell argue that the prevalence of delegated governance reflects the powerful role of interest groups in American politics, the dominance of Congress in social policymaking, and deep contradictions in American public opinion. Americans want both social programs and small government, leaving policy makers in a bind. Contracting out public programs to non-state actors masks the role of the state and enlists private allies who push for passage. Although delegated governance has been politically expedient, enabling the growth of government programs in an anti-government political climate, it raises questions about fraud, abuse, administrative effectiveness, and accountability. In probing both the causes and consequences of delegated governance, The Delegated Welfare State offers a novel interpretation of both American social welfare politics and the nature of the American state.

Welfare Reform and Political Theory

Welfare Reform and Political Theory PDF Author: Lawrence M. Mead
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610443896
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
During the 1990s, both the United States and Britain shifted from entitlement to work-based systems for supporting their poor citizens. Much research has examined the implications of welfare reform for the economic well-being of the poor, but the new legislation also affects our view of democracy—and how it ought to function. By eliminating entitlement and setting behavioral conditions on aid, welfare reform challenges our understanding of citizenship, political equality, and the role of the state. In Welfare Reform and Political Theory, editors Lawrence Mead and Christopher Beem have assembled an accomplished list of political theorists, social policy experts, and legal scholars to address how welfare reform has affected core concepts of political theory and our understanding of democracy itself. Welfare Reform and Political Theory is unified by a common set of questions. The contributors come from across the political spectrum, each bringing different perspectives to bear. Carole Pateman argues that welfare reform has compromised the very tenets of democracy by tying the idea of citizenship to participation in the marketplace. But William Galston writes that American citizenship has in some respects always been conditioned on good behavior; work requirements continue that tradition by promoting individual responsibility and self-reliance—values essential to a well-functioning democracy. Desmond King suggests that work requirements draw invidious distinctions among citizens and therefore destroy political equality. Amy Wax, on the other hand, contends that ending entitlement does not harm notions of equality, but promotes them, by ensuring that no one is rewarded for idleness. Christopher Beem argues that entitlement welfare served a social function—acknowledging the social value of care—that has been lost in the movement towards conditional benefits. Stuart White writes that work requirements can be accepted only subject to certain conditions, while Lawrence Mead argues that concerns about justice must be addressed only after recipients are working. Alan Deacon is well to the left of Joel Schartz, but both say government may actively promote virtue through social policy—a stance some other contributors reject. The move to work-centered welfare in the 1990s represented not just a change in government policy, but a philosophical change in the way people perceived government, its functions, and its relationship with citizens. Welfare Reform and Political Theory offers a long overdue theoretical reexamination of democracy and citizenship in a workfare society.

The New Governance of Welfare States in the United States and Europe

The New Governance of Welfare States in the United States and Europe PDF Author: Mariely López-Santana
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438454678
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Detailed examination of the territorial and governance dimensions of contemporary welfare reforms in the United States and Europe. Until recently, studies of changes in the welfare state have tended to focus on transformations in the nature of social policies and their level of generosity. The New Governance of Welfare States in the United States and Europe concentrates on an often overlooked dimension: territorial and governance transformations. Employing detailed case studies and more than seventy-five interviews, Mariely López-Santana captures how a variety of postindustrial countries across both sides of the Atlantic have transformed the postwar organization of their labor market policy settings through decentralization, centralization, and delegation reforms. These changes have in turn changed the role of national and subnational levels of government, as well as nongovernmental actors, in the organization, management, and provision of labor market policies and services. López-Santana’s multidisciplinary, comparative, and multilevel approach to welfare state change is an original and important step forward in our understanding of welfare reforms enacted since the mid-1990s.

Governance and Performance

Governance and Performance PDF Author: Carolyn J. Heinrich
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 0878407995
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
Drawing on recent advances in social science, these essays demonstrate how rigorous, theory-based research in public management can improve government performance. They reflect the improved techniques in data and statistics which allow researchers to contruct more incisive models of governance.

Race and the Politics of Welfare Reform

Race and the Politics of Welfare Reform PDF Author: Sanford F. Schram
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472025511
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
It's hard to imagine discussing welfare policy without discussing race, yet all too often this uncomfortable factor is avoided or simply ignored. Sometimes the relationship between welfare and race is treated as so self-evident as to need no further attention; equally often, race in the context of welfare is glossed over, lest it raise hard questions about racism in American society as a whole. Either way, ducking the issue misrepresents the facts and misleads the public and policy-makers alike. Many scholars have addressed specific aspects of this subject, but until now there has been no single integrated overview. Race and the Politics of Welfare Reform is designed to fill this need and provide a forum for a range of voices and perspectives that reaffirm the key role race has played--and continues to play--in our approach to poverty. The essays collected here offer a systematic, step-by-step approach to the issue. Part 1 traces the evolution of welfare from the 1930s to the sweeping Clinton-era reforms, providing a historical context within which to consider today's attitudes and strategies. Part 2 looks at media representation and public perception, observing, for instance, that although blacks accounted for only about one-third of America's poor from 1967 to 1992, they featured in nearly two-thirds of news stories on poverty, a bias inevitably reflected in public attitudes. Part 3 discusses public discourse, asking questions like "Whose voices get heard and why?" and "What does 'race' mean to different constituencies?" For although "old-fashioned" racism has been replaced by euphemism, many of the same underlying prejudices still drive welfare debates--and indeed are all the more pernicious for being unspoken. Part 4 examines policy choices and implementation, showing how even the best-intentioned reform often simply displaces institutional inequities to the individual level--bias exercised case by case but no less discriminatory in effect. Part 5 explores the effects of welfare reform and the implications of transferring policy-making to the states, where local politics and increasing use of referendum balloting introduce new, often unpredictable concerns. Finally, Frances Fox Piven's concluding commentary, "Why Welfare Is Racist," offers a provocative response to the views expressed in the pages that have gone before--intended not as a "last word" but rather as the opening argument in an ongoing, necessary, and newly envisioned national debate. Sanford Schram is Visiting Professor of Social Work and Social Research, Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research. Joe Soss teaches in the Department of Government at the Graduate school of Public Affairs, American University, Washington, D.C. Richard Fording is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Kentucky.