New Contractualism in European Welfare State Policies

New Contractualism in European Welfare State Policies PDF Author: Rune Ervik
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317088603
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
The ’Golden Age' of the welfare state in Europe was characterised by a strengthening of social rights as citizens became increasingly protected through the collective provision of income security and social services. The oil crisis, inflation and high unemployment of the 1970s largely saw the end of welfare expansion with critical voices claiming the welfare state had created an unbalanced focus on the social rights of individuals, above their responsibilities as citizens. During the 1980s many western countries developed contractual modes of thinking and regulation within welfare policy. Contractualism has proved a significant organising principle for public reforms in general, and for social policy reforms in particular as it embraces both a way of justifying certain welfare policies and of constructing specific socio-legal policy instruments. Engaging with both the critique of the welfare state and the subsequent policy responses, expert contributors in this book examine contractualism as a discourse, comprising principles and justifying ideas, and as a legal and social practice. Covering the international debate on conditionality they discuss European experiences with active social citizenship ideas and contractualism providing individual case studies and comparisons from a wide range of European countries.

New Contractualism in European Welfare State Policies

New Contractualism in European Welfare State Policies PDF Author: Rune Ervik
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317088603
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230

Get Book

Book Description
The ’Golden Age' of the welfare state in Europe was characterised by a strengthening of social rights as citizens became increasingly protected through the collective provision of income security and social services. The oil crisis, inflation and high unemployment of the 1970s largely saw the end of welfare expansion with critical voices claiming the welfare state had created an unbalanced focus on the social rights of individuals, above their responsibilities as citizens. During the 1980s many western countries developed contractual modes of thinking and regulation within welfare policy. Contractualism has proved a significant organising principle for public reforms in general, and for social policy reforms in particular as it embraces both a way of justifying certain welfare policies and of constructing specific socio-legal policy instruments. Engaging with both the critique of the welfare state and the subsequent policy responses, expert contributors in this book examine contractualism as a discourse, comprising principles and justifying ideas, and as a legal and social practice. Covering the international debate on conditionality they discuss European experiences with active social citizenship ideas and contractualism providing individual case studies and comparisons from a wide range of European countries.

New Risks, New Welfare

New Risks, New Welfare PDF Author: Peter Taylor-Gooby
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191533033
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
This book introduces the concept of new social risks in welfare state studies and explains their relevance to the comparative understanding of social policy in Europe. New social risks arise from shifts in the balance of work and family life as a direct result of the declining importance of the male breadwinner family, changes in the labour market, and the impact of globalization on national policy-making. They differ from the old social risks of the standard industrial life-course, which were concerned primarily with interruptions to income from sickness, unemployment, retirement, and similar issues. New social risks pose new challenges for the welfare policies of European countries, such as the care of children and the elderly, more equal opportunities, the activation of labour markets and the management of needs that arise from welfare state reform, and new opportunities for the coordination of policies at the EU level. The book includes detailed and up-to-date case studies of policy development across these areas in the major European countries. These studies, written by leading experts, are organized in a comparative framework which is followed throughout the book. They highlight the way in which national welfare state regimes and institutional arrangements shape policy-making to meet new social risks. A major feature of this volume is the analysis of developments at the EU level and their interaction with national policies. The EU has been largely unsuccessful in its interventions in old social risk policy, but appears to have more success in its attempts to coordinate policy for new social risks. Experience here may provide lessons for future developments in EU policy-making. The comparative framework of the book seeks to inform an understanding of the development of new social risks in Europe and of the particular political opportunities and challenges that result. It provides an original analysis of pressing issues at the forefront of European welfare policy debate and locates it at the heart of current theoretical debates.

The Handbook of European Welfare Systems

The Handbook of European Welfare Systems PDF Author: Sonja Blum
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113401550X
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 785

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Book Description
This book provides the first comprehensive information and detailed data on the welfare systems of all twenty-seven EU member states and offers the reader an invaluable introduction and basis for comparative welfare research. The introductory chapter summarizes the actual debate about welfare states and welfare (state) regimes, gives an overview on current welfare (state) research and analyses the main recent developments necessitating a new focus on European Welfare Systems. The twenty-seven chapters on the welfare systems of the member states are written on the basis of a common structure by experts from the individual states. An additional chapter analyses the current social and welfare policies of the EU and focuses on the interplay and limits between European and national social policies. Two concluding chapters provide (a) a first comparative analysis on the basis of all twenty-seven European Welfare Systems and (b) a theoretical reflection both arguing for and venturing the idea of politically limited pluralism in European welfare politics.

New Perspectives on the Welfare State in Europe

New Perspectives on the Welfare State in Europe PDF Author: Catherine Jones
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113491234X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Not since the 1940s has there been such comprehensive scope for uncertainty within and about Europe. New Perspectives on the Welfare State in Europe offers an appraisal of comparative social policy and applies it to current uncertainties concerning European communities and European-North American and East Asian relationships. Including contributions from Deakin, Klein, Leibfried, Mishra and Rose the work should provide essential reading for students, researchers, lecturers and policy makers in social policy, politics and sociology.

Ideas and Welfare State Reform in Western Europe

Ideas and Welfare State Reform in Western Europe PDF Author: P. Taylor-Gooby
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230286011
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
The new welfare settlement in Europe involves a re-direction of policy in the context of a unified market and currency system and of more stringent economic competition. Realignment of the policy assumptions and goals of the key actors is central to this process. This book reviews the main policy paradigms and analyzes the processes whereby they have changed in the most salient policy areas, and is based on recent interviews with more than two hundred and fifty senior policy actors in seven West European countries.

Europe's new state of welfare

Europe's new state of welfare PDF Author: Goul Andersen, Jørgen
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1847425615
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
It is often argued that European welfare states, with regulated labour markets, relatively generous social protection and relatively high wage equality, have become counter-productive in a globalised and knowledge-intensive economy. Using in-depth, comparative and interdisciplinary analysis of employment, welfare and citizenship in a number of European countries, this book challenges this view. It provides: an overview of employment and unemployment in Europe at the beginning of the 21st century; a comprehensive critique of the idea of globalisation as a challenge to European welfare states; detailed country chapters with new and previously inaccessible information about employment and unemployment policies written by national experts. Europe's new state of welfare is essential reading for students and teachers of social policy, welfare studies, politics and economics.

Citizenship and Welfare State Reform in Europe

Citizenship and Welfare State Reform in Europe PDF Author: Jet Bussemaker
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134658109
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
This work examines the concept of citizenship in relation to social policy, in the context of the rapidly changing European welfare states. Leading academics analyse concrete changes in social rights and citizenship roles, and offer theoretical investigations of citizenship and the welfare state. Issues discussed include: · citizenship versus residence as a basis for social rights · the relationship between rights and obligations · workers rights and non-workers rights · exclusion and inclusion in the labour market and community life · the relationship between social and political citizenship · poverty and social exclusion · new roles for citizens as clients, consumers and participants in the welfare state

The Changing Welfare State in Europe

The Changing Welfare State in Europe PDF Author: David G. Mayes
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 178254657X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
As the standard of living has increased, aspirations and financial constraints have required major rethinking. There is considerable disparity between European countries in how they approach the welfare system, with differing concern over aspects such

Contested Welfare States

Contested Welfare States PDF Author: Stefan Svallfors
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804783179
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
The welfare state is a trademark of the European social model. An extensive set of social and institutional actors provides protection against common risks, offering economic support in periods of hardship and ensuring access to care and services. Welfare policies define a set of social rights and address common vulnerabilities to protect citizens from market uncertainties. But over recent decades, European welfare states have undergone profound restructuring and recalibration. This book analyzes people's attitudes toward welfare policies across Europe, and offers a novel comparison with the United States. Occupied with normative orientations toward the redistribution of resources and public policies aimed at ameliorating adverse conditions, the book focuses on the interplay between individual welfare attitudes and behavior, institutional contexts, and structural variables. It provides essential input into the comparative study of welfare state attitudes and offers critical insights into the public legitimacy of welfare state reform.

Why We Need a New Welfare State

Why We Need a New Welfare State PDF Author: Gøsta Esping-Andersen
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191608319
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Leading scholars in the field examine the highly topical issue of the future of the welfare state in Europe. They argue that welfare states need to adjust, and examine which kind of welfare architecture will further Europe's stated goal of maximum social inclusion and justice. The volume concentrates on four principal social policy domains; the aged and transition to retirement; the welfare issues related to profound changes in working life; the new risks and needs that arise in households and, especially, in child families; and the challenges of creating gender equality. The volume aims to promote a better understanding of the key welfare issues that will have to be faced in the coming decades. It also warns against the all-too-frequent recourse to patent policy solutions that have all to often characterized contemporary debate. It intends to move the policy debate from it often frustrating vague and generic level towards greater specificity and nuance.