Search results

Available in paperback for the first time, this milestone work offers an in-depth treatment of all aspects of the discipline and practice of social policy globally. Supported by a distinguished international advisory board, the editors have compiled almost 900,000 words across 734 entries written by 284 leading specialists to provide authoritative coverage of concepts, policy actors, welfare institutions and services along a series of national, regional and transnational dimensions. Also included are biographical entries on major policy makers and shapers. The editors have particularl.

AbstractThis paper aims to present and discuss social change and social policy in Japan after the mid‐20th century from a sociological viewpoint. Japanese social change and social policy from the mid‐20th century onward can be categorized into three models in chronological order: escape from mass poverty by means of industrialization, improvement of the social security system to establish a welfare state, and parallel progress of aspiration for a welfare society and workfare. Defined concretely, these are (1) the period that established and improved social security, which started immediately after the end of World War II and ended in 1973, when Japan began to suffer from low growth after enjoying high growth; (2) the period in which finance for social security was adjusted, halfway through which the country experienced a bubble economy; and (3) the period after the 1990s, in which the structural reform of social security went hand‐in‐hand with labor policy and the advent of globalization. In each of the three periods, the direction of social policy was affected by factors that caused changes in such areas as industrial structure (the decline of agriculture), demographic structure (an aging society), and family structure and work pattern (the growing trend of nuclear families, single‐person households, and irregular employment). In Japan, life security now attracts increasing attention, and employment security rather than social security has been the central issue. As it is greatly affected by globalization, employment security grows less conspicuous and makes the vulnerability of social security grow more conspicuous. Social policy has the potential to become an area with which to struggle for national integration and fissures between social groups.

The topic of whistleblowing is achieving prominence as a question of social policy. Some influential voices are suggesting that far from whistleblowing — informing on organisations —, being socially undesirable, it may in certain circumstances be an activity deserving high praise. Inevitably it entails huge risks to the activist, and these risks need to be personally and carefully considered. John Banham, Director General of the Confederation of British Industry, wrote in support of the Social Audit report on the subject (Winfield 1990), and a committee established by the Speaker of the House of Commons has suggested the possibility of honouring whistleblowers in the British Honours system for their good corporate citizenship. There have also been landmark reports in America, Australia and Canada (Leahy 1978, Electoral and Administrative Review Commission 1990, Ontario Law Reform Commission 1986).

"Kim offers unique insight into the deeper political dynamics of Korean social policy by analysing the relationship between the broader context of East Asian commonality and the unique circumstances of Korea. Since the 1980s, South Korea has advanced social policy at a rapid pace with the progress of political democracy and the activation of civil society. Currently, South Korea is equipped with a full range of social policies including public assistance, social insurance, and social services. However, South Korea's road to a remarkable social policy accomplishment was not a smooth one and controversies sizzled over the values, directions, and methods of social policy. Kim delves into the political dynamics of Korea's social policy, spanning from the traditional kingdom era to contemporary South Korea. In doing so he examines the influences of Confucianism, developmental welfareism, and the responses to the Asian economic crisis in shaping these policies. An important resource not only for scholars and students of Korean society and social policy, but also for scholars of social policy more broadly, especially those with a focus on other East Asian countries"--

European social policy changed with the evolution of European and global capitalism, the scope and shape of European-level international institutions, the size and heterogeneity of "Europe" as a polity, and the politics of the European national welfare state. The paper outlines the long-term trajectory of European social policy, from the intended absorption of national welfare states into one united, federal welfare state to a selective updating of national social policies by European social policies; to multi-level coordination of national systems by special European institutions; to European soft law helping national "modernization" on the "Third Way"; to exposure of national systems to international economic competition as an incentive for "structural reform"; and to subordination of social policy, national and European, to the defense of a common hard currency through fiscal consolidation - from, in other words, federal social democracy to competitive "adjustment" of national social protection and social life to global markets. ; Die europäische Sozialpolitik entwickelte sich zusammen mit dem Wandel des europäischen und globalen Kapitalismus, der Reichweite und Gestalt europaweiter politischer Institutionen und der Größe und Vielfalt von "Europa" als politisches System sowie der Politik des europäischen Wohlfahrtsstaats auf nationaler Ebene. Der Aufsatz zeichnet die langfristigen Entwicklungslinien der europäischen Sozialpolitik nach, von der beabsichtigten Absorption der nationalen Wohlfahrtsstaaten in einen gemeinsamen, föderalen europäischen Wohlfahrtsstaat; zu selektiver Modernisierung nationaler durch europäische Sozialpolitik; zu Mehrebenenkoordination nationaler sozialpolitischer Regime durch spezialisierte europäische Institutionen; zu europäischem Soft Law zur Unterstützung nationaler "Modernisierung" auf dem "Dritten Weg"; zur Öffnung nationaler Systeme für internationalen wirtschaftlichen Wettbewerb als Anreiz zu "Strukturreformen"; schließlich zur Unterordnung von Sozialpolitik, auf nationaler wie europäischer Ebene, unter die Verteidigung einer gemeinsamen harten Währung durch fiskalische Konsolidierung - von, in anderen Worten, bundestaatlicher Sozialdemokratie zu wettbewerblicher Anpassung nationaler Formen des sozialen Schutzes und des sozialen Lebens an globale Märkte und die von ihnen ausgehenden Zwänge.

The Barcelona Summit of March 2002 provided the catalyst for further coordination and synchronisation between the social and economic dimensions of the Lisbon Strategy framework. The definition of the 'European Social Model' as 'good economic performance, a high level of social protection and education and social dialogue' has become a working definition underpinning the direction of social policy in official publications.1 The Barcelona Presidency also led to the adoption of a streamlined set of Employment Guidelines, Recommendations to the Member States and Broad Economic Policy Guidelines on the same day, heralded as an 'instrument for economic governance' by the Commission.2 The reform of the European Employment Strategy (EES) concentrates upon the problems and weaknesses of the EES identified in the evaluation of the first 5 years of the Strategy.3 The Commission identified four central issues for reform, focusing upon the need to set clear objectives (which include priorities and targets), the need to simplify the policy guidelines, the need to improve governance and ensure greater consistency and complementarity with other EU processes. A new development on the eve of the Spring Council (the Brussels Summit) on 20–21 March 2003 was a 'Social Summit' attended by a troika of the Heads of State/Government of the past, current and future Presidencies, the Commission and the Social Partners. One outcome of this Summit was the creation of a new eight-member task force, chaired by Wim Kok.4 The aim of the European Employment Task Force is to investigate practical steps to prompt the Member States to implement the new revised EES endorsed at the Spring Summit. The Task Force will report to the Commission in time to draft the Joint Employment Report for the annual Spring Summits.

Social policy : an introduction / Stuart S. Nagel -- Ethnic nepotism as an explanation for ethnic conflicts / Tatu Vanhanen -- Differences in the determinants of internal conflict between the Cold War and post-Cold War periods / Hae S. Kim -- Religion : for or against democracy? / Mira Marody -- Recasting foreign policy analysis using a gender analysis : where to begin? / Deborah Stienstra -- Political rights, electoral systems, and the legislative representation of women in 73 democracies : a preliminary analysis / Wilma Rule -- Ethnicity, democracy, and conflict management in Africa / Victor Azarya --The role of mass communication in Egyptian family planning policy / Amany A. Khodair and Steven K. Wisensale -- Coexistence of secularism and fundamentalism in India / Pelgy Vaz -- Caste and class relations in Bihar / Shyam Nand Singh -- Identity collapse and ethnic politics : a Sri Lankan example / William W. Bostock -- Politics of agenda-building in South Korea : imperial Japan's military sexual slavery case / Bang-Soon Yoon -- Public participation in China's urban development / Tingwei Zhang -- Social development amidst economic reform : family policy in a changing Vietnam / Steven K. Wisensale -- Nations and minorities : a conceptual comparison between the western and Islamic understanding with a case study / Andrea K. Riemer -- Russian nationalism and nation-building in the Russian Federation : implications for Russian foreign policy in the near abroad / Susanne M. Birgerson and Roger E. Kanet -- Forming a new nation-state and the repression or protection of ethnic minorities : the case of Slovenia / Miran Komac -- Freedom versus equality? Some thoughts about attitudes toward gender equality politics in Eastern and Central Europe / Vlasta Jalušič -- Conceptualizing the German state : putting women's politics in its place / Birgit Sauer -- The limits of tolerance in a liberal society : in search of guidelines / Marlies Galenkamp -- Back from the edge : rebuilding a public heritage--a case study of Dubrovnik, Croatia / Linda K. Richter and William L. Richter -- Human rights, civil society, and the Guatemalan peace process / Scott Turner -- Managing diversity in multiethnic federations : the case of Canada / Réjean Pelletier.