International audience ; Today we are experiencing good improvements in policy, social policy and policy making. A lot of good researches have been done on these issues and helped for the development of policy. The contributions of university professors, politicians and elites cannot be considered low. And the academic papers are deployed to offer from the major theoretical and methodological approaches and empirical research. To put in their proper context the important contributions of the processes of social policy change in the construction of social development should make some notes theoretical and methodological research into social policy.
International audience Today we are experiencing good improvements in policy, social policy and policy making. A lot of good researches have been done on these issues and helped for the development of policy. The contributions of university professors, politicians and elites cannot be considered low. And the academic papers are deployed to offer from the major theoretical and methodological approaches and empirical research. To put in their proper context the important contributions of the processes of social policy change in the construction of social development should make some notes theoretical and methodological research into social policy.
Most social trends show little in the way of monthly variation. Rates of poverty and measures of inequality show little in the way of variation from one month to another. However, some issues of concern to social policy advocates, researchers, and governments take a noticeable turn during the holiday season. Favourable breaks in these trends remind us that the choices we make, when coordinated and acted upon simultaneously, can have noticeable effects on the lives of individuals and families in need.
International audience ; The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has made strides in regional integration and cooperation, aided by unique modes of governance privileging consensus and non-interference. However, the social dimension is in the early stages of development and is currently detached from economic integration initiatives. The movement of low- and unskilled workers, many of whom are undocumented, has received especially little attention in ASEAN. Their growing numbers underscore the importance of treating migration as integral rather than separate from labour and general social protection issues. The establishment of regional agreements on social protection and integration, with particular focus on migration and labour standards, should signal the recognition of the economic nature of migration, and help strengthen the relevance and profile of ASEAN among the citizens of member countries. While existing mechanisms can be used to push for this — from Track II discussions to regional coalition building — the political challenge lies in making the issue an active concern in official ASEAN agenda.
This paper explores the transnational dimension of social policy by examining the case of Indonesia, where social policy systems have shifted from community-based schemes for social protection and targeting of the poor to more centralized but broadly national coverage. Focusing on the health care system in particular, it draws on in-depth elite interviews and relevant policy documents to demonstrate how global policy diffusion pushed Indonesia towards universal health care provision. It argues that global actors, such as AusAid, WHO and various UN agencies, played an important role in this transformation, and they have done so in different ways. It further argues that this was made possible by qualitative changes in the relationship between the Indonesian government and global actors, especially AusAid, that broke away from earlier models of foreign intervention.
Health care provision in developing countries is evolving in the direction of more investment in the Primary Health Care field. In Malta general practice has served the medical needs of the community for many years. As has happened in most other countries, the Government has taken upon itself the responsibility of introducing a system of health care to optimize the health of its people. This report highlights the pro and cons of setting up a Family Doctor Scheme, to cater for primary health care using a model which rationalises the utilization of the resources of the country to involve both the public and the health care professionals in the well-being of the general population. ; non peer-reviewed
Background: The social and economic woes that have inflicted many countries around the world are testimony to the inadequacy of current institutional makeup of societies where individualism and market forces by and large have taken the leading role in directing societies' choices and resources. Problems of inequities in health and wealth, the widening gaps between the rich and the poor, employment insecurities, the growing social exclusion of the marginalized, and the looming environmental concerns are acute as ever. At the same time, the progressive social forces and the counter-balancing capacity of governments are being undermined by the prevailing neo-liberal forces. This sobering state of affairs can only lead to more problems and a growing frustration on the part of those who seek alternatives to the status quo, which have actually produced better results in certain countries. Objective: This study takes the position that the involvement of democratic collective institutions (e.g., local organizations and governments at all levels) in setting societal priorities and directing resources towards achieving those priorities would avoid or mitigate many of the socioeconomic problems facing us today. It aims to show that comprehensive social policy could prevent the emergence of such problems and contain the problems that remain, effectively working as a social vaccine. Methods: The study uses macroeconomic panel data and socioeconomic indicators from OECD countries to empirically examine the relationships between indicators of social wellbeing on the one hand, and measures of social policy on the other, while controlling for relevant macroeconomic covariates. Results: The empirical results indicate that better population health outcomes are consistently associated with stronger social policies, including social spending on health and non-health services. Also, they show lower poverty rate is associated with higher social spending. Lower crime rate is also associated with higher social spending, but it is strongly country-specific. Conclusion: Although improving social wellbeing and social protection are morally justified in their own right, the evidence presented in this study suggests that even a purely rational view concerned with the societal costs and benefits of public policy should find social policy an effective tool or vaccine against population ill-health, poverty, and crime.
Time is crucial to the implementation, operation and effectiveness of social policies, yet the subject has often treated the meaning of time as theoretically unproblematic. It focuses more upon what policies do and less upon the contexts within which the practices and assumptions of social actors are embedded. The article offers a more sophisticated theoretical account of time upon which is based an exploration of the main temporal features of welfare capitalism. It then goes on to examine three recent and prominent research projects in order to show how and why they fail to incorporate a convincing social theory of time.
Social policies predate the welfare state and have left their mark on the genesis and development of the welfare state in different countries, that testifies to the importance of historical and ideological path-dependencies of social policies in different countries. The political/political-economy ecology literature links theories of social welfare and welfare state to environmental issues like resource use through the relationship between economic growth and sustainability. Orthodox mainstream neo-classical and Keynesian economics rely on economic growth in order to raise living standards but using different channels and mechanisms. It is this reliance on economic growth and its depletive effect on environmental resources that has lied at the heart of the critiques of growth oriented liberal/neo-liberal or Keynesian economic policies, and for that matter, economic policies of centralised economies of socialist countries. This paper will start with a critique of conservative environmentalism that is inspired by Malthusian population pressure (with all its social policy implications), that to some extent also informs the degrowth approach. It would then ask how to meet the increasing health, education and other social needs whilst minimising the depletion of natural resources. I argue that the answer to the question of a sustainable social policy in part lies in an economic model, a la Kalecki and others, that can manage/negotiate the composition of output whilst investing in resources to reduce depletion of natural resources and greenhouse emissions. This is a growth strategy based on 'the human theory of needs' that meets the needs of current generation and provides some measure of inter-generational justice. The welfare and social policy counterpart of this should involve public and collective provisioning of socially necessary services of health and education as well as a range of other care services that will reduce per capita cost through economies of scale and scope whilst providing an equitable access to ...
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 text focuses on the analysis of the social policies of the Bolivarian Revolution, which have been developed as Social Missions, framing them in the philosophy of the political left and its conception of equality. Since 2003, the Social Missions brought a new way of understanding the notions of social policy and social inclusion, moved the bureaucracy of the State and were built based on the notion of urgency to combat poverty and inequality. They focus mainly on the principles of equality and social justice. The missions express an access to the social policy that has an emotional ingredient, its response to social demands is produced by non-institutional mechanisms, which try to strengthen or create a personal bond between the complainants and the political leaders together with their officials closest. ; El texto se centra en el análisis de las políticas sociales de la Revolución Bolivariana, que se han desarrollado como Misiones Sociales, enmarcándolas en la filosofía de la izquierda política y su concepción de igualdad. Desde 2003, las Misiones Sociales trajeron una nueva manera de entender las nociones de política social e inclusión social, conmovieron la burocracia del Estado y se construyeron con base en la noción de urgencia para combatir la pobreza y la inequidad. Se enfocan principalmente en los principios de igualdad y justicia social. Las misiones expresan un acceso a la política social que tiene un ingrediente emocional, su respuesta a las demandas sociales se produce por mecanismos no institucionales, que intentan fortalecer o crear un vínculo personal entre las y los sujetos demandantes y los líderes políticos junto con sus funcionarios más cercanos. Summary The text focuses on the analysis of the social policies of the Bolivarian Revolution, which have developed as Social Missions, framing them in the philosophy of the political left andits conception of equality. Since 2003, the Social Missions brought a new way of understanding the notions of social policy and social inclusion, moved the state bureaucracy and were built based on the notion of urgency to combat poverty and inequality. They focus primarily on the principles of equality and social justice. The missions express access to social policy that has an emotional ingredient, its response to social demands is produced by non-institutional mechanisms that try to strengthen or create a personal link between the plaintiffs subjects and political leaders along with his closest officials.
This paper is a comparison between two programs implemented to combat poverty in Latin America: Prospera (Prosper) in Mexico and Asignación Universal por Hijo (Universal Assignment for Child) in Argentina. The first section offers a review of the emergence of the welfare state, examining economic and urban development in both countries and the underlying trends of social policy instruments. The analysis is based on the political nature of social problems and the actions undertaken to confront them. The paper offers a theoretical perspective, often questioning the very foundation of the social policy that serves as the main framework for the social programs, in order to present the policies' scope, successes, and disadvantages with reference to social equity and the wellbeing of their participants.
Political and administrative processes are leading to collectively undesirable and intolerable societal outcomes in the advanced liberal democracies, as policymakers seek to address social issues in the design and implementation of new social policies that actively govern conduct. Behavioural regulation is the order of the day. For scholars interested in the development of social policy and the idea of a society as a whole, it is timely to begin the revaluation of the very notion of social policy and society beyond the 'active' neoliberal policy paradigm. Here we are particularly concerned with the ends and means of the coercive policy instruments and the active ethical issues arising from their use.
Social policies predate the welfare state and have left their mark on the genesis and development of the welfare state in different countries, that testifies to the importance of historical and ideological path-dependencies of social policies in different countries. The political/political-economy ecology literature links theories of social welfare and welfare state to environmental issues like resource use through the relationship between economic growth and sustainability. Orthodox mainstream neo-classical and Keynesian economics rely on economic growth in order to raise living standards but using different channels and mechanisms. It is this reliance on economic growth and its depletive effect on enviro
