Introduction: Permanent Emergency Welfare Regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa 1. Theoretical Framework: Democracy, System Transformation and Welfare Regimes PART I: KEY ISSUES AND PARAMETERS 2. Pathways of Development 3. Systemic Problems and Structural Challenges 4. Poverty and Human Development PART II: SOCIAL PROTECTION 5. Labour Market, Poverty Relief and Health 6. Education, Child Protection, and Gender Equality 7. Hunger, Food Security, Safe Water and Sanitation PART III: SOCIAL CONFLICTS, MODERNIZATION AND DEMOCRATIZATION 8. Social Conflicts and the Politics of Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa 9. Democratization and Consolidation of Democratic Institutions Conclusions: The Exclusive Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
Providing innovative insights, this book moves the debate on migration and integration policies in the enlarged European Union and its member states onto new terrain.
Abstract This article investigates the main welfare state developments of the Russian Federation that have occurred since the fall of communism. It argues that the contemporary welfare expansion strictly depends on high oil and gas prices, and that this oil‐led social policy makes the future of the 'Russian miracle' highly volatile. The main conclusion is that the Russian welfare state will be able to function properly and to ensure social integration and solidarity only under conditions of sustained oil‐led growth. The article also identifies a variety of different, but equally important, endogenous, as well as exogenous, factors that have influenced the social policy developments in the Russian Federation since 1989. These correspond to the existence of few veto points present in the political arena, the lack of a well‐structured system of interest representation, the presence of informality in the welfare state organization, but also to the presence of national economic vulnerabilities and/or strengths in the now open global economy, as well as to non‐contingent decisions taken in strategic sectors of the state, such as those related to the energy or defence sectors.
"This book adopts novel theoretical approaches to study the diverse welfare pathways that have been evolving across Central and Eastern Europe. Beyond existing path dependency and neo-institutionalist explanations, it highlights the role of explanatory factors such as micro-causal mechanisms, power politics, path departure, and elite strategies"--Provided by publisher
In: Acta politica: AP ; international journal of political science ; official journal of the Dutch Political Science Association (Nederlandse Kring voor Wetenschap der Politiek), Band 43, Heft 4, S. 508-509
This article examines the economic and social transformation occurring in post-communist societies, with a particular focus on the emergence of new social risks (NSRs) and the subsequent welfare state responses. It argues that Central and Eastern European countries are characterised by broader NSR types (a mix of old and new social risks) and groups than those present in the West. In order to deal more effectively with the requirements of the post-industrial, knowledge-based, and service economy, the reasons for a new political economy of skill formation and for a new empowering politics of the welfare state capable of strengthening the potential of individuals to adapt to more fl exible labour markets are discussed. The new empowering politics of the welfare state proposed here would consist of four main pillars: 1) a guaranteed minimum income; 2) a basic income for children; 3) state investments for education and human capital formation; and 4) a guaranteed basic pension. The aim is to empower the individual through de-commodification, childhood investment, human capital formation, and a rebalancing of life risks. The article concludes by refl ecting on the political feasibility of this proposal.
The successful completion of political, institutional and social transformation, which accompanies the new democracies of East Central Europe, urgently requires the establishment and consolidation of new forms of social security, called to ensure the sustainability and durability of reforms. By explaining the path of extrication from state socialism, this study aims to: a) compare different social policy theories and to elaborate new ones; b) identify the patterns of the welfare state's transformation in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia, at the national and EU level; c) investigate the attitudes towards social inequality in the European region; and d) explore the impact of social transfers in seven Central and Eastern European countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia). This research also aims to highlight the factors responsible for institutional change and democratic consolidation and to identify the prospects for the successful implementation of future welfare state reforms. This investigation identifies the emergence of a peculiar Eastern European model of solidarity coming from the fusion of pre-communist (Bismarck social insurance), communist (universalism, corporatism and egalitarianism) and post-communist features (market-based schemes), and maintained together by a strong support for redistributive policies. Finally, this book examines the challenges that modern welfare states are facing, such as the acceptance of a new welfare consensus, globalization and the Europeanization of national social policies. It concludes by reflecting on how Eastern welfare states will fit in the future EU welfare regime.