scholarly journals Improving Child Well-Being? Restructuring Child Welfare Programs in the Liberal Welfare States

2008 ◽  
pp. 3-26
Author(s):  
Maureen Baker
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Public Spending ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Role Of The State

For over a century, the ‘liberal’ welfare states have shared ideas about social provision and faced similar socioeconomic and political pressures to restructure their social programs. This paper discusses some of the historic and current pressures on these states to develop and restructure child welfare services. I argue that international ideas about children’s rights and ‘best practices’ have always influenced the development of these programs but current restructuring is more often shaped by concerns about public spending and the role of the state in family life. Despite the potential for governments in these ‘rich’ nations to enhance the wellbeing of children, unhealthy practices are permitted to continue.

Leviathan Captured Neoliberalism as Solution and Problem in Brazil

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Faucher
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Relative Weight ◽  
State Policies ◽  
Competitive Environment ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Role Of The State

This chapter begins with an overview of the nature of neoliberalism. As markets evolved and globalization made progress, governments introduced reforms meant to adjust policies and regulations to a more open and competitive environment and reduce the relative weight and role of the state. Policies such as privatization and trade liberalization were introduced in Brazil shortly after a civilian, Fernando Collor de Melo (1990–1992), was elected president. But the neoliberal agenda was relegated to second place as all energy was turned toward the fight against inflation and the debt crisis. After a first term dedicated to consolidate public finances, President Cardoso (1995–2002) introduced a number of “market-oriented” reforms aimed at flexibility and efficiency. Under President Lula (2003–2010), social programs were improved, transfers were increased, and the minimum wage was raised. Since 2009, a recession has threatened the joint imperatives of forced development and social justice.

Ideas, Institutions and the Policies of Governments: a Comparative Analysis: Part III

1973 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony King
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Public Services ◽  
The United States ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Common Assumption ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Common

III THE PATTERN EXPLAINED In part I of this paper we described the gross pattern of public policy in our five countries. In part II we looked at how the pattern developed in each of the countries. We noticed that the countries have pursued policies that diverge widely, at least with respect to the size of the direct operating role of the State in the provision of public services. We also noticed that the United States differs from the four other countries far more than they do from each other. These findings will not have come as a great surprise to anybody, although some readers may have been surprised – in view of the common assumption that all major western countries are ‘welfare states’ – to discover just how much the countries differ and what different histories they have had.

The American Welfare State

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Klosko
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Early History ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Political Justification ◽  
History Of

Background on the American welfare state. What we mean by welfare states; early history of American welfare state; causal factors in regard to how it developed, and the American welfare state in comparative perspective. We also look at the role of political justification in the development of American welfare programs.

Sustaining the Countryside: A Welsh Post-War Perspective

Rural History ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Sheail
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
White Paper ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Post War ◽  
First Time ◽  
Positivist Approach

In October 1994, the Environment Secretary and Agriculture Minister announced their intention to publish, for the first time, a joint White Paper, setting out Government policy for the economic, social and environmental well-being of the English countryside. It stimulated a further flurry of interest in how such policy agenda are drawn up and implemented. Although ostensibly, ministers sought fresh policies under the banner of sustainable development, some commentators discerned an even greater concern as to the growing sense of deprivation felt by the 12 million voters who lived in the countryside. Although there had been much rural debate and research in the late 1970s and early ’80s, Cloke and Little have contended it laboured under two deficiencies. Not only was there minimal Government interest, but it did little more than highlight the inadequacies of a simple positivist approach. This time round, much greater use might be made of a political-economy perspective, that took fuller cognisance of the connections that prevailed between economic change, restructuring of society, and the role of the state.

The Economic Role of the Greek City

1999 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Salmon
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Well Being ◽  
New Labour ◽  
Greek City ◽  
Economic Role ◽  
The Public ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Collapse Of Communism ◽  
Economic Well Being

The economic role of the state is controversial, even after the collapse of communism and the election of New Labour. The demand that governments get off the backs of wealth-creators has barely diminished since the 1980s; but some still urge control of private and corporate greed in the public interest. There is no sign of such controversy in Greek antiquity; but I shall suggest that the practice of the cities depended on political considerations which reveal comparable principles. All governments, whatever their complexion, now accept some responsibility for general economic well–being, even if their actions may amount to little more than a claim that prosperity will ‘trickle down’ from top to bottom. Numerous functions which would now be identified as economic were performed by Greek cities; after brief preliminaries to set the economic scene, I shall explore them, and try to determine why they were undertaken.

scholarly journals Saving Children, Controlling Families: Punishment, redistribution and child protection

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Policy Regimes ◽  
Family Behavior ◽  
Generous Welfare

This study shows that state efforts at child protection are structured by the policy regimes in which they are enmeshed. Using administrative data on child protection, criminal justice, and social welfare interventions, I show that children are separated from their families and placed into foster care far more frequently in states with extensive and punitive criminal justice systems than in states with broad and generous welfare programs. However, large welfare bureaucracies interact with welfare program enrollment to create opportunities for the surveillance of families, suggesting that extensive and administratively complex welfare states engage in “soft” social control through the surveillance and regulation of family behavior. The article further shows that institutionalization, a particularly restrictive form of foster care placement, is least common in states with broad and generous welfare regimes and generally more common under punitive regimes. Taken together, these findings show that policy regimes influence the interaction between families and the state through their proximate effects on family structure and well-being and through institutional effects that delimit the routines and scripts through which policymakers and street-level bureaucrats intervene to protect children.

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