Structures and Financing Means of Local Government's Social Policy in Greece. A Case Study of Thessaloniki's Municipalities

Abstract

Greece's residual type of welfare model is facing the past six years an intense pressure caused by the economic crisis (2008) and the emergence of new social risks. Restrictive policies and internal devaluation process adopted to restructure economy, underestimated the social impact. The State, choosing a different welfare model with emphasis on commodification and selective services, gradually withdraws from the implementation of social policy, seeking, through administrative reforms, to transfer responsibilities to local government, without, however, the necessary funding. At the same time, European Union's social policy, despite its rhetoric and some initially ambitious efforts, particularly with the Treaty of Lisbon, shows inability to create a “community acquis”, which would contribute decisively to the Europeanization of the southern countries. By applying “soft law” measures and always based on the principle of subsidiarity, European strategy is confined, almost entirely, to an application of employment support measures, primarily seeking to improve competitiveness and meet the financial objectives of Monetary Union. The study of basic economic and social EU-28 indices for the period 2008-2012, confirms that diversification of welfare models has a crucial effect in mitigating income inequality and reducing the risk of poverty, enhancing therefore, the dispute over theoretical approaches that support the adequacy of policies related to economic growth. This paper attempts, given the aforementioned conditions, to present the current situation in local government organizations, both from the structures and the financing means perspective, based on a primary research, conducted for this purpose using a structured questionnaire filled by competent executives of all municipalities in the Prefecture (now regional unit) of Thessaloniki. Research findings, though highlighting the efforts to substitute central government's role in an institutional context, constantly under reform, indicate that municipalities are facing significant efficiency problems. Social policy is exercised by different organizational units without integrated strategic planning, new structures which were created primarily to address poverty are inadequate to meet the actual needs and funding is limited in an effort to replace the reduced own resources through European programs, without seeking future alternative sources. The acute lack of human resources and coordination, adversely affects evaluation of local government's social policy. The findings also intensify the concern about structures sustainability and the capacity of municipalities’ overall support, but at the same time detect needed interventions in order to implement an efficient decentralized policy, which will become an essential factor of social cohesion and prevent escalation of social exclusion.