Social Democratic Government Research Articles

Welfare regimes as enablers of just energy transitions: Revisiting and testing the hypothesis of synergy for Europe

Welfare States are considered key tools to provide just transitions. The hypothesis of synergy states that Social-democratic regimes are in a better position to accomplish them. While synergy has been widely theorised, its empirical verification has remained less studied and provided contradictory results. The weaknesses detected in the state-of-the-art, such as the misalignment of empirical testing and the theoretical drivers of synergy, as well as inconsistencies in the selection of variables and biases imposed by classifications in discrete timings, lead us to define an improved methodological framework. We apply the continuous observation of Ward's hierarchical clustering in squared Euclidean distances under Thorndike's criterium to twenty-three European countries between 2008 and 2016 and reject synergy after detecting that Social-democratic regimes display the best social conditions but the worst environmental performances and that society and the environment are not linked. This outcome motivates us to propose a discussion with a focus on the sustainability of economic growth and the opportunities for sustainable welfare scholarship to settle it.

The varying logics for supporting populist right-wing welfare politics in West European welfare regimes

AbstractLittle is known about whether and under which conditions populist radical right parties’ (PRRPs’) nativist welfare politics matters to the voters. I address this gap in the research and test the argument that the electoral appeal of this electoral discourse varies among welfare regimes. The study compares the conservative and social-democratic welfare regimes and focuses on the vote choices of the two core constituencies of PRRPs – economically exposed and immigration-sceptic voters. The results show that these electorates support PRRPs’ nativist welfare positions for very different reasons in the two welfare regimes. First, in the conservative regime, economically exposed citizens vote for PRRPs, the more they stress nativism and welfare expansion. By contrast, in the social-democratic regime this group of voters is more likely to support positions combining nativism and dismantled welfare benefits. Second, immigrant-sceptic voters in the social-democratic regime support PRRPs who pledge to preserve the welfare state, and increased migration considerably boosts the probability that they do so. By contrast, this group of voters in the conservative regime is more likely to support PRRPs who seek to partly dismantle the welfare state, and the inflow of immigrants is unrelated to these choices. These results have important implications and suggest that welfare regimes moderate public opinion differently in the current age of populism compared to previous eras.

Poverty, Inequality Statistics and Knowledge Politics Under Thatcher

Abstract It is common knowledge that, under the premiership of Margaret Thatcher, economic inequality and poverty in the United Kingdom rose dramatically, but it is often overlooked that during the 1980s knowledge about movements in poverty and inequality was much less certain and was subject to political battles over statistical policies, measurements and figures. This article connects the historiography on Thatcherism to the growing scholarship on the politics of statistics. Based on recently declassified government records and other archival and published sources, it explores government interventions in official statistics and their impact on public discourse on issues of economic inequality. The Thatcher government endeavoured to transform the social-democratic knowledge regime inherited from the 1970s by cutting back existing statistical series on income and wealth distribution and by gearing the low income statistics towards the concept of absolute poverty, as favoured by the New Right. Moreover, the government made extensive use of statistical artefacts for government public relations purposes, including controversial claims about substantial rises in the real incomes of the poorest under Thatcher. The article traces how ministers and civil servants used statistical knowledge to promote narratives about the success of Thatcher’s policies and the trickle-down effect, complementing recent research about government public relations and Thatcherite efforts to recast social discourse. It argues that knowledge politics were employed to marginalise issues of economic inequality and to defuse opposition against market-driven reforms.

From Dismantling the Class Society to Investing in Human Capital: The Rise and Fall of the Selective Student Finance System in Sweden 1939–1964

The article highlights the history of the early gift-based and selective student finance system of the social democratic welfare state in Sweden, targeting students from the working classes. This lesser-known system, introduced in 1939, preceded the present loan-financed and universal system established in 1965 designed to reach students from all classes. The arguments for launching the selective system, how this system met the objective of broadening the social recruitment of students and the arguments behind the dismantling of the system are analysed. The equalising effect of the selective system was strong, but student loans were nevertheless more compatible with an emerging idea, imported from the Chicago School, that education could be considered an (loan-financed) investment in human capital, that provides future yields rather than a right. Historical institutional theory is used to analyse the shift between two diametrically opposed models that took place within the same Social Democratic regime.

Covid (in)equalities: labor market protection, health, and residential care in Germany, Sweden, and the UK

Abstract How have differently institutionalized welfare regimes dealt with the Covid-19 crisis? In particular, how have they confronted the social and economic inequalities exposed by the virus? Taking three European countries—Germany, Sweden, and the UK, corresponding broadly to conservative-continental, social democratic, and liberal regime types—this paper tracks the virus response in the areas of income and employment protection and health and residential care. With attention paid to issues of “capacity” and the institutional arrangements in each case, we find that institutional histories in Germany and Sweden permitted a certain recidivistic reliance on established practices in the areas of employment and social protection. In sum, certain social and economic inequalities were mitigated as these countries set aside recent trends toward “liberalization” and mobilized longer-standing institutional capacities to protect some groups, although by no means all. Evidence of this trend is less clear in the health and residential care sectors, where Germany had existing capacity, allowing its older population to weather the crisis in better order than its counterparts in Sweden and the UK. In the UK, welfare liberalization has led to increased social and economic inequalities and funding reductions in health and residential care—all of which have reduced the country’s ability to deal with severe crisis. The Covid response in this case was agile, but also chaotic, with little being done to ameliorate the positions of the most vulnerable groups.

Left cultural populism and podemos: is it possible to newly orient cultural policy in Spain?

ABSTRACT Three main factors spurred a re-think of Spain's cultural policy: (1) cuts in public spending on culture: (2) the 2008 global financial crisis and its impact on cultural funding; (3) the institutional crisis and the popular unrest that found expression in the 15-M. These factors created an opportunity for rethinking cultural policy. This paper examines two contemporary proposals for newly orienting cultural policy. One is based on the idea of cultural “commons” free of the State and market forces. The other has been drawn up by the Podemos political party, and seeks to break the cultural mould cast by successive post-dictatorship social-democratic and conservative governments and is based upon cultural dissemination. This paper thus: (1) analyses the discourse on cultural policy in Spain by left-wing populism; (2) assesses to what extent this political current came up with an alternative to earlier policy paradigms; (3) discusses the soundness of commons-based proposals.

The state and the individual. The politics of gender diversity in Latin America

The article examines the key aspects of gender diversity policy in Latin American countries, as well as philosophical theories that served as a scientific justification for the deconstruction of the binary system, depathologization and normalization of gender non-conformity. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the transgender legislation of Argentina that is recognized by international organizations as the most progressive in the world. The author comes to conclusion that the effectiveness of LGBTI+ rights policy is influenced by such factors as the level of economic development of the state, political ideology and the degree of secularization of society. The main determinant is the activity of social-democratic regimes, which act as drivers of such transformations despite the negative attitude of the majority of the population. Thus, the state's goal of a positive assessment of gender diversity, the reform of the educational system, the stigmatization of psychotherapy and the silencing of negative consequences of gender transition have led to an increase in the number of gender correction surgeries, the emergence of a wide range of identities, as well as to the split of society and the formation of a large-scale anti-gender movement. The content and conclusions of the article and the provided statistical data may be of interest not only for researchers in the Latin American region, but also for specialists in the field of medicine dealing with gender identity disorders.

Index, 2021

The article consists of two separate publications (Part 1 and Part 2) and analyses social security policy towards people with disability at working age in developed welfare states (social-democratic, conservative-corporatist and neoliberal regimes). Part 2 analyses reform strategies of state assistance programmes for disabled people on the basis of international research as well as statistical data of the EU and OECD for the past 30 years, while considering the changes in the economic climate. The article attends for the funding: expenditures for the programmes (as percentage of GDP and per capita) during periods of economic growth, the 2008–2009 crisis and the following decade. The connection between cyclic economic changes and the number of people with disability is considered. The author examines the combination of approaches to anticrisis management and the dynamics of public spending on programmes for people with disabilities as well as on alternative support schemes and social security in general. The author analyses the level of social protection of people with disability: poverty and inequality data based on research data and self-administered health condition evaluation. The article discusses the factors which mitigate the negative effects of the reforms, contribute to the reduction of social tension or, on the contrary, decrease social security in the long-term perspective.

Urban renewal policies in the Netherlands in an era of changing welfare regimes

ABSTRACT In The Netherlands, post-war urban renewal policies have emerged under the influence of various welfare regimes. Corporatist and social democratic regimes promoted social justice, social cohesion, inclusion and redistribution of income; urban renewal policies stimulated social mix and area-based interventions. Both public and market partners and residents were involved. Liberal ideas became increasingly explicit from the 1990s, and became dominant after 2010. Individuality, ‘citizens own responsibility’, and cuts in public services were leading objectives. Private investors and entrepreneurs were leading the renewal, facilitated by the state. In this paper we focus on the most recent policies and their effects.

‘Which side are you on – Mr. Westerberg?’ Reason, affect, and division in public debate

ABSTRACT This article studies affect and reason in practices of persuasion through a rhetorical-performative framework. Focusing on the Swedish economic crisis 1988–1993, this piece argues that the successful rise and installation of neoliberal discourse at the elite policy-making level – particularly regarding privatization – can be explained by the prominent role passion played in the presentation of its case outside mainstream media channels. In describing and explaining this shift in discourse away from a previously hegemonic social-democratic regime, the author draws on post-foundational discourse theory and rhetorical political analysis, as well as corpora from a range of fora during this period. Affect and reason are operationalized as the rhetorical concepts pathos and logos. The analysis reveals how they operate in entangled ways as combinations and constellations of etho-pathetic and logo-pathetic argumentation. A significant conclusion is that the eschewing of passion by conventional, mainstream media and hegemonic actors, made it possible for advocates of neoliberal policies to establish inroads into the Swedish political and economic establishment. The article contributes by anchoring the rhetorical-performative theory in empirical research to produce new insights into the role of affect and reason in discursive change and continuity.

Welfare chauvinism across benefits and services

The article theorises how covering social risks through cash transfers and in-kind services shapes public attitudes towards including/excluding immigrants from these programmes in Western European destination countries. The argument is that public attitudes are more restrictive of granting immigrants access to benefits than to services. This hypothesis is tested across ten social protection programmes using original survey data collected in Denmark, Germany and the UK in 2019. Across the three countries, representing respectively a social democratic, conservative and liberal welfare regime context, the article finds that the public does indeed have a preference for easier access for in-kind services than for cash benefits. The article also finds these results to be stable across programmes covering the same social risks; the examples are child benefits and childcare. The results are even stable across left-wing, mainstream and radical right-wing voters; with the partial exception of radical right-wing voters in the UK. Finally, the article finds only a moderate association between individual characteristics and attitudinal variation across cash benefits and in-kind services.

Physical accessibility of primary care facilities for people with disabilities: a cross-sectional survey in 31 countries

BackgroundPrimary care is the first point of care, also for people with disabilities. The accessibility of primary care facilities is therefore very important. In this study we analysed comparative data on physical accessibility of general practices (GP practices) in 31 (mainly) European countries.MethodsWe used data from the QUALICOPC study, conducted in 2011 among GPs in 34 (mainly European) countries and constructed a physical accessibility scale. We applied multilevel analysis to assess the differences between and within countries and to test hypotheses, related to characteristics of the practices and of the countries.ResultsWe found large differences between countries and a strong clustering of physical accessibility within countries. Physical accessibility was negatively related to the age of the GPs, and was less in single-handed and in inner city practices. Of the country variables only the length of the period of social democratic government participation during the previous decades was positively related to physical accessibility.ConclusionA large share of the variation in physical accessibility of GP practices was on the level of countries. This means that national policies can be used to increase physical accessibility of GP practices.

The institutionalization of ICT and civic participation: Evidence from eight European nations

In the present study we examine the impact of information technology on civic participation in eight European nations. Drawing from the social welfare regimes, social origins and media ecology perspectives, we employ a merged Eurostat and OECD data set (2014) to show that (a) investments in ICT are associated with an increase in civic participation, and (b) ICT effects are higher than the effects observed following investments in social welfare and nonprofit activity. More specifically, the study shows that after controlling for social welfare and nonprofit activity, (a) mobile broadband investment increases civic participation in social democratic regimes; and (b) fixed broadband investment is associated with an increase in civic participation in liberal regimes. We conclude that ICT exerts an institutional-level effect on civic participation that finds expression in significant variations in civic participation among European nations, after controlling for the traditional effects of social welfare and nonprofit activity.

Role of social, civic, and governance aspects in life satisfaction and psychological distress: Insights from Taiwan

Although decades of economic growth in many parts of the world have created materially abundant societies, their ability to meet the subjective well-being needs and decrease the psychological distress of people is far from reality. Given that a greater emphasis is being placed on the social, environmental, and governmental factors that promote well-being and decrease distress, and considering that Taiwan is not an exception in this regard, this research project made use of the data from the national survey to investigate the role of social, civic, and governmental aspects in the life satisfaction and psychological distress of people in Taiwan. In addition to suggesting significant correlations, regression analyses indicated that the predictor variables significantly contributed to life satisfaction and psychological distress. Confidence in the government was the strongest predictor of life satisfaction, whereas the lack of healthy relationships was the strongest contributor to distress. These significant results suggest the importance of the role of both social dimensions and democratic government in mitigating distress and enhancing the life satisfaction of its citizens.

МЕЖСТРАНОВАЯ СРАВНИТЕЛЬНАЯ ОЦЕНКА ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТИ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО УПРАВЛЕНИЯ

The article describes a comprehensive approach to the evaluation of public governance efficiency. The proposed methodology is based on the composite index, encompassing indicators that correspond to the key areas of public governance — economic, social, political, and ideological. Conceptually, the study relies on institutional studies, the theory of social market economy, and the theory of welfare state. The aim of the study is to develop and test a methodology that would be consistent with a broader understand of social well-being encompassing material and non-material factors. The methodology was tested by using cross-national comparison of public governance efficiency. The sample covers 20 countries (including Russia) from 2008 to 2018. Social research data were the primary information source, which allowed us to overcome the narrow understanding of welfare and reject the neoclassical homo economicus model. The countries are clustered according to the two parameters: the efficiency index and the difference between the maximum and minimum values of aggregated indicators constituting the composite index. We found an inverse U-shaped relationship between the selected criteria, which may be explained by institutional differences between the given countries. The results were compared with the classification of welfare state regimes. It was found that the social democratic economic regime holds significant potential. The findings in this study seem to suggest several lines for further research, for example, the proposed methodology may be tested on a larger sample for a longer period.

Labour market liberalization and the rise of dualism in Europe as the interplay between governments, trade unions and the economy

AbstractWhy have labour market reforms varied so much across European countries in the 30 years preceding the economic crisis? We argue that the degree of liberalization over time in each country depends on the interaction between governments' partisan leaning, the strength of trade unions and the economic problem‐load pushing governments to adopt distinct labour market reform strategies. Building on existing literature, we interpret ‘dualizing’ labour market reforms as weaker forms of liberalization and test our argument on the cross‐national variation in over 200 labour market reforms carried out in 14 western European countries between 1985 and 2007. Our empirical results show that governments are less likely to liberalize if they face a strong union movement and the economic problem‐load is low. However, even in countries with strong unions, opposition may not always manage to block change. First, as unemployment becomes more severe, unions' ability to reduce the likelihood of liberalization strongly decreases. Second, trade unions often do not manage to prevent liberalization advanced by social democratic governments. Third, governments can devise three (non‐rival) strategies to deflect opposition: (1) they can re‐regulate parts of the labour market to protect certain workers from liberalization; (2) generous unemployment benefits can cushion the costs of liberalization, thereby increasing its likelihood; and (3) they can carry out two‐tier reforms to insulate insider (unionized) workers employed in permanent contracts, which limits union opposition. By identifying the complex interactions between variables that explain variation in labour market liberalization across European countries, this article contributes to our understanding of the evolution of European political economy.

A Study of Education Reform and Industry in the West Germany in the 1960s and 1970s

이 연구는 1960, 1970년대 서독 교육개혁과 산업계의 관계를 다루고 있다. 오랫동안 산업계는 독일의 교육정책에 막강한 영향력을 행사하는 집단으로 상정되었다. 특히 전통적인 계급구조를 옹호하고 개혁을 반대했던 것으로 기술되어 있다. 그러나 1950년대 후반부터 독일의 사회경제는 거대한 변화를 경험하게 된다. 대량소비사회의 도래와 3차 산업의 발전은 계층구분의 약화와 산업구조의 전환을 야기했고, 그 결과 서독의 직업시장은 보다 높은 교육을 받은 노동력을 대규모로 요구하게 되었다. 이러한 구조적 변화에 산업계는 보수진영에 속한 세력들 중에서도 빠르게 대응하였다. 교육팽창은 물론이고 전통적인 학교시스템의 개혁을 요구했던 것이다. 본고는 서독 교육개혁과 산업계의 관계를 새롭게 조망해보고자 하였다. 무엇보다 교육개혁에 대한 산업계의 입장과 그것의 변화를 다루고 있다. 더 나아가 교육영역에서 산업계가 추구하는 근본적인 가치가 무엇이고, 그것이 얼마만큼 교육정책에 관철되었는가를 분석하였다. 1960년대 초부터 경제단체들은 교육제도 현대화를 위한 국가의 투자를 요구하고, 모든 사회집단에 이를 지지해줄 것을 촉구했다. 그리고 기존에 직업교육으로 한정되었던 교육영역에 대한 경제단체들의 관여는 일반학교 교육으로 확장되었다. 중등학교 과정에서 새로운 경제 질서에 긍정적이고 기업에 친화적인 교육환경을 만들려 애썼다. 그러나 산업계의 교육개혁에 대한 지지는 1970년대 초반을 지나면서 약화되었다. 고등인력의 수요 충족, 성장둔화에 의한 재정적 부담 증가, 사민당 정부와의 갈등이 그 원인으로 작용했다. 그것은 종합학교 도입에 대한 경제계의 부정적인 시각으로 이어지게 되었다. 산업계는 변화된 경제 환경에 적합한 효율적인 학교교육을 선호하였으며, 무엇보다 기업의 이익을 우선시하였다. 그리고 충분한 인적자원을 양산하고 기업에 친화적인 시스템을 위한 교육정책을 원했다. 그렇지만 산업계의 경제지향적 요구는 시민사회의 저항을 부르기도 하였다.This article researches the relationship between education reform and industry in West Germany in the 1960s and 1970s. Traditionally, industry has been regarded as a group that exerts a powerful influence on German education policy. It has been described as defending the old social class structure and opposing reform. However, starting in the late 1950s, the German social economy experienced enormous changes. The advent of a mass consumption society and the development of tertiary industries led to a weakening of the hierarchical division and a shift in the industrial structure. As a result, the West German job market faced a demand for many workers with higher education. The industry responded quickly to this change, even among conservatives. Along with the expansion of education, it even called for reform of the traditional school system. This study takes a new look at the relationship between education reform and industry in West Germany. Above all, it covers industry s position on education reform and its changes. Furthermore, it analyzes what fundamental values the industry places on in the field of education and how much such values were implemented in education policy. In the early 1960s, economic associations requested state investment in modernizing the education system and urged all social groups to support it. In addition, the involvement of economic associations in the field of education, which had previously been limited to vocational education, was extended to general school education. During secondary school, they tried to create an environment that was positive for the new economic order and business friendly. However, industry’s support for educational reform has weakened since the early 1970s due to satisfying the demands of manpower with a higher education, the increase of financial burdens caused by slow economic growth, and conflict with the Social Democratic Party government. This also led to a negative view of industry on the introduction of the “Gesamtschule.” The industry preferred efficient school education suitable for the changed economic environment but prioritized the interests of companies. It wanted education policies for a system that mass-produced human resources and that was business friendly. However, an economic-oriented request by industry often brought resistance from civil society.

Social Democratic Solidarity and the Welfare State: Health Care and Single-Tier Universality in Sweden and Canada.

Although it is not generally done, it is useful to compare the history of the evolution of universal health coverage (UHC) in Canada and Sweden. The majority of citizens in both countries have shared, and continue to share, a commitment to a strong form of single-tier universality in the design of their respective UHC systems. In the postwar era, they also share a remarkably similar timeline in the emergence and entrenchment of single-tier UHC, despite the political and social differences between the two countries. At the same time, UHC was initially designed, implemented, and managed by social democratic governments that held power for long periods of time, creating a path dependency for single-tier Medicare that was difficult for future governments of different ideological persuasions to alter.

Social inequality and homeownership from a comparative perspective: Is there a return of the welfare state?

Esping-Andersen’s typology of welfare state regimes has been one of the most influential contributions to comparative studies. The general picture of this typology has four variants: social democratic, conservative, southern European, and liberal regimes. This typology becomes controversial particularly when homeownership inequalities are considered. Our study aims to evaluate the sustainability of the welfare state regime typology with regard to reducing inequalities of homeownership. The paper uses data from the Luxembourg Income Study to analyze the changes in homeownership rates for low-income populations as compared to the entire population. We compared ten countries representing various welfare regimes from 2000 to 2013/16 to examine the variations of homeownership and social inequalities over time. The results show that the distribution of countries seems to have a negative correlation between welfare regimes (according to the Gini index) and homeownership rates. In liberal countries (except Canada) and southern European countries, homeownership rates fell over time. In most of these countries, low-income populations experienced the highest decline in homeownership rates during the observed period.

The partisan politics of the penal–welfare nexus: a quantitative analysis of party influence on the relationship between penal and welfare policies

AbstractEvidence of a link between the retrenchment of the welfare state and the expansion of the penal state has sparked a debate about the existence of a nexus. In this study, we critically explore this link by focusing on political parties. First, we argue that welfare and penal policies are likely to follow distinct paths, with left-liberal/green parties pushing for less punitive penal and market-liberal/conservative parties for less generous welfare policy. Second, we only expect a nexus between both policy domains if conservative or “third way” social democratic governments are in power. The former follows a coherent ideology, the latter compensates for welfare retrenchment with tough-on-crime policies. We test these claims quantitatively on a unique dataset covering all changes to welfare and penal legislation in Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom and France between 1990 and 2014 and find our expectations supported except conservative influence on the penal–welfare nexus.