Policy-Making and the Welfare State

Social welfare policy is based off the

political economy

American welfare state is in

transition

Welfare state

-a government that provides money, free medical care etc for people who are unemployed, ill, or too old to work

- Example Social security 1935

Reagan, Both Bushes, and Clinton

Provided a welfare border.

President Obama

created the expansion of government social programs, especially in areas of job creations, health care, and education

Mixed welfare economy

An economy in which governmental, private non-profit, and private for-profit providers of social welfare coexist within the same society.

Social welfare is

a big business for profit firms providing social Welfare assistance. Examples are, long term nursing homes, child day cares, correction centers, and etc.

Social welfare policy

a subset of social policy

Social welfare policy regulates

the provision of benefits to people to meet basic life needs

What are the basic life needs for social welfare policy

employment, income, food, housing, health care, and relationships

Social services

-Defined by Richard Titmouse

-a series of collective interventions that contribute to the general welfare by assigning claims from one set of people who are said to produce or earn the national income to another set of people who may merit compassion and charity

Governmental sector

legislative mandated programs

Social welfare is influenced

by the context in which benefits are provided

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

-are ruled by which the federal and state government

-Apportion cash benefits to an economically disadvantaged population

-Not only cash but non cash or unkind benefits as well

In kind benefits

provided as a proxies for cash

Examples of in kind benefits are

food stamps, medicaid, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), housing vouchers, and low income energy assistance, medicaid

Governmental social welfare policy is

often referred to as "public" policy because it is the result of decisions reached through a legislative process intended to represent the entire population

Social welfare is also provided

by nongovernmental entities. It is a manifestation of "private" policy.

Social welfare policy often

develops in response to social problems

Public and Private sectors was traditionally marked by the boundary between

governmental and nonprofit agencies

Profit making firms are

private nongovernmental entities that differ from traditional private voluntary agencies because they operate on a for-profit basis

Private social welfare it is important

to be able to distinguish between policies of for profit and non profit organizations

Governmental social welfare policy

decisions made by the state

Voluntary social welfare policy

decisions reached by nonprofit agencies

Corporate social welfare policy

decisions made by for profit firms

Funding problems

programs often funded at ineffective levels

Social welfare is not

merely an expressions of social altruism. It contributes to maintenance/survival of society. It helps hold a society together.

Social welfare policy also relieve the social and economic dislocation cause by a

constantly changing economy, where jobs are created in one sector and lost (or exported) in another. This caused a large island of unemployment

Social welfare programs such as

unemployment insurance, and food stamps help soften the transition

Social welfare policies are

shaped by a set of social and personal values that reflect the preferences of those in decision-making capacities.

One view of a worthwhile social policy is

it should leave no one worse off and at least one person better off, at least as that person judges his or her needs.

Ideology

framework of commonly held beliefs through which we view the world. It is a set of assumptions about how the world works.

What are the serious consequences when social welfare policy is determined to a high degree by values

-disadvantage people were expected to become more independent so the government support was cut. With that happening, most beneficiaries who supported the programs fell to the budget ax were children. This effected their generation

Political economy

interaction of political and economic theories in understanding society

democratic capitalism

-is a political economy of the united states

-defined as an open and representative form of government that coexists with a market economy

Social welfare policy has a major role in _____________ the economy

stabilizing

It is stabilized by

modifying the play of market forces and softening the social and economic inequities that the market generates

state provision of social services

benefits of cash, in-kind benefits, and personal social services

state regulation of private activities

to alter and sometimes approve the lives of citizens

In a large measure_________forms the backbone of the political system

economic

3 major schools of economics that have traditionally dominated american economics

-Keynesian economics

-Classical or free market economics

-democratic socialism

Keynesian economics

drives liberalism and most welfare state ideologies

John Maynard Keynes

-formed the substructure and foundation of the modern welfare state and virtually all welfare societies that are built

-created a book in 1936 called The General Theory of Employment Interest and Money

Keynes

Took the classical model of economic analysis and added the insight that macroeconomic stabilization by government is necessary to keep the economic clock ticking smoothly

John Keynes believed that

a "good" government is an activist government in economic matters, especially when the economy gets out of full-employment mode

-social welfare expenditures are investments in human capital that eventually increase the national wealth and thereby boost everyone's net income

Conservative or free market economics are

-guided by free market economics.

-Existence of many small buyers and sellers who exchange products with perfect information in a setting in which each buyer or seller can freely enter and exit the marketplace at his or her own will.

Milton Friedman

-Father of modern conservative economics

-Argues that using monetary and fiscal policy to smooth out a business cycle is harmful to the economy.

-Believed that Keynesian policies must be replaced by simple monetary rules

-believed that the government must keep a steady rate, with stable prices

2 ways that economics argues large social welfare programs (unemployment benefits and public service jobs) are detrimental to society in 2 ways

-Government social programs erode the work ethic by supporting those not in the labor force

-Because they are funded by taxes, public sector social welfare programs divert money that could otherwise be invested in the private sector

Obama was falsely accused of being a __________ by John McCain

socialist

Democratic socialism

belief that radical economic change can occur within a democratic context

Proponents of socialism argued that

the fundamental nature of capitalism is anathema to advancing the public good

Different conceptions of the ________ are depending on these different perspectives of the political economy

public good

2 major american ideologies

neo liberalism

neo conservatism

-they hold vastly different views of social welfare and the public good

Conservative

-believe that public good is best served when individuals and families meet their needs through marketplace participation

-Prefer private sector approaches over governmental welfare and advocate for smaller government social programs

-Believe government should have simple roles

Traditional

-view government as the only institution capable of bringing social justice to millions of Americans

-view government social welfare programs as a key component in promoting the public good

Difference between liberals and conservatives are

how the public good is enhanced or hurt by welfare state programs

The understanding of "the public good" is lodged in the political & ideological

continuum that makes up the US political economy

Liberalism

-government is active in economics

-investment in human capital

-Social security act

-Redistribution

-Expansion of the FHA (Federal Housing Administration)

-Cut student loans and free education

Neo-liberalism

-Human Capital

-Good vs. Bad investments

-People vs. More programs

-Job training for education

-Legal distribution

Self reliance school

-location & social welfare won't solve problems

-community food programs

-community gardens

-industrial economic models are irrelevant to the economic needs of poor communities

-are often damaging to the spiritual life of people

Classical conservatism

-traditional order

-smaller government

-cut taxes

-laisse faire

-pro business

Neo conservatism

-Defense spending increased

-Private sector for social welfare

-pro business

- lower taxes for wealthy

Cultural conservatism

-small government

-prayers in school

-sexual abstinence

-pro life

-abortion/anti-gay rights

-free market

-the state as the cause of rather than the solution to social problems

Libertarianism

-no government regulation for defense only

-no taxation

-decriminal drugs

-government intervention when individual infringes on rights of someone else

Economic risk has shifted

away from the government and corporations and back onto the back of the American family

The structural change in the nature of unemployment has

primarily the shift away from manufacturing to the lower paid service sector

The risk shift is occurring in almost all

sectors

A policy that tends to impoverish the ordinary American is a failure, not matter what the alleged benefits are for

U.S corporations or for humanity as a whole