...Is Thatcherism Best Described as a Revolt Against the Post-war Consensus? There is great disagreement over the value of the achievements of the Conservative governments under Mrs Thatcher, but whether it is seen as successful or a failure, most acknowledge that the advent of ‘Thatcherism’ was a major turning point in the recent political, social and economic history of Britain. The 1979 general election was in many ways the most significant since the end of the war, as it signalled the comprehensive end of what became known as the Post-war Consensus, changing fundamentally the way in which the country was governed. To understand whether Thatcherism was a reaction against this consensus we have to first understand what the consensus was - and why it ended. The consensus emerged in the difficult but optimistic years following the war. It came at least partly from a desire to create the "New Jerusalem", creating social and economic progress from victory. It was in a sense a reaction against the ‘consensus’ that went before, that of a generally non-interventionist government, which was discredited by the memory of the 1930s. The consensus, inaugurated by the policies of the 1945-51 Labour government, marked a great increase in the role of government in peacetime economy and society, something which remained generally unchallenged for decades by successive governments. This does not mean that there was no disagreement between parties and nothing was at stake at elections, as...
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...has helped millions of people and has made a huge impact on society. Presently, we know it was welfare or TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. It's helped with food, medical and cash assistance to low income families. Many people now a days take advantage of this program, some really need the assistance and some do not, when back years ago it was barely there. In 1905 the first social worker, Ida Cannon, was hired to provied services to patients in outpatient clinics with mental illnesses. At this point in time, social workers only helped the mentally ill. Previously, she worked as a visiting nurse, started to provide food and clothes to needy woman and children. By 1919 the social work program was better known as the Department of Mass General. At this time the main focus was people in outpatient clinics who needed medical assistance but did not have insurance. Before ten years ahd passed, the focus had boadened to include the community and environment. By May of 1939 the food stamp program was orignited by the federal government in result of the Great Depression. Food Stamp Program, is a federal assistance program that provides assistance to low- and no-income people and families living in the U.S Familes bought food stamp vouchers in allotments depending on their family income. By 1964 the food stamp program transformed into a program of relief as part as the welfare system. When the food stamp program was first introduced, it was given as paper coupons to buy...
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...How has federalism evolved? Federalism is defined as state and federal governments sharing power meaning that the exercise of power is by at least two levels of government within the same country. In the case of the United States of America, power is shared between the national government and the subsidiary government. Federalism has been constantly changing especially through the twentieth century until the present day with power shifting between state and the national government. Such free-flowing shifts of power is often critically debated as some states may resist national policy that does not affect their citizens favourably. For example, people living in mountainous and extremely rural areas often blame the federal government for their economic woes as national economic policy is not flexible enough to cater for the great diversity across the country and so would prefer for more power to lie with the state. The argument against more state power however is the case of ensuring civil rights for all, as in the 1960s the national government introduced civil rights for blacks which was heavily resisted by the Southern states. A positive feature of federalism is that constant shifts allows more pragmatic policy making. If proposers of a policy feel it will not be accepted at state level it will be decided at a national level and similarly the opposers of a policy may prefer using state veto to prevent it being passed. This explains why throughout the twentieth century, federalism...
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...Memo To: Congressman Howard Hughes From: Alisha Clarke, Chief of Staff Date: 9/9/2012 Re: Medicare Funding Crisis Congressman Hughes, Below, please find the prepared document for the panel discussion. Introduction As you all may know, Medicare is currently the object of scrutiny in regards to its funding and how it is effecting the current healthcare situation. There are many perspectives in which to look at this program to decide whether or not it is actually a positive attempt at resolving current healthcare issues. First and foremost, I believe that our society is misinformed about the current status of the Medicare program. So I will take time out to address key questions in regards to the program. Is Medicare in a state of crisis? Are radical measures necessary to preserve the program? Medicare is so definitely in a state of crisis as we speak. “particularly for Medicare, which is so far underwater it would take several United States’ to pay off just what is owed right now to those who have already paid into the system (and who are therefore owed benefits at some point).” (Emanuel, 2012) It seems that the detrimental effects of the Medicare system will indeed have the most impact on the current senior citizen population, baby boomers, and the military. The reason for this is because the accessibility to physicians seems to be decreasing which could definitely hurt these populations. Physicians who currently participate in the Medicare program are enduring...
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...the welfare state in the new global order by gøsta esping-andersen unrisd united nations research institute for social development UNRISD work for the Social Summit is being carried out with the support and co-operation of the United Nations Development Programme. Proof-reading and layout: Rhonda Gibbes Dissemination: Adrienne Cruz UNRISD/OP/94/7 ISSN 1020-2285 Copyright United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD). Short extracts from this publication may be reproduced unaltered without authorization on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to UNRISD, Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. UNRISD welcomes such applications. UNRISD publications can be obtained from the same address. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute. after the golden age: the future of the welfare state in the new global order occasional paper no. 7 world summit for social development after the golden age: the future of the welfare state...
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...professionals in the early 1970s[3] who sought to put in question the trickle down theories of development by contesting that modernization had identical impact on men and women.[4] The Women in Development movement (WID) gained momentum in the 1970s, driven by the resurgence of women's movement in northern countries, whereby liberal feminists were striving for equal rights and labour opportunities in the United States.[5] Liberal feminism, postulating that women's disadvantages in society may be eliminated by breaking down stereotyped customary expectations of women by offering better education to women and introducing equal opportunity programmes,[6] had a notable influence on the formulation of the WID approaches, whereby little attention was given to men and to power relations between genders.[5] The translation of the 1970s feminist movements and their repeated calls for employment opportunities in the development agenda meant that particular attention was given to the productive labour of women, leaving aside reproductive concerns and social welfare.[5] Yet this focus was part of the approach pushed forward by advocates of the WID movement, reacting to the general policy environment maintained by early colonial authorities and post-war development authorities, wherein inadequate reference to the work undertook by women as producers was made, as they were almost solely identified as their roles as wives and mothers.[5] The WID's opposition to this “welfare approach” was in part...
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...Erosion of the Welfare State Since 1979 Works Cited Not Included In this essay I will attempt to examine if and by how much the welfare state has been eroded since 1979. Due to length limitations I will have to oversimplify topics covered. However I will explore issues in a coherent frame work to scrutinize the continuity of the ‘classic welfare state, (Powell 1998). Many political theorists have debated the birth of the welfare state. Poor Law which can be dated back to the 14th century (Labourers Act) maybe considered the first step in a long journey to become what we recognise as the welfare state today (Midwinter1994, Jones 2000). However others classify the beginning of the Classic welfare state by the report written by William Beverage (1942) which identified ‘five giants’ of social disorder; want, idleness, squalor, disease and ignorance. The main focus of the solution was flat-rate contributions as well as flat-rate cash benefits, (Titmuss 1950; Hennessy 1992; Powell 1998). Drawing from these two points of view the foundation of the classic welfare state I will take the latter (Five Giants) as most credible, as most of the major features of the welfare state were initiated by the Labour and Conservative governments (Labour’s landslide victory of the conservations after World War two) from this point, such as the planned, approved and implemented universal non-selective NHS 1948. As we now have a beginning context we must explore when the erosion...
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...Unveil the Mystery of Nordic Welfare Model: Features, Development and Its Implications for China 15 International Trade 王穗 Abstract The Nordic Welfare Model is proven to be a benchmark. Many authoritative institutes have conducted comparative cross-country welfare system studies, in which Nordic countries ranked high in terms of employment, unemployment benefits, economic efficiency, the growth rate of economy, price stability and so forth. The unremarkable economic performance of Nordic countries arouses attractions from all around the world. Meanwhile, the challenges it’s confronted with nowadays are paid close attention. The sustainability of Nordic Model is put under a severe test given the increasingly complicated international economic...
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...from domestic to export production due to increasing domestic production costs, First World nations sought after Third World labour as a way to reduce production costs. The rise of Third World industrialization, or newly industrialized countries (NICs), in the 1970s and growing throughout the rest of the century allowed the First World to keep up with rising consumption rates while keeping labour costs low. To represent the shift to export production, and to serve firms seeking lower wages and Third World governments seeking capital investment, export processing zones (EPZs) were created. Most EPZs are located in developing countries, and these zones attract employers as a solution to domestic production while also taking advantage of reduced trade barriers set up by the host nation in an attempt to reduce poverty, unemployment, and stimulate their domestic economy. The creation of these EPZs supported the rise of neoliberal globalization and the free market system throughout the latter half of the 20th century, which stated that the private sector would determine state priorities. This paper will examine the rise of EPZs and their connection to neoliberal globalization, as well as their relationship to the debt crisis of the 1980s and the growth of structural adjustment programs. With the Cold War immediately following WWII, countries were divided into a class First, Second, and Third World countries, according to their status in the war. The Third World, also known as the Global...
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...Social Work and Social Reform: An Arena of Struggle Mimi Abramovitz The profession of social work has the potential both to meet individual needs and to engage in social change. However, the profession’s position between the individual and society often forces practitioners to choose between adjusting people and programs to circumstances or challenging the status quo. The twin pressures of containment and change have made social work an arena of struggle since its origins in the late 19th century. In honor of social work’s centennial, this article examines the sources of the profession’s prochange mandate and the structural factors that limit social work’s ability to pledge itself to this stance permanently and recommends some steps social workers can take to recommit the profession to greater activism. Special attention is given to documenting the long but largely ignored history of social work activism. Key words: activism; history; professionalism; social reform; social work T he twin pressures of containment and change have plagued social work since its origins in the late 19th century. The profession can boast of a long history of progressive activism directed to individual and social change. At the same time, observers within and outside social work have often accused the profession of serving as a handmaiden of the status quo. This contradiction has made the social work profession a site of ongoing struggle. Although often difficult, the battles...
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...Human Behavior - 50 Paper S1: 03 Methods of Working with People: Micro-Approaches - 50 Paper S1: 04 Social Welfare Administration - 50 Paper S1: 05 Research Methodology - 50 Paper S1: 06 Man & Society - 50 Paper S1: 07 Concurrent Field work three days in a week - 50 Total - 350 SECOND SEMESTER Paper S2: 01 Approaches and fields of Social Work - 50 Paper S2: 02 Human Growth and Development - 50 Paper S2: 03 Methods of working with People: Macro Approaches - 50 Paper S2: 04 Management of NGO’s and Disaster Relief Services - 50 Paper S2: 05 Statistics and Computer Application - 50 Paper S2: 06 Dynamics of Socio-Political Institutions and Organizations - 50 Paper S2: 07 Concurrent Field work (three days in a week) -50 Total - 350 M.A. in Social Work (Part-I) Preamble: 1. There shall be six theory papers of 50 marks each and field work of 50 marks as paper seventh out of 50 marks, 38 marks shall be devoted to semester paper and 12 marks shall be fixed for class/home assignments. 2. The format of the theory paper shall be the same as it is being following by the university. 3. Evaluation procedure shall be as per university norms. FIRST SEMESTER Paper S1: 01 History and Philosophy of Social Work (50) Unit – I Meaning, objectives and scope of social work; Role and functions of social work – Welfare versus development orientation; Values, Principles and philosophy of social work; Profession- meaning...
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...Women’s Changing Roles in the Context of Economic Reform and Globalization Shahra Razavi United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) Palais des Nations 1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland razavi @unrisd.org May 2003 (first draft: not to be quoted or cited without permission of author) Background Paper for the UNESCO Education for All Monitoring Report 2003: Gender and Education for All Introduction The 1980s and 1990s are frequently referred to as the era of globalization. While there is no consensus on what the term “globalization” means, for the purposes of this paper we use the term to refer to the greater openness of economies to international trade and finance, or external liberalization. The question that this paper will be tackling is how globalization has impacted on the growth of real economies in diverse regional contexts (Section One), their capacity to create employment (Section Two), and specifically how the new policy agenda has impacted on women’s labour force participation in diverse regional contexts and their enjoyment of social rights (Sections Three and Four). In addition to the available global data sets, the paper will be drawing on in-depth case studies from around the world in order to support the arguments that are being put forward. 1. International Economic Integration and Economic Growth The purpose of this section is to look at the growth implications...
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...oil crises, the economy of the Netherlands worsened. Despite the successful creation of a large number of new jobs in the 1980s the growth of unemployment continued and remained persistent in character and still today. However, the social security system in the Netherlands is not alike to the 1970s and 1980s. The Dutch government expenditure on social benefits is characteristic of the well-developed welfare states - at 27.4 percent it is now above the EU average of 22.9 percent. It is among the high taxation countries and over average GDP per capita. Public employment is low and it has one of the lowest poverty rates. The extraordinary level of economic growth of the 1960s created the economic surplus in the Netherlands but by the world’s two oil crisis in the early 1970s the economic climate started to deteriorate. A stunning increase of unemployment in the late 1970s provoked a policy of labor cost reduction and cuts in the social security budget. It was believed that an increase in the real wages and social benefits would imply a further rise of unemployment. Moreover, it was predetermined by the government that the country could only recover from the economic downfall of the 1970s if free entrepreneurship and the functioning of market mechanisms would be restored. Gradually social policy lost its position as a more or less independent domain. It became the servant of economic policy as it was strongly believed that once the aim of a healthy economy was reached,...
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...A Comparative Study of Protections for Workers in America, Europe, and Japan ------------------------------------------------- By: Freda Manning January 31, 2016 MBA 605 Business, Government, and Society Mercy College January 31, 2016 MBA 605 Business, Government, and Society Mercy College Abstract In this paper, I will examine and compare the impact of American, Japanese and European Labor laws and how it's managed throughout the society. I will begin by providing facts on employment protection throughout history for each country and identify their weakness. Next, I will discuss the impact of each country economic structure and how it influences the market and employee regulations. Finally, I will compare various facts of Japanese, American and European labor laws that have a significant impact on the new economic environment. Background In the 1980's employee protection was not a high priority for businesses. Many restraints put on small businesses prevented the growth of private sector corporations (Steiner & Steiner, 2012). Resulting in high unemployment rates and slow economic growth (Steiner & Steiner, 2012). There has been strains placed on the permanent employment system in Japan, because of the larger number of older workers and the increase in the retirement age (Gould, 1984). Historically the U.S government did not interfere in employee relations; employees at times were treated like property, or as a means for production cost. There was decreases...
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...QSN : POVERTY IS A CAUSE OF INDIVIDUAL DEFICIENCIES.DISCUSS Poverty in its most general sense is the lack of necessities. Basic food, shelter, medical care, and safety are generally thought necessary based on shared values of human dignity. Some societies focus on individual failures and deficiencies to explain the occurrence and patterns of poverty. Personal characteristics such as laziness or lack of ability are seen as the primary causes of poverty. The poor are blamed for being poor and solutions to poverty are assumed to lie within their individual control. But this approach fails to acknowledge that poverty is not random. The likelihood of poverty varies sharply depending on age, gender, family structure, health, education, economic conditions and where you live. In other words, it is not the poor choices and ‘bad’ behaviour of individuals that lead to poverty, but structural failings which stack the odds against certain people and make it difficult for them to escape deprivation or reach their full potential. In other words however individual deficiencies may lead to poverty but only to a lesser extent since they are many more factors that may lead to poverty which include cultural belief systems, geographical disparities, and economic, political and social distortions or discrimination. These are some of the factors that lead to poverty which will be expanded in the essay below. Failure in life may be due to some inborn deficiencies such as physical or mental handicap...
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