Social Policies in an Age of Austerity

Social Policies in an Age of Austerity

Author: John Karl Scholz

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2015-06-29

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 1784717576

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Social Policies in an Age of Austerity is the first major publication on the topic, with a particular interest in the United States and the Republic of Korea. The authors of the ten chapters in this book review recent developments in social policies in


Social Policy in Times of Austerity

Social Policy in Times of Austerity

Author: Kevin Farnsworth

Publisher: Policy Press

Published: 2015-09-15

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 1447319117

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The effects of the 2008 financial crisis were ameliorated by large-scale social policy interventions, which both helped limit the depth and duration of the crisis and softened its worst effects on citizens. Yet in the wake of the crisis, those very same social policies and the welfare state they support have come under attack. There is, however, reason to be optimistic, argue the contributors to Social Policy in Times of Austerity. Bringing together leading scholars engaged in the debate over austerity and the future of the welfare state, the book traces the strong currents of resistance to austerity that continue to thrive within organizations, governments, and the citizenry at large.


Politics in the Age of Austerity

Politics in the Age of Austerity

Author: Wolfgang Streeck

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-05-09

Total Pages: 465

ISBN-13: 0745670083

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In a world of increasing austerity measures, democratic politics comes under pressure. With the need to consolidate budgets and to accommodate financial markets, the responsiveness of governments to voters declines. However, democracy depends on choice. Citizens must be able to influence the course of government through elections and if a change in government cannot translate into different policies, democracy is incapacitated. Many mature democracies are approaching this situation as they confront fiscal crisis. For almost three decades, OECD countries have - in fits and starts - run deficits and accumulated debt. As a result, an ever smaller part of government revenue is available today for discretionary spending and social investment and whichever party comes into office will find its hands tied by past decisions. The current financial and fiscal crisis has exacerbated the long-term shrinking government discretion; projects for political change have lost credibility. Many citizens are aware of this situation: they turn away from party politics and stay at home on Election Day. With contributions from leading scholars in the forefront of sociology, politics and economics, this timely book will be of great interest to students and scholars throughout the social sciences as well as general readers.


Social Policy in Times of Austerity

Social Policy in Times of Austerity

Author: Kevin Farnsworth

Publisher: Policy Press

Published: 2015-09-15

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 144731915X

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The 2008 global economic crisis was unprecedented in living memory and its impact on economic and social life immense. Large-scale social policy interventions played a crucial role in helping to mediate the crisis, and yet the welfare state continues to come under attack. A new age of austerity, based more on politics than economics, is threatening to undermine the very foundations of the welfare state. However, as this important book illustrates, there is still room for optimism - resistance to the logic of austerity exists within organisations and governments, and among peoples, demonstrating how essential social policies remain to human progress. The second of a three-book series covering the post-2008 global economic crisis and the period of austerity, this volume draws together edited chapters from leading scholars engaged in the debate and will be equally suitable for academics and other researchers studying international and comparative social policy, as well as upper level undergraduate and postgraduate students.


SOCIAL RIGHTS IN EUROPE IN AN AGE OF AUSTERITY

SOCIAL RIGHTS IN EUROPE IN AN AGE OF AUSTERITY

Author: Stefano Civitarese Matteucci

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-08-07

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 1351791427

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This collection of essays examines the promise and limits of social rights in Europe in a time of austerity. Presenting in the first instance five national case studies, representing the biggest European economies (UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain), it offers an account of recent reforms to social welfare and the attempts to resist them through litigation. The case studies are then used as a foundation for theory-building about social rights. This second group of chapters develops theory along two complementary lines: first, they explore the dynamics between social rights, public law, poverty and welfare in times of economic crisis; second, they consider the particular significance of the European context for articulations of, and struggles over, social rights. Employing a range and depth of expertise across Europe, the book constitutes a timely and highly significant contribution to socio-legal scholarship about the character and resilience of social rights in our national and regional constitutional settings.


The Age of Austerity

The Age of Austerity

Author: Thomas Byrne Edsall

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2012-01-10

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0385535201

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One of our most prescient political observers provides a sobering account of how pitched battles over scarce resources will increasingly define American politics in the coming years—and how we might avoid, or at least mitigate, the damage from these ideological and economic battles. In a matter of just three years, a bitter struggle over limited resources has enveloped political discourse at every level in the United States. Fights between haves and have-nots over health care, unemployment benefits, funding for mortgage write-downs, economic stimulus legislation—and, at the local level, over cuts in police protection, garbage collection, and in the number of teachers—have dominated the debate. Elected officials are being forced to make zero-sum choices—or worse, choices with no winners. Resource competition between Democrats and Republicans has left each side determined to protect what it has at the expense of the other. The major issues of the next few years—long-term deficit reduction; entitlement reform, notably of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; major cuts in defense spending; and difficulty in financing a continuation of American international involvement—suggest that your-gain-is-my-loss politics will inevitably intensify.


A Thousand Cuts

A Thousand Cuts

Author: Alexander Kentikelenis

Publisher:

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780190637743

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"The dominant policy response to economic crises over the past four decades has been the introduction of austerity. How has this mix of budget cuts and reforms to downsize the role of the state evolved over time? What affect has it had on social policies and on people's lives? This book examines the activities of the world's leading advocate of austerity: the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This international organization lends to countries facing economic trouble in exchange for the implementation of far-reaching austerity measures. Drawing on new data, the authors reveal that although the precise content of IMF-mandated austerity has changed considerably over time, the organization continues to place a high burden of reform on countries in crisis. These reforms then decrease the availability of important social services, and contribute to rises in income inequality and declines in population health. These findings form the first systematic assessment of how austerity has impacted people's lives and livelihoods around the world. Will such policy mistakes be avoided in the post-pandemic world? The early evidence presented in this book do not raise grounds for optimism. Public expenditure projections reveal that by 2023, 86 out of 189 countries-mostly middle-income ones-will face contractions in government spending compared to their 2010s average, thereby exposing a cumulative total of 2.3 billion people to the socio-economic consequences of budget cuts"--


Welfare State Legitimacy in Times of Crisis and Austerity

Welfare State Legitimacy in Times of Crisis and Austerity

Author: Tijs Laenen

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2020-08-28

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1788976304

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Has there been change or continuity in the welfare attitudes of Europeans since the 2008 financial crisis? Using data from the European Social Survey, this book reveals how various types of welfare attitudes evolved between 2008, when the crisis triggered economic recessions and welfare reforms across Europe, and 2016, when most countries had largely recovered from that crisis.


Contentious Episodes in the Age of Austerity

Contentious Episodes in the Age of Austerity

Author: Abel Bojar

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2021-11-11

Total Pages: 351

ISBN-13: 1316519015

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Provides researchers with a novel methodological tool to study interactions between governments, challengers, and third-party actors.