Part Two - International issues

Summary

Five chapters make up the middle section of this Review, their contents ranging from theoretical assessments of the relationship between ‘globalisation’ and welfare regime change, to accounts of changes and challenges to welfare systems in specific countries. Herman Schwartz begins with a penetrating exploration of the connections between global economic pressures and ongoing change in the nature of ‘social protection’. Marketisation has certainly transformed welfare provision not least because far-reaching labour market changes have effectively ended men's privileged access to employment. Nevertheless, all mature welfare systems continue to provide social protection: the difference is that welfare provision has become a matter of (regulated) individual, rather than collective, responsibility.

Denis Bouget continues the ‘globalization’ theme through an exploration of the meaning of ‘convergence’ in the European context. This term often stands as short-hand for a ‘race to the bottom’ as governments cut social spending in their quest for economic ‘efficiency’. In fact, as Bouget explains, economic theories provide only a limited account of the full picture. For one thing, they ignore additional pressures for convergence in the form of EU treaties, directives and so on, but also disregard counter-tendencies against convergence – the embedded, institutional characteristics of welfare regimes, being an example of the latter. Bouget argues that the relationship between convergence and divergence is inevitably complex, and that it does not lead in any simple manner to rapid cost-cutting and other market-pleasing actions of this kind.

The following three chapters are country-specific and concerned with the current state of social policy and the impact of ongoing change in Greece, the US and East Asia. Mick Carpenter asks why Greece has enjoyed such remarkable success in public health improvements and suggests that reasons can be found in both ‘lifestyle’ and ‘structural’ explanations of Greek health trends over the past 50 years. The real challenge lies in the future, however, because further progress will depend on the shift to better systems of primary care and a welfare system which sustains increased longevity by virtue of greater equality – and quality – of social provision. For their part, Pamela Holcomb and Karin Martinson examine the changes made to US welfare policy in the wake of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). They describe how the legislation has been interpreted by different states and also report on their research into the implementation of PRWORA at local level.