Evaluating the Welfare State

Social and Political Perspectives

1st Edition - January 28, 1983
Editors: Shimon E. Spiro, Ephraim Yuchtman-Yaar
Language: English
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 5 8 0 0 - 3

Evaluating the Welfare State: Social and Political Perspectives together with its companion Social Policy Evaluation: An Economic Perspective is the outgrowth of an international… Read more

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Evaluating the Welfare State: Social and Political Perspectives together with its companion Social Policy Evaluation: An Economic Perspective is the outgrowth of an international and interdisciplinary conference on policy evaluation held at Tel Aviv University in December 1980. The conference brought together scholars from the fields of economics, sociology, political science, social work, and administration. The papers presented at this conference approached the welfare state and social policy evaluation from a number of different theoretical and methodological perspectives. A selection of these papers has been included in this volume. The book is divided into five parts. Part I is devoted to the political antecedents and consequences of the welfare state and to the social and psychological processes that affect the development of social policies and reactions to them. Part II analyzes the discontinuity between policies that are the subject of public debate, and the programs that affect the well-being of populations and the distribution of resources. The chapters in Parts III and IV present current developments in the practice of evaluation and explore the frontiers of this field. Part V focuses on the relationship of evaluation to policymaking. This involves examinations of the culture of political debates, the nature of choices facing policymakers, and the impact of research on policy.

Contributors

Preface

Introduction

I The Welfare State: Causes and Consequences

1 The Political Consequences of the Welfare State

What is "The Welfare State"?

Identifying the Welfare State's Political Consequences

Hopes and Fears

The Welfare State's Actual Consequences

An Inference and a Noninference

References

2 Class Politics and the Western Welfare State

Prologue: Socialism and the Welfare State

Theoretical Perspectives on the Welfare State

Class Interests and the Welfare State

The Pro-Social-Democratic Consensus and Its Shortcomings

Alternatives to the Social Democratic Interpretation

Epilogue: Socialism and the Welfare State

References

3 Political Legitimacy and Consensus: Missing Variables in the Assessment of Social Policy

Types of Political Economy among Market-Oriented Rich Democracies: Democratic Corporatism or the Mass Society

Corporatist Democracies Can Tax, Spend, and yet Stay Cool

Corporatism, Consensus, and the Politics of Evaluation Research

Conclusion

References

4 Social Policy Evaluation and the Psychology of Stagnation

The Rising Expectations Hypothesis

Economic Sentiment and Changes in the National Economy

The Maldistribution Hypothesis

The Malallocation Hypothesis

Conclusions

References

5 Expectancies, Entitlements, and Subjective Welfare

Introduction

Conceptual Considerations

Expectancies and Entitlements with Respect to Pay

Measures

Empirical Model

Results

Summary and Some Implications

References

II Boundaries of the Welfare State and the Foci of Policy Evaluation

6 The Growing Complexity of Economic Claims in Welfare Societies

The Welfare Economy

Employer-Provided Welfare Benefits

The Redefinition of the Territory of Social Policy

The Development of Employee Benefits and Government Transfers in the United States since 1929

Conclusion

References

7 Systematic Confusions in the Evaluation of Implementing Decisions

Publicized Governmental Actions with Little Effect on Value Allocations

Implementation That Maintains Established Inequalities

The Free Market in Creating Regulatory Agencies

The Symbolic Uses of Formal Goals

Issue Networks as Masked Regulators

Governmental Organizations as Political Reinforcements

References

8 The Welfare State: Issues of Rationing and Allocation of Resources

9 Charting the Iceberg: Visible and Invisible Aspects of Government

Introduction

The Growth of the Public Sector

Indirect Spending by the Government

The Invisible Government

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Forms of Government Control

Conclusion

References

III Evaluation Research: Concepts and Issues

10 The Scope of Evaluation Activities in the United States

Policy Issues and Evaluation Research

Policy Issues and Corresponding Evaluation Strategies

References

11 Equity Criteria for the Evaluation of Social Welfare Programs: Mothers' Summer Recreation

Summer Recreation for Mothers

Criteria and Procedures for Selecting Participants: The Theoretical Target Efficiency of the Program

Implementation of the Selection Process

The Outcome of the Recruitment and Selection Processes in One Community

The Distribution of Resources among Communities

Conclusions

References

12 Community Mental Health in Israel: an Interim Policy Assessment

Introduction

Community Mental Health in the United States and Israel

Data Sources

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion

References

13 Reward Structures and the Organizational Design of Institutions for the Elderly

Introduction

Reimbursement Policy and Nursing Home Adaptations

Interactions between Staff and Patients

Organizational Design

Implications for Policy

References

14 Evaluating Slack in Public Programs by the Experience Curves Method

The Meanings and Definition of Slack in Public Programs

The Experience Curves Technique

The Use of Experience Curves in Calculating Slack in Public Programs

Conclusion and Further Policy Implications

References

IV Policy Evaluation in Selected Fields

15 Predicting the Consequences of Policy Changes: the Case of Public and Private Schools

Segregation and Private Schooling

The Current Status: Segregation between and within Public and Private Sectors

Internal Segregation in Public, Catholic, and Other Private Sectors

The Predicted Impact of a Policy Change Facilitating Private Schools

Discipline, Order, and Private Schooling

The Current Status: Discipline and Order in Public and Private Schools

Conclusion

References

16 The Evaluation of Social Outcomes in Education

Introduction

Two Social Interventions

Data and Measurement

Concluding Remarks

References

17 The Impact of Employment Programs on Offenders, Addicts, and Problem Youth: Implications from Supported Work

Introduction

Impacts of Early Programs

Supported Work: Program and Demonstration Design

Findings

Conclusions

References

18 Changes in Helping Networks with Changes in the Health of Older People: Social Policy and Social Theory

Introduction

Kinds of Helping Patterns

Sequencing of Primary Groups with Stages of Health

The Analysis of Empirical Data

The Sequence of Primary Groups for "Regular" Nonhousehold Functions

Research and Social Policy

References

V Debate, Choices, and the Impact of Evaluation

19 Policy Evaluation as Societal Learning

The Nature of Policy Decision Making

Alternative Routes to Policy

The Place of Research

Conclusion

References

20 Fluctuations in the Political Demand for Policy Analysis

Fluctuations in the Political Demand for Analysis over the Policy Cycle

Fluctuations in the Political Demand for Analysis over the Economic Cycle

Conclusion

References

21 Hardness of Choice

Introduction

The Hardness of Hard Choices

The Evaluation and Judgment of Hard Choices

References

22 The Political Culture of Social Welfare Policy

The Nature of Issue Cultures

The Culture of Welfare Policy

Resonances with Cultural Themes

Welfare Resonances

Conclusion

References

Subject Index