Ideal Types in Comparative Social Policy by Christian Aspalter

Author:Christian Aspalter [Aspalter, Christian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, International Relations, Trade & Tariffs, Public Policy, Social Services & Welfare, Social Policy, Social Science, Human Services, Social Work
ISBN: 9781000294170
Google: T2YHEAAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 54709163
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-12-06T00:00:00+00:00

Member countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, among others

The Pro-Welfare Conservative Welfare Regime. A rather different picture is provided by the Pro-Welfare Conservative Welfare Regime in almost all East Asian countries and regions. The governments there, in general, were reluctant to support welfare spending and develop public welfare programs, but due to increased political competition and/or increased need for political legitimacy building, they have opted for social investment particularly in economy-boosting welfare sectors, especially health care, education and in some cases also housing (Aspalter, 2006b, 2002a,b, 2001a,b). The resulting welfare state model, the Pro-Welfare Conservative Welfare Regime, has been as a result recognized far and wide for its alternative philosophy and its own kind of very economy-friendly welfare state model (see also, e.g., Kwon, 2005; Ramesh, 2004, 2000; Holiday, 2000; Goodman et al., 1998). The East Asian Pro-Welfare Conservative Welfare Regime is predominantly, apart from its social investment paradigm, marked by welfare through regulation (Wilding, 2000) and providing more positive—micro-economic, individual behavior-changing—incentives, rather than an, e.g., European-style merely redistribution-heavy and social transfer-oriented welfare state model (Aspalter, 2017c). East Asian welfare state systems are developing more and more universal welfare benefits and programs, and they are shifting their emphasis more and more onto social security provision through positive-behavior-producing and economy-friendly provident fund systems, while in the past Bismarckian social insurance systems where mainly the only choice of social security provision (especially in Northeast Asia).

In ideal-typical perspective, the East Asian Pro-Welfare Conservative Welfare Regime stands out for its very own combination of major welfare state characteristics. The identifying characteristics of the welfare state systems in East Asia comprise (1) a mix of all in all work-oriented social security systems with full coverage in terms of the risks covered—both Bismarckian insurance systems and provident fund systems are dominant, while universal, and rather universalized, health care systems are also increasingly present. The latter are part of the (2) increasing spread and importance of universalism in social security provision, including social assistance and social service programs. On the other hand, (3) asset- and means-tested social assistance systems still form a key element of the overall social welfare systems, with the intent (and not the outcome, not at all) of cutting down overall costs in terms of social expenditures. Another key distinguishing trait of the Pro-Welfare Conservative Welfare Regime is its (4) clear-cut strategy of supporting social development and with it economic development by investing mainly, and generously so, in public education provision and public education financing (plus close public control of the private education sector), and public health care provision and/or public health care financing, as well as strong regulation of and tax policies for (and sometimes public provision of) the housing sector. In addition, (5) the overall mix of the welfare state system elements chosen, and the particular finetuning and incentive-building mechanisms developed significantly reduce overall direct vertical redistribution, when compared to its European counterparts. Nevertheless, welfare state systems in East Asia are far from being redistribution-free, as universal benefits and services are on

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