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This book offers theoretical and practical insights in the responsiveness of social policies. It includes a comparative analysis of recent developments in social assistance, sheltered work and labour market policies in the Netherlands and relates this to developments in other European countries. It shows how policy-makers and politicians deal with multiple challenges, interests and perspectives on social policies. It not only makes readers aware of societal transformations that are in need of responses, but also offers lessons to analyse and respond to these transformations. These lessons are placed in an international and European perspective. Modern welfare states are confronted with a wide variety of social and economic developments, including individualization, secularization, globalization and changing preferences and ideologies of citizens. This book closely analyses the consequences of these changes for social policies. It shows how policy-makers continuously are trying to incorporate social transformations into the existing welfare state institutions, while they are obstructed by the path-dependent development of welfare state institutions and their persistence. The book identifies three different ‘logics’ that might trigger change in social policies: (1) the institutional logic of the policy regime, (2) the logic of the (socio-economical and cultural) policy context and (3) the logic of public preferences. Sometimes these logics converge, but more often they diverge, placing policy-makers for the almost impossible task to adapt social policies to the conflicting demands of its context.

The capability approach, an increasingly popular conceptual and theoretical framework focused on what individuals are able to do and be, offers a unique evaluative perspective to social policy analysis. This book explores the advantages of this approach and offers a way forward in addressing conceptual and empirical issues as they apply specifically to social policy research and practice. Short conceptual and empirical chapters provide clear examples of how policies shape the capabilities of different groups and individuals, critically assessing the efficacy of different social policies across multiple social policy fields, providing both academic and practitioner viewpoints.

How will the social policies of Barack Obama go down in the history books? Obama's record stands out principally because of the strong political and philosophical commitment to affordable health care. However, the U.S. still performs badly in terms of antipoverty policies compared to other rich nations. Using new research, Anne Daguerre examines Obama’s legacy on welfare and antipoverty policies, focusing on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, (SNAP), and Medicaid. The book provides an up-to-date account of the contemporary politics of poverty and public entitlements in the U.S., comparing this with the Western European experience to assess what lessons can be learnt. Anne Daguerre explains how the Obama administration's attempts to expand the frontiers of the American welfare state have been confronted by institutional, ideological and constitutional constraints. The presidential capacity to shape legislative outcomes has been severely limited in an era of divided government and hyper-partisan politics. Barack Obama was faced by a right wing backlash of colossal proportions in the form of the Tea Party movement. Donald Trump represents the continuation of this revolt. However, Trump’s cabinet of insurgents has been unable to run complex government programs. The divided Republican-dominated Congress has failed to offer credible alternatives to Obama’s social policies. The ideological and partisan nature of the anti-Obama backlash could paradoxically help Obama’s signature achievement, the Affordable Care Act, survive the Trump presidency.

This edition of Social Policy Review marks the 40th anniversary of a publication from the UK Social Policy Association devoted to presenting an up-to-date and diverse review of the best in social policy scholarship. It includes a special Anniversary Preface celebrating the publication's evolution and distinctive contributions. Continuing its reputation as a cutting edge, international publication in social policy, Part One of this edition analyses current developments under the UK's Coalition Government across a range of key policy areas. Part Two includes an examination of social policy in ‘developing’ countries, including in Africa and the Arab nations. Part Three considers the fate of social welfare in countries among the worst hit by the ‘economic crisis’, including: Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Iceland. Social Policy Review is essential reading for social policy academics and students and for anyone who is interested in the implications of government policy.

Long-term care (LTC) is a key policy priority for governments internationally. Most countries are faced with demographic and/or socio-economic changes that are resulting in a significant growth in the need for LTC services. The impact on LTC systems of higher demand is compounded by long-run increases in service unit costs, and by reductions in the availability of unpaid care, which still provides the lion share of the support for people with long-term care needs. In addition, the rising political voice of key LTC consumer groups and the mounting pressures on public service budgets mean that LTC is likely to remain for the foreseeable future at the forefront of the political agenda across OECD nations. Since the 90s, long-term care policies have undergone significant transformations across many countries. In some instances, these changes have been the outcome of major explicit policy goals. In others, new systems have come about through the accumulation of incremental changes. As a result, LTC policy reforms in the last decades across OECD countries offer a rich body of experience that should inform the design of strategies for improving equity and efficiency in the LTC systems of the future. The main purpose of this book is to analyse the range of solutions adopted internationally about how to organise, regulate and fund LTC services in the face of the growing needs of ageing societies.

This book provides the first systematic evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of China’s primary social assistance program, Minimum Livelihood Guarantee, or Dibao. Dibao serves the dual functions of providing a basic safety net for the poor and maintaining political and social stability. Despite currently being the world’s largest welfare program in terms of population coverage, evidence on Dibao’s performance has been lacking. This book offers important new empirical evidence and draws policy lessons that are timely and useful for both China and beyond. Specifically, the book addresses the following questions: How effective has Dibao been in targeting the poor and alleviating poverty? Have Dibao recipients been dependent on welfare or able to move from welfare to work? How has Dibao affected their consumption patterns and subjective well-being? Do they use the Dibao subsidy to meet survival needs (such as food, clothing, and shelter) or invest in human capital (such as health and education)? Are they distressed by the stigma associated with receiving Dibao, or do they become more optimistic about the future and enjoy greater life satisfaction because of Dibao support? And finally, what policy lessons can we learn from the existing evidence to strengthen and improve Dibao in the future? Answers to these questions not only help us gain an in-depth understanding of Dibao’s performance but also add the Chinese case to the growing international literature on comparative welfare studies.