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Social policy and poverty in post‐totalitarian Europe
Author(s) -
Marklund S.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 0907-2055
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2397.1993.tb00027.x
Subject(s) - welfare state , unemployment , poverty , social policy , development economics , social protection , economics , social welfare , communism , intervention (counseling) , economic system , political science , political economy , economic growth , market economy , politics , psychology , psychiatry , law
This article attempts to compare the social policy models of the west with social policies in post‐totalitarian central and eastern Europe. It is argued that historical roots as well as recent developments make post‐Communist social policy similar to the two major models in the west: the institutional redistributive model and the industrial achievement or performance model. The present problems of mass unemployment and growing poverty cannot be solved without a major reform of social policy, including state intervention and control. The residual social safety net and a strong market orientation are unlikely to be able to reduce poverty and unemployment. However, it is also argued that the strong role of the state and organized labour in both of these European welfare systems creates an obstacle to the future of social policy in the countries of central and eastern Europe. The state is viewed with great scepticism and organized mass social movements are weak in most of these countries. It will take time to develop such agents that can support the development of state social policy, and it may not even be accepted that the route of interventionist state welfare characteristic of western Europe is desirable.