Canadian Welfare Governance in Transition

1
Canadian Welfare Governance in Transition

• Emerging models of government-civil society
  relations
• Deena White
• Université de Montréal

2
Questions

• What roles are civil society organizations
  playing in the governance of post-neo-liberal
  welfare states?
• How are these different roles expressed in
  Canada?
• What are their implications for social policy
  development and delivery ?

3
The welfare diamondStructures of social
responsibility
State
Community
Market
Household
4
Welfare state-buildingCentralization and state
leadership

• Origins of the Canadian welfare state
• Élite and middle class Christian advocacy
  (1920s...)
• Working class unrest (1930s)
• Post-war state-building (1950s - 1970s)
• Patchwork
• Heritage national, provincial and local actors
• National and provincial leadership in
  redistribution
• Provincial and local leadership in service
  provision
• Voluntary sector service delivery (disguised)
• Civil society organisations advocacy

5
The neo-liberal turnDecentralization and
privatization

• Divestment and downloading (1980s - 1990s)
• Families and civil society take up the slack
• A market model of governance
• Civil society groups active resistance ?
• A post neo-liberal context ? (1998... )
• Social investment state ?

6
New govt discourse on civil society

• Networks of cooperation
• Bedrock of social cohesion
• Formal, public recognition
• Public pledges of support
• Structuring a knowledge base
• Mapping, statistics, research

7

• Organisational identities within civil society
• Government perceptions

8
Voluntary action

• Organisational identity
• Middle class and professional origins
• National and provincial levels
• Fund raising and government support
• Volunteer boards of directors
• Public service and advocacy
• Oriented towards the state

9
Voluntary action

• From governments view
• Partnership
• Contracting regime
• Social cohesion
• Risk
• Loss of autonomy and capacity for mobilization
•  

10
Social economy

• Organisational identity
• Local or regional social entrepreneurship
• Not-for-profit production (job-creation)
• Socially useful goods and services
• Social and economic integration
• Oriented towards the market

11
Social economy

• From governments view
• The social integration business
• Autonomous, private sector
• Links to ministries of industry and commerce
• Risk
• Social priorities give way to business priorities
  

12
Community action

• Organisational identity
• Working class and popular origins
• Small, local, formal or informal
• Volunteers, activists, some government support
• Self-help, collective action, alternatives and
  advocacy
• Social change
• Oriented towards individuals, families,
  communities and social groups

13
Community action

• From governments view
• Community self-help
• Claims-making organisations
• Political risk or political ally ?
• Risk
• Alienation from constituencies

14
Conclusions

• Diversity of relations between government and
  civil society groups
• Growing visibility of non-state actors
• Contribution to state capacity
• Risks of cooptation and diversion

15
Determining factors

• Socially active state
• Within civil society
• Power-base of groups
• Self-identity of groups
• Self-organisation of groups
• Intermediating strategies and structures
• Relatively stable financing
• Relative security
• Social policy development and design
• Decentralization