POLS 354 Welfare States in Comparison

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POLS 354 Welfare States in Comparison

• Lecture 11
• Supra-national social policy

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Outline

• Introduction
• Global social policy?
• The neo-liberal agencies the IMF, World Bank and
  OECD
• Trade blocs NAFTA and the World Trade
  Organization
• The European Union a multi-tiered welfare state?
• Summary

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1. Introduction

• The pressures of globalization have raised
  interest in social policy that traverses borders.
• Many global institutions have an impact on social
  policies at the national level the general
  effect is to promote neo-liberal approaches.
• The existing framework provides little basis for
  a global social policy.
• The European Union comes closest to a
  supranational social policy organization, but it
  is constrained by many factors.

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2. Global social policy?

• Mishra globalization has dissolved the links
  between economy and social policy
• Old welfare now seen as an economic impediment
• Yet welfare still enjoys support in the West
• Global social standards vs. social rights
• Vary by jurisdiction
• Social standards should become the rules of the
  international economic game

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3. The neo-liberal agencies the IMF, World bank
and OECD

• Bretton Woods institutions
• International Monetary Fund short term creditor
• Structural Adjustment Policies loans with
  neo-liberal reform conditions attached
• World Bank long term loans for poverty reduction
  in developing countries, policy advice
• Critics neo-liberal agenda, especially
  associated with Private Sector Development
  (privatization)

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• The Organization for Economic Cooperation and
  Development (OECD)
• Membership developed countries with market
  systems and democratically elected governments
• Functions analysis of economic conditions and
  public policies dissemination of comparative and
  country-specific statistical data facilitation
  of policy transfer
• Primary advocate of the active society model of
  social policy from the mid 1980s onwards
• Considered less neo-liberal than IMF and WB

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4. Trade blocs and agencies NAFTA and the World
Trade Organization

• The North American Free Trade Agreement (1994)
• Free trade between Canada, United States, Mexico
• Criticism US subsidies and quotas undermine free
  trade
• Income inequality and poverty has increased, esp.
  in Mexico
• The Labor Side Agreement only has a sunshine
  effect

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• World Trade Organization (1995)
• Function to promote removal of trade barriers
  and to settle trade disputes
• Power to compel opening of trade barriers
  sanctions
• Key institution in the promotion of economic
  globalization
• Little consideration of social impacts
• Disproportionate emphasis on trade liberalization
  in the developing world opposite of stated
  purpose

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5. The European Union a multi-tiered welfare
state?

• Treaty of Rome 1957 the European Economic
  Community (EEC)
• Established free trade area among member
  countries
• Treaty of Maastricht (1992) monetary and
  political union (EU)
• European Parliament supranationalism
• Convergence criteria restricting government
  debt, deficits, inflation, interest rates

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• Member states agree to cede certain policy
  responsibilities to the EU
• Social partners (labor and capital) are
  involved in policy development through the
  social dialogue
• EU cannot obtain more powers from nation states
  without their consent

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European social policy

• European Social Fund retraining the unemployed
• Regional Development Fund focus on areas
  undergoing restructuring, esp. Eastern and
  Southern Europe
• Common Agricultural Policy income maintenance to
  farmers
• Funds are very small relative to European GDP

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Employment policy

• EU seeks a synthesis of economic, employment and
  social policies
• Attempt to ensure standard, quality working
  conditions across Europe
• Social policies must be more strongly oriented to
  improving productivity
• Labor mobility transferability of social rights
• Coordination rather than harmonization
• The Open Method of Coordination

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Social inclusion and gender mainstreaming

• Social exclusion a key focus in EU poverty
  programs Social Inclusion Strategy
• Gender mainstreaming gender equality should
  feature in all policies
• Linked to labor market focus
• Removing barriers to service sector development

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Challenges for social policy in the EU

• Eastern and Southern enlargement
• Different economic positions of member states
• Population aging and long term unemployment
• Can diversity be reconciled with coordination?
• Long term is the European synthesis of social
  and economic policy sustainable?

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Fortress Europe?

• Rise of xenophobia and tightening of immigration
  controls
• Free movement within Europe accompanied by
  stronger borders at the perimeter
• New focus on solidarity, cohesion and integration
  replacing multiculturalism
• Opening of border to skilled migrants esp.
  Germany
• No common European approach

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6. Summary

• Positive global social policies require authority
  and enforceability, which are lacking at present.
• Existing supranational institutions generally
  encourage welfare retrenchment.
• The European Union explicitly incorporates a
  social agenda, but it is productivity-centered.
• Key question can the EU implement a positive
  social agenda in the current context?

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Questions for discussion

• What impacts do supranational institutions have
  on domestic social policies?
• Is there a European model of welfare?
• While the EU speaks of social inclusion, it is
  developing exclusionary policies. Critically
  comment.
• How would you use the literature on and tools of
  comparative social policy to understand the
  challenges facing supranational social policy,
  now and in the future?

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European Commission (2000)

• What are the key social policy goals of the EU,
  and how do these fit into existing typologies?
• What reform instruments does the EU propose to
  use, and how do these reflect its position in
  relation to other political actors?
• Critically comment on the EUs use of quality
  as a guiding social policy principle.