CAPTURE OF GOVERNMENTS: RE-NEGOTIATING THE SOCIAL CONTRACT IN CENTRAL EUROPE

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CAPTURE OF GOVERNMENTS RE-NEGOTIATING THE SOCIAL
CONTRACT IN CENTRAL EUROPE

• TAMÁS PÁL Institute of Sociology, Hungarian
  Academy of Sciences

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THE QUESTIONS

• Social contracts in the contemporary Central
  Europe- social pacts, demonstrations of the
  political goodwill, or tools for social
  engineering?
• Their functions now not a wage-inflation
  compromise, but
• A tool for the state-s role re-definitions
  fbudget, welfare state, etc.
• A platform for the reconstruction and growth of
  underdeveloped social actors unions, national
  capital, social movements

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THE ACTORS

• THE MAJOR AXES STATE-SOCIETY
• The frontline not labour-capital, but the
  government and the users of the welfare state
  administration
• Therefore instead of the Western tripartite
  solution- involvement of civil structures, and
  independent scholars for their organisations
• Key question in CE weak unions multinational
  capital. WHO DOES REPRESENT WHOM AT THE NATIONAL
  ROUND TABLE?

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POINTS OF REFERENCE

1. The Spanish political pact for democratic
   transition- a tool for stabilization
2. The classical tripartite system mainly German,
   Austrian
3. The Dutch system for employment policy job
   sharing
4. The Irish deal a development pact for wage
   control

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THE LATIN- AMERICAN OPEN ECONOMY SOCIAL CONTRACT
DEBATE

• Whats needed An open economy social contract
  that
• Goes beyond standard social programs to emphasize
  jobs for the less skilled
• Protects not just the poor but the large majority
  of near-poor households that are vulnerable in an
  open economy

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THE ACTUAL DILEMMA

1. Enlarged, or growing cake VERSUS rolling back
   strategies?
2. Tool neutrality, versus tool specificity?
3. Local pacts and their framing
4. Non-convergene of labour and industrial relations
   between EU-15 and EU-10- short- or middle-term?

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GOOD GOVERNANCE?
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SOCIAL CONTRACTS AS REGULATORS
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LEVELS OF FORMALIZATION I
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HISTORICAL REFERENCES
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TAXONOMY OF SOCIAL PACTSLEVELS OF
GOVERNANCE/DEGRESS ARTICULATIONTYPES OF ISSUES/
NUMBER OF POLICY AREAS
LOW HIGH
LOW I. SHADOW PACTS II. HEADLINE SOCIAL PACTS
HIGH III. INCOMES POLICIES IV. NEO-CORPORATIST CONCERTA-TION
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TAXONOMIES

• I . narrow/exlusive
• weakly integrated shallow
• wide/inclusive
• weakly integrated/ shallow
• narrow/exclusive
• highly integrated/deep
• IV. wide/inclusive
• highly integrated/deep

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THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL PACTS- PATHS-TRAJECTORIES
Institutionalization De-institutionalization
Trajectory 1 Repetition I-I, II-II, III-III, IV- IV Abondonment I-I, II-II, III- III, IV -IV
Trajectory 2 Integration/vertical shift I-III, II-III, II-IV Disintegration/vertical shift III-I, III-II, IV-II
Trajectory 3 Expansion I-II, III- IV Reduction/horizontal shifT II-I, IV-III
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Social Contract on Two Levels

• Underlying Social Contract
• This is an attempt to get the economic contract
  and the social contract to mutually reinforce
  themselves.
• Questions that get answered here include is this
  a short or long-term deal? Is it open or task
  specific? Is it a partnership or a series of
  transactions?

• Ongoing Social Contract
• It makes explicit the expectations for
  interaction, such as norms for communication,
  decision making, handling unforeseen events,
  dispute resolution at the source, and conditions
  and means for renegotiations.

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ENFORCEMENT I
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ENFORCEMENT II
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OLD AND NEW CONTRACTS- LOYALTY, OR PARTICIPATION
IN CHANGE?
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An Alternative Scenario A New Social Contract

• Engaging the Public Can it be a force for
  Change?
• Revisiting basic values The moral foundations
  for work
• Work its Role in Society
• Expanded View of the Key Actors Institutions
• Multiple Stakeholder View of the Firm
• Expanded Roles for Unions/Associations
• Expanded Role for Labor Market Intermediaries
  Community Groups
• Recast Government as a Catalyst for Change

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REDEFINITION OF WORK IN THE NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT
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SOCIAL CONTRACT I-LIFETIME EMPLOYMENT EXPECTATIONS
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OUR AGENDA the major targets of the NEW SOCIAL
CONTRACT

• EDUCATIONAL PACT
• Creation of individual educational
  accounts- joint financing- state, social actors,
  industry, individual families,etc.
• B. SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY PACT
• labour standards social cohesion
  moderate green program