Models of Social Policy Determinants of Social Policy

Models of Social Policy Determinants of Social Policy.

Models of Social Policy. There are 3 models of social policy Residual welfare Industrial achievement –performance Institutional-redistributive model.

[Audio] Only when these break down should social welfare institutions come into play and then only temporarily. As Professor Peacock puts it: 'The true object of the Welfare State is to teach people how to do without it.' Traced back to Elizabethan Poor Laws.

The industrial achievement-performance model. Differs from the residual model in that social welfare institutions are perceived as “adjuncts of the economy” Titmuss (1974) links social welfare with productivity at the workplace It calls for provision of social welfare services to reinforce productivity and performance at work Social welfare services would normally give protection against old age, sickness, invalidity, maternity and occupational injuries.

Cont. An example of this model is the Swedish welfare system developed on the basis of the work ethic It sees social welfare services as incentives or rewards designed to motivate workers to perform better at work and to ultimately increase productivity These incentives are presumed to play a catalytic role in the development process Since social welfare services are based on productivity and work performance there is implicit pressure on people to seek work and remain employed.

Cont. It operates on the assumption that a state of full employment exists Difficult to operate in developing countries like Zimbabwe with high unemployment levels Also bound to face problems even in the 1 st world when recessions occur and there are job losses and generally the resources to manage such a welfare system dwindle.

The institutional redistributive model. This model views social policy as an instrument of wealth and income redistribution Rejects the notion that human needs should be met either through the market economy or the family Recognises the complexity of human needs and acknowledges that individuals cannot meet the full range of social needs without support and active involvement of the state Social policy should concern itself with universal provision of social welfare services based on the principle of need which is a necessary condition for the creation of an egalitarian society.

Cont. Social policy is all about responding to human needs but as to which needs should be met by social policy is debatable Conception of need is influenced by one’s value system (Forder 1983) Lack of consensus on values makes it difficult to have consensus on the needs that social policy should address Also ranking needs is a problem as it makes prioritisation of services or programs problematic especially in the face of resource constraints.

Determinants of Social Policy. Ideology, Availability of Resources, Politics, Culture, Regional and international instruments.

IDEOLOGY. • Refers to a system of values or perceptions which provide the basis for explaining how society functions or should function • Ideological orientation determines how one perceives and explains a social problem and ultimately influences the selection of policy options in order to deal with the social problem • Ideology, as defined by Smith (1970, p.9) is a configuration of relatively abstract ideas and attitudes, [and is] used to characterise some perfect state, in which the elements are bound together by a relatively high degree of interrelatedness or functional inter-dependence'. lhis definition indicates that believers of a particular ideology may tend to judge the external world from their set of a configuration of relatively abstract ideas and attitudes'. • the behavior of every state be it liberal state as in United state and United Kingdom or Marxist / socialist states as in former Soviet Union and China are but the manifestation of the ideas of the dominant class in that society. In the first instance they provide a perspective through which the state and indeed the entire society is understood and explained. People do not see the state as it is but only as they expect it to be, in other words they see it through a veil of ingrained beliefs, opinions and assumptions. Whether consciously or unconsciously, everyone subscribes to a set of political beliefs and value that guide their behaviours and influence their conduct. • Basically, ideologies are political views that influence welfare policy and the provision of social welfare in different societies..

Laissez-faire Ideology. a strong belief in the value of individualism, individuals are expected to make their own arrangements to meet their basic needs Ideology is optimistic of the capacity of individuals to provide for themselves thus the minimal involvement of the state in the provision of social services The state only gets involved to contain the problem of absolute poverty the services take a residual character and are withdrawn as soon as the circumstances improve expenditure on social services is considered wasteful hence the use of a residual and selective model ( Zimbabawe -means testing to ensure that the very needy benefit and their situation is reviewed after 12 months) the market is seen as an efficient instrument for social distribution Parker (1975).

Socialist Ideology. Contrasts sharply with the liberal and is underpinned by the central values of equality, freedom and fellowship It rejects the liberal notion that individuals have the capacity to meet their social needs The socialists argue that problems resulting from the processes of urbanisation and industrialisation make it impossible for individuals to meet their social needs or realise their potential without assistance from the government The socialists argue for universal provision of social services Contrary to the liberal view that expenditure on social services is wasteful, provision of social services represents an investment in people for they are both the means and ends of development.

Cont. Contrary to the liberal view that expenditure on social services is wasteful,provision of social services represents an investment in people for they are both the means and ends of development Reject the notion that the market is an efficient instrument for social distribution as they point out that the market responds to demand and not need. In their view social needs are best met when government actively intervenes to distribute resources and services according to need ,hence the centrality of the value of equality in socialist thought (George and Wilding,1976). Government is expected to regulate market forces in order to guarantee the welfare of its people Zimbabwe’s free primary education and free health for those earning less than 150 Z$ at independence was prompted by socialist thinking aimed at ensuring that the poor had access to health and education.

AVAILABILITY OF RESOURCES. A country may be guided by the socialist ideology but this may not result in universal provision if there are resource constraints Resultantly many countries are compelled to adopt social policies that have elements of both the liberal and socialist ideologies Zimbabwe initially provided free primary education and free health to the ‘poor’ but this was discontinued due to resource constraints.

POLITICS. Many social policies are formulated for political expediency Unrealistic policies are implemented to ensure political victory during elections Politically unstable countries tend to make ad hoc social policy decisions because of the unpredictability of their political environments.

CULTURE. Livingstone (1969) identifies attitudes, beliefs and traditional systems as significant determinants of social policy Social policies apart from being social change oriented are also used as instruments of social control as part of the efforts of safeguarding culture Social policies are usually accepted by the people if they are seen to be in harmony with their culture GOZ’s efforts to improve the status of women faced resistance because they are at variance with culture The legal age of majority act which allows anyone who has reached the age of 18 to marry without parental consent yet culturally marriages have to be sanctioned by the families through the payment of lobola.

REGIONAL & INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS. Impetus for the formulation of some social policies is provided by the UN,AU Ratification of the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child and the AU’s Convention on the Rights of the African Child.

PRACTICING QUESTIONS 1. Explain using examples, the three models of social policy 2. List and explain determinants of social policy 3. Explain the role of ideology in policy formulation or determining policy options..