Social policy in rich and poor countries

Nomination: Does politics matter? A perennial question! by Hans Keman, p.159
Reflections: Politics does indeed matter! by Manfred G. Schmidt, p.164     

Managing the mixed economy in Central and Eastern Europe: Democratic politics and the role of the public sector

The central argument of this article is that the introduction of democracy and the transition to a market economy in Central and Eastern European countries is producing contradictory and even perverse effects on these societies. These effects are enlarging the micro‐macro paradox of politics and inducing political instability. Instead of focusing on the economic problems or institutionalizing democracy only, it is argued, one should elaborate more fully the relationship between democratic decision‐making, societal needs and wants in civil society and the public organization of policy‐making. In this article an attempt is made to conceptualize these relations by using the principal/agent approach. In addition various models of welfare capitalism and public sector management are discussed and their implications for East European countries. The main conclusion is that the model of the ‘mixed economy’ is not only appropriate, but also that it contributes to a better understanding of the present problems of democratization in this part of the world. In particular the role of the democratic principal and the position of public agents appear to be crucial.     

Democratic Performance of Parties and Legitimacy in Europe

This article analyses the development of legitimacy across 20 European democracies (1990–2010). The claim is that the democratic performance of parties affects levels of legitimacy. A conceptual and empirical discussion is presented to establish this relationship. Democratic performance is characterised by trusting parties to be responsive to the electorate and responsible in government. Legitimacy is defined as a composite measure representing satisfaction with parties, compliance with the rule of law as well as voter turnout and willingness to protest. The responsiveness of parties appears less representative on public concerns and governmental responsibility appears closer to party interests than to the general interest. Hence, a ‘democratic deficit’ seems to have emerged across Europe, manifested by more electoral volatility, new parties and alternation in government and lower survival rates of governments. This negatively affects trust in parties, parliament and government efficacy. Hence, party behaviour has not strongly contributed to political legitimacy since the 1990s.     

The search for the centre: Pivot parties in West European party systems

The central question is whether or not in multiparty systems the so‐called parties of the ‘centre’ can be defined and observed in isolation. We start from the assumption that party‐life in the centre‐space of a political system has distinctive features. Centre parties must therefore be conceptualised and analysed as phenomena sui generis and do not belong to either the left‐wing or the right‐wing of a party system. The second assumption is that every party in a parliamentary democracy is a vote seeking and policy guided actor. This means that a centre party depends on its capacity to compete with both ‘wings’ of a party system whilst occupying the centre‐space. It is then capable of becoming the ‘pivot’ of the system: its ‘centrality’ and ‘dominance’ represent ideological distinctiveness and electoral/legislative weight. The cross‐national analysis demonstrates that only a few parties are genuine pivot parties. The paper concludes with a discussion about the issue whether or not the existence of a pivot party is a blessing in disguise for the working of a democracy.     

It's Better to Teach a Man Fishing than to Give him a Fish——An introduction to the international work of China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation

正Helen,23,is a smart and strong single mother from Ethiopia.She and her daughter moved to Axum from the countryside,settling in a rented house less than 5 square meters.She wove straw baskets for a living.Her monthly income was only 300 birr(about 80 RMB),of which 120 birr was to pay the rent and the rest barely enough for food.     

Competition and Coalescence in European Party Systems: Social Democracy and Christian Democracy Moving into the 21st Century

Party systems in Europe have been in transition since the 1990s. New parties have emerged and appear more successful in gaining representation in parliament and government than before. Conversely the established party families in many postwar West European party systems ‐ Social Democracy and Christian Democracy in particular ‐ seem to have lost ground. We argue that an ideological convergence is developing between these two party families towards the ‘centre of gravity’ of their respective party systems. This may help to explain why ‘new’ parties of the Left and the Right have competed more successfully since the 1990s: they have bypassed Social and Christian Democratic parties in terms of both Left/Right and Progressive/Conservative dimensions and differences. These developments are explored by analysing party programmes. It appears that many Social and Christian Democratic parties are indeed often moving closer to each other. In fact, we conclude that being in the centre of a party system or in government is hardly an electoral asset any more in most West European polities.     

Explaining miracles: Third ways and work and welfare

The emergence of the Dutch miracle – often seen as a result of the famous Polder model – has not only resulted in drastic changes as regards the labour market policy, but also in a performance that is considered superior to most other OECD economies. In addition, it is often suggested that this development may well be considered a prototype of the Third Way politics of contemporary social democracy. Both views are scrutinised and discussed by means of a cross-national and cross-time analysis of 19 liberal democracies within the OECD world. The comparative analysis of the labour market performance, also by means of demographic categories, demonstrates that the performance of the Dutch labour market is neither outstanding nor exceptional. It appears mainly to have been caused by the growth of part-time labour. Hence, one may well doubt whether a Dutch miracle exists at all. The analysis also demonstrates that the Dutch labour market performance is neither optimal nor beneficial to all concerned. Finally, it is observed that the social democratic Third Way turns out to be a trade-off in the Netherlands: welfare is becoming less generous and work comes first.     

Party government in 20 Democracies: an update (1990–1995)

Abstract. The country tables of the data collection 'Political Data 1945–1990. Party Government in 20 Democracies' (European Journal of Political Research, Vol. 24, No. 1 (July 1993), pp. 1–119) are updated and corrected to the end of 1995. Errors and omissions on the level of separate Ministers and/or Ministries have been corrected as well. These are listed as 'changes/corrections' in the corresponding tables in the original data collection.