PLCP 3120: Politics and Political Economy of the Welfare State Mark Schwartz Gibson Hall S497 schwartz@virginia.edu http://www.people.virginia.edu/~hms2f Class meets MW 2:00-­‐3:15pm (1400h-­‐1515h) in New Cabell 303 Office hours MW 3:25 – 4:30pm (1525h-­‐1630h) + appointment This seminar investigates the political economy of the welfare state in the rich OECD countries. We will pay particular attention to the US and western Europe, but we will also look at Japan and/or Korea, based on student demand (and we can also look at some developing countries). Broadly, the course deals with four questions: • What is the moral and social basis for the welfare state? • Why did market economies develop market and non-­‐market based systems of social protection? What roles were played by states, labor market actors (business and labor), and women’s groups? Why are welfare states different? • How do these systems of social protection interact with and shape domestic (ie household) political economy and gender roles, including the currently vexing issue of fertility? • What is happening in the core issue areas of the welfare state (pensions, health, education, housing, family friendly policies, etc.) We may touch on these: • How do these systems of social protection interact with and shape production and the rest of the economy? In particular, what connections, if any, are there with (un-­‐) employment, skills formation, and export profiles? • What caused the emergence of (or perception of?) crises in the late 1970s and 1980s and how has this affected the current evolution of welfare provision and institutions? We will try to answer these questions from a variety of perspectives – institutional, normative, game theoretic, historical. There is a rich – too rich – literature on welfare states to cover everything. In terms of perspectives I hope to touch on most of the issues below: • Market failures vs consumer sovereignty • Adverse selection vs perverse selection • Individual responsibility vs “auto accident” (blended) vs collective responsibility (community rating) • Income shifting into future: houses + private pensions via securitization vs taxes and defined benefit (thus implicit redistribution of growth going forward) + PAYGO + investment in human capital. • Social policy – is it always and only about redistribution, or is it about shaping human beings in a direction that “we” want to go PLCP3120 Syllabus Spring2013 – p. 2 Readings: Texts: • If you want, you can buy Christopher Pierson / Francis G. Castles (eds.) (2000): The Welfare State Reader. Polity Press. Used copies are available via www.bookfinder.com & Amazon. • But all readings (including those from CP/FGC) are up on the course Collab page VERY IMPORTANT: there is a lot of reading for this course (though many are very short). You will find it hard to follow the lectures and you will find it hard to write good papers if you don’t do the reading. You will absolutely be unable to participate in class – and I will be cold calling you to ask you to explain things. The compensation for the extra reading is the absence of a final exam. The absence of a final exam, of course, is also an incentive to do no reading… except that if you don’t read you will also write terrible papers / have nothing to say / be very embarrassed when I cold call you. It’s up to you. Recommended / resources readings are for those who want a bit more; I have a very long resources list for those who want a lot more. Please note that we will start right in on Wednesday January 20 – it will be a mostly substantive class. So do those readings. Requirements: 1) Class participation 40 % total = 30 % talking and 10 % one in-­‐class presentation Talking in class – doing the reading ahead of time is crucial to a good grade here, not to mention learning stuff. We will use half of each class for discussion of the readings, before I do lecture – or, some weeks, a simulation and a session of debriefing / lecture. Presentation: each person will make a 5 minute presentation, using the readings (for that week but informed by prior weeks) arguing one side of the issue dealt with that week. I will provide a list of pro/con questions. Students will divide the pro / con positions (with 30 students and 24 slots – excluding the first week – each day has 2 presentations. Class will then challenge these students on their positions (see: Talking in class). 2) Papers, 2 @ 29% I would like you to write about one issue area in two countries or two issues areas in one country, in a classic compare and contrast format. Are the values, organizational formats/methods, and outputs the same or different? How and why? Do these issue areas “work” the way that the classic Esping-­‐Andersen typology would predict? How have things changed, if at all? Each paper should be about 7-­‐8 pages long (c. 2000 words). You can combine the first paper into the second paper and hand in a combined 16 pp paper at the end (but you still have to hand in the first 8 pp on the first deadline). This resource is essential for your papers: http://www.oecd-­‐ilibrary.org/statistics àdatabases (left hand side) social expenditure database. PLCP3120 Syllabus Spring2013 – p. 3 Look here for a guide to accessing this data: http://www.people.virginia.edu/~hms2f/using-­‐
ilibrary.pdf. And paper hints here. Papers without data will get low grades unless there is some easy to understand reason why there is no data. Papers are due, as an email attachment in a common word processing program, single-­‐spaced, at 9 AM March 2 and May 2, 2016 3) Course evaluation = 2% must be done by May 5. Class policies: Papers / deadlines: Unspell-­‐checked or agrammatic papers automatically lose points; computer, email and other IT related excuses not accepted; interviews, sports, and other scheduled events are not acceptable excuses and no extensions will be granted; everything else is negotiable and may include a penalty. Accommodations: Students with disabilities should me with all documentation within the first full week of class (i.e. by January 27) so that we can make any necessary accommodation. Grading Disputes: In case of grading disputes students must meet with me within one week of receiving the contested grade to request clarification, and provide a 500-­‐word written rationale for the appeal. If I accept the appeal I will re-­‐grade the disputed work and I may assign a grade that is higher, lower, or the same. Honor Code: You must pledge all work. The code will be enforced (they are not “more like guidelines anyway, eh Jack?”). Students who are unsure what constitutes plagiarism should consult with me. January 20: Introduction / Organization / what’s a welfare state? • Historical overview: Chris Pierson, Beyond the Welfare State? ch 4 • Definitions: Richard M Titmuss, Essays on “The welfare state,” ch 2 (Social division of Welfare), 4 (War and Social Policy) • Data: OECD SOCX Factbook 2014 (8pp) Issues: basics of what are welfare states, where do they come from, how much do they cost Also, optional: Go home (or to Clemons) and watch Fritz Lang, Metropolis (1927) (http://metropolis1927.com) if you want to understand the psychology of the European social contract of the mid-­‐ to late-­‐20th century. By the way it is still probably one of the best movies ever made, and you will see the origins of dozens of cinematic tropes. Ideally you can watch the new, re-­‐mastered version released in 2010 – it contains about 25 minutes of footage that was thought to be lost. PLCP3120 Syllabus Spring2013 – p. 4 January 25-­‐27: Origins 1: An overview, and moral issues • Friedrich von Hayek, “The Meaning of the Welfare State,” in Pierson and Castles, eds.,The Welfare State Reader (pages 90-­‐95). • T.H. Marshall, “Citizenship and Social Class,” in Pierson and Castles (pages 32-­‐41). • Richard Titmuss, “Universalism vs Selection,” in Pierson and Castles, eds (pages 42-­‐49). • Critique of Marshall and Polanyi: Jytte Klausen, “Social rights advocacy and state building: T.H. Marshall in the hands of social reformers.” World Politics January 1995, 47:2, pp. 244-­‐268 What are people owed by society? What do p eople owe to society? Is welfare d ifferent from other rights, like civil and p olitical rights? February 1-­‐3: Origins 2: Political origins: states, workers, capital, women • Rational Choice/CADs: Abram De Swaan, In Care of the State chs 1, 2 • Power resource model: Walter Korpi WP article or in P/C • Women and States: Seth Koven, Sonya Michel, “Womanly Duties: Maternalist Politics and the Origins of Welfare States in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, 1880-­‐1920,” The American Historical Review 95:4, October 1990, pp. 1076-­‐1108. • The “middle classes”: Peter Baldwin, “The Scandinavian Origins of the Social Interpretation of the Welfare State,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 31:1, January 1989, pp. 3-­‐24 Resources: The classic: Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation (Beacon Press, 1944), chapters 6, 7, 13, 14. Public or private goods?: Bo Rothstein, “The Universal Welfare State as a Social Dilemma,” Rationality and Society 13:2, 2001, pp. 213-­‐233 Does it make a difference?: Lyle Scruggs and James P. Allan, “The Material Consequences of Welfare States: Benefit Generosity and Absolute Poverty in 16 OECD Countries,” Comparative Political Studies 39, 2006, pp. 880-­‐904 February 8-­‐10: Kinds of welfare states; just 3 or 4? • Gösta Esping-­‐Andersen, Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, chs. 1 • Esping Anderson, Social Foundations of Post-­‐Industrial Economies, chs 3, 4 • Francis Castles and Deborah Mitchell, “Three Worlds of Welfare or Four?” mimeo • Kirkegaard, Jacob Funk. The True Levels of Government and Social Expenditures in Advanced Economies. No. PB15-­‐4. 2015. None of these things are quite like the others Different causes / politics / economies à different welfare states Change over time à d ifferent welfare s tates PLCP3120 Syllabus Spring2013 – p. 5 February 15-­‐17: The US Welfare state as a liberal WS: origins – women, race, capital • Jacob Hacker, Divided Welfare State, ch 2, 4 • Suzanne Mettler, “Dividing Social Citizenship by Gender: The Implementation of Unemployment Insurance and Aid to Dependent Children, 1935–1950,” Studies in American Political Development 12, Fall 1998, pp. 303–342. • recommended o Theda Skocpol and Gretchen Ritter, “Gender and the Origins of Modern Social Policies in Britain and the US,” Studies in American Political Development Spring 1991, pp. 36-­‐91 o Paul Pierson and Jacob Hacker, “Business Power and the Formation of the US Welfare State,” Politics & Society 30:2, June 2002, pp. 277-­‐325 o Peter A. Swenson, “Varieties of Capitalist Interests: Power, Institutions, and the Regulatory Welfare State in the United States and Sweden, Studies in American Political Development, 18 (Spring 2004), 1-­‐29 February 22-­‐24: The US Welfare state as a liberal WS – structures • Christopher Howard, America’s Hidden Welfare State ch 1 • Christopher Howard, Welfare State Nobody Knows ch 1-­‐2 • Jill Quadagno and Deana Rohlinger, “Religious Conservatives in U.S. Welfare State Politics” ch 9 in van Kersbergen and Manow, Religion, Class Coalitions and Welfare Regimes • Optional: Plattner, Marc. “The Welfare State v. Redistributive State,” The Public Interest, Spring 1979, pp. 28-­‐48 Recommended: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, Tax Expenditures: The Basics February 29-­‐March 2: Swedish Welfare State as a social democratic WS • Karen M. Anderson, “The Church as Nation? The Role of Religion in the Development of the Swedish Welfare State,” Ch 9 in van Kersbergen and Manow, Religion, Class Coalitions and Welfare Regimes • Uwe Becker, “The Scandinavian model: Still an example for Europe?” 17pp • Adrian Wooldridge, “Northern lights:
The Nordic countries are reinventing their model of capitalism,” Economist Feb 2 2013 • Paula Blomqvist, “The Choice Revolution: Privatization of Swedish Welfare Services in the 1990s,” Social Policy & Administration 2004, 38: 139–155 Recommended: Peter Swenson, “Bringing Capital Back In, or Social Democracy Reconsidered: Employer Preferences and Industrial Relations in Denmark and Sweden,” World Politics 43:4, July 1991, pp. 513-­‐544 nd
FIRST PAPER DUE 9am MARCH 2 March 7 – 9 Spring break PLCP3120 Syllabus Spring2013 – p. 6 March 14-­‐16: The German Welfare State as a conservative WS • Sabina Stiller, “A bird’s eye view of the German Welfare State,” ch 3 in Stiller, Ideational Change • Kimberly Morgan, “Religious foundations of work-­‐family policies,” Ch 3 in van Kersbergen and Manow, Religion, Class Coalitions and Welfare Regimes • Jason Jordan, “Mothers, Wives, and Workers: Explaining Gendered Dimensions of the Welfare State,” Comparative Political Studies, Nov 2006, 39: 1109-­‐1132. • Optional: Christian Democratic Europe: Barry Eichengreen, “Institutions and Economic Growth: Europe after World War II,” in Nicholas Crafts and Gianni Toniolo, (eds.), Economic Growth in Europe since 1945 March 21-­‐23 Issues: Pensions • Economist survey: Beck, Slow fuse: Aging and society • Economist survey: Coggan, Falling Short: A Special report on pensions • Dean Baker: Debt, Deficits and Demographics: Can We Afford the Social Contract?” CEPR working paper 2012 • Gary Burtless, “Can Improved Financial Market Access Offer a Reasonable Substitute for Public Pensions?” Politics and Society, 40:1, March 2012 Ethical / Analytic Issues • what are the a ged owed? (and who is “old”?) • a biological minimum? • a social minimum? • a share in (any) increased prosperity? • only what they contribute into the s ystem, on an insurance basis? • should we just euthanize old p eople? ( except me, of course) Resources: Nicholas Barr, Pension Reform http://search.lib.virginia.edu/catalog/u5232746 Barr, Economics of welfare, ch 6 March 28-­‐30 Issues: Health • Review this: Jacob Hacker, Divided Welfare State, ch 2, 4 • Thinking: Malcolm Gladwell, “Moral hazard myth,” New Yorker October 2005 • Examples: TR Reid, appendix, “Best Health Care System in the World,” in Healing of America pp 240, and TR Reid, “Germany: ‘Applied Christianity’,” ch 5 in Healing of America pp 66-­‐80 • PPACA: Jacob Hacker, “Health Care reform, 2015,” Democracy Journal.org • Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, “The Health care crisis and what to do about it,” NY Review of Books March 2006 • Please avail yourself of the chart packs from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF files in Collab) and the 2 OECD database files on health, also in Collab. I may put more up. PLCP3120 Syllabus Spring2013 – p. 7 Ethical Issues • Public or private provision? Both? In what d istribution? • how should rationing of access to h ealth care occur? • should p eople b e a llowed to have private insurance and care in a public s ystem? • who should organize health care and determine access?
• Who should finance health care?
Resource: Super useful: Commonwealth Fund: International Profile of Health Care Systems Cutler and Kennan, “Health Care,” in Schuck and Wilson, Understanding America http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/11/why-­‐does-­‐u-­‐s-­‐health-­‐care-­‐cost-­‐so-­‐much/ Barr, Economics of welfare, ch 10 Alice Park: “Cardiac Conundrum” Harvard Alumni Magazine 2013 Onofri, “Adventures in prior authorization,” New York Times 14 August 2014 April 4-­‐6 Issues: Women and Work • Review this: Kimberly Morgan, “Religious foundations of work-­‐family policies,” Ch 3 in van Kersbergen and Manow, Religion, Class Coalitions and Welfare Regimes • Then, read first: Richard M Titmuss, Essays on “The welfare state,” ch 5 • Changing Families: Chiara Saraceno, “Family Change, Family Policies, and the Restructuring of Welfare,” in OECD, Family, Market, and Community: Equity and Efficiency in Social Policy, Social Policy Studies #21, pp. 81-­‐99. • Economist survey: Barbara Beck, “For Better, for Worse: A Survey of Women at Work,” 1998 • Economist survey: Barbara Beck, “Closing the Gap,” 2011 Recommended Janet C. Gornick et al. “Supporting the Employment of Mothers: Policy Variation across Fourteen Welfare States,” Journal of European Social Policy 7:1, pp. 45–70 Janet C. Gornick, Marcia K. Meyer and Katherin E. Ross “Public Policies and the Employment of Mothers: A Cross-­‐National Study” Social Science Quarterly 79:1, March 1998, pp. 35-­‐54) Resource: Waite and Howe, “The Family,” in Schuck and Wilson, Understanding America April 11-­‐13: issues: Childcare • Mary Ruggie, The State and Working Women, ch. 1. • Kimberly Morgan, “The "Production" of Child Care: How Labor Markets Shape Social Policy and Vice Versa,” Social Politics 12:2, Summer 2005, pp. 243-­‐263 • Gornick and Meyers, Families that Work, ch 4 reconciling the conflicts • Julia O’Connor, “The State and Gender Equality,” ch 25 in Oxford handbook of state transformation. PLCP3120 Syllabus Spring2013 – p. •
8 Optional on fertility: Brewster and Rindfuss, “Fertility and Women's Employment in Industrialized Nations” Annual Review of Sociology, 26 (2000), pp. 271-­‐296 Ethical Issues • in whose interests should regulation of child care and family friendly work policies b e made? • Child's interests? (their interest in what role?) • mother's interests? • father's interests? • family's interests • employer interests? State interests?
April 28-­‐20: Issues: Social Assistance • Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, TANF at 18 (TANF = temporary assistance to needy families) • Gilens Ch 3 – Why Americans Hate Welfare – Race, Media and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy • Washington Post: 15 Charts that Prove We’re Far from Post-­‐Racial • Colin, Nicolas, and Bruno Palier. "The Next Safety Net." Foreign Affairs 94.4 (2015): 29. April 25-­‐27: Issues: Inequality • Ryan Avent: “The on-­‐rushing wave: the future of work,” Economist January 2014 • American Tax Foundation: Walmart on Tax Day • Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, A Guide to statistics on income inequality • Economist May 2015: Low Wages: When what goes down doesn’t come up • Pew Research Center: American Middle Class is Losing Ground, 2015 • Peck, “Jobless America” The Atlantic 201 Recommended • All of these issues: Gøsta Esping-­‐Andersen, Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies, New York: Oxford University Press, 1999, remainder • Budget problems: Paul Pierson, “Permanent Austerity,” pp. (Ch. 3) in Paul Pierson, ed., New Politics of the Welfare State, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001 • Moral Collapse: Alan Wolfe, Whose Keeper? Social Science and Moral Obligation, ch 5-­‐6 (available as ‘e-­‐book’ also) • Income changes: Pierson and Hacker, “Winner take all politics,” Politics and Society 2010 • The Rise of the Service Economy: Torben Iversen and Anne Wren, “Equality, Employment, and Budgetary Restraint: The Trilemma of the Service Economy,” World Politics, 50:4, 1998, pp. 507-­‐546. PLCP3120 Syllabus Spring2013 – p. •
9 Michael Norton and Daniel Ariely, “Building a Better America – One Wealth Quintile at a Time,” Perspectives on Psychological Science Recommended (but technical) • American Income trends: Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty, “Income Inequality in the US, 1913-­‐1998,” NBER working paper #8467. Inequality video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM May 2: Housing (Alternative 1) • Francis Castles, “The Really Big Trade-­‐Off: Home Ownership and the Welfare State in the New World and the Old,” Acta Politica 33, 1998, pp. 5–19 • Jim Kemeny “The Really Big Trade-­‐Off” between Home Ownership and Welfare: Castles’ Evaluation of the 1980 Thesis, and a Reformulation 25 Years on,” Theory and Society 22:2, June 2005, pp. 59-­‐75 May 2: Education (Alternative 2) • Labaree, Public Goods, Private Goods, American Education Review • Chubb & Moe, Politics, Markets, and the Organization of Schools, APSR • Ravitch, Schools we can envy Recommended: Moe, Problem of Union Power, Brookings, 2011 Ethical issues • Education: public good or private good? If it is a private good, should it b e publicly financed? • Funding sources: local, state, federal? (i.e. how much redistribution is justified?) • Curriculum: national, state or local control? SECOND PAPER DUE 9 AM MAY 2nd NO FINAL EXAM