FROM WELFARE STATE TO
SOCIAL INVESTMENT TO NIGHT
WATCHMAN: SHIFTING ROLES OF
THE FEDERAL STATE IN CANADA
Presentation to the Department of Politics and
Public Administration, Ryerson University
Toronto, November 22, 2012
Michael J. Prince
INTERPRETING THE STATE AND THE
SOCIAL
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“Listening to and taking seriously discursive constructions
and re-constructions of the role of the state can provide a first
indicator of change.” (Jenson and Saint-Martin 2003)
“Indeed, the intellectual evolution of a nation can be traced, in
part, by charting the rise and fall of competing interpretations
of government.” (Banting 1986)
The state is an assemblage of formal authorities,
organizational structures and processes, policy instruments,
relations of power, material resources and practices, as well as
discursive and symbolic aspects
The social is also multi-faceted conceptually and materially, a
dynamic and contested policy space operating within
historically specific contexts
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THE THREE IMAGES AND ROLES
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Welfare state:
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Social Investment state:
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Term emerged in the 1940s
Depicts a period of state intervention across a range of public
activities, services, benefits, and human needs
A phrase used mainly by academics and activists
Term popularized in 1990s and early 2000s
Reaction to neo-liberal critiques of the welfare state
Emphasizes productive aspects of certain social programs
Discourse of academics and policy makers in Europe and
North America
Night Watchman state:
Oldest of the three conceptions of the state, 19th century
 Revival in post-9-11 world in some nations
 Limited discussion to date in policy communities, more so by
some academics
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SOME QUESTIONS
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What interpretations of the state are now at play
in Canada?
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What is the Harper Conservative’s conception of
the federal role in the federation?
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How and where is the Harper perspective evident
in public policy?
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What might this mean materially for social
policy, for intergovernmental relations, and for
citizenship?
What does it mean conceptually for the study of
Canadian politics and public administration?
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COMPARING THREE IMAGES OF THE
STATE
Welfare
state
Social
investment
Night
watchman
Orientation
Redistributive
Productive
Regulative
Notion of
security
Compensation
and insurance
Early
intervention
and adaptation
Personal and
community
protection
Risks
Unemployment
, old age,
sickness,
disability,
workplace
injury
Work-life
family balance,
aging
population,
skill deficits in
knowledge
economy
Bullying,
identity theft,
human
trafficking,
immigration
fraud, border
security
Policy
instruments
Taxes and
“passive” cash
transfers
“Active”
services and
programs
Legislation and
rules, and state
facilities
Political age
Keynesian,
Post-
Anti-terrorism,
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HARPER, FEDERALISM AND SOCIAL
POLICY
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Rhetoric of “open federalism” or classical federalism,
true in some policy areas but no so much in others
Open federalism meant cancelled agreements on child
care and early learning and on Aboriginal services
In law and order agenda, more like “obligation
federalism” with unilateral federal action and the
imposition of considerable spending responsibilities
onto provinces
Criminal law power preferred policy instrument
rather than federal spending power: legal elements of
citizenship
Confining discretion of judges and parole boards
while widening discretion of police and immigration
officials
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WAYS OF UNDERSTANDING
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE SOCIAL ROLE OF
THE STATE
1.
2.
3.
A major change forward: Over past decade or so,
welfare states are transforming to social investment
states ( a change from one state form to another
with the substitution of one kind of expenditures for
another more active and targeted kind of
government spending)
A slide back in time: Increasing emphasis on
national security and public order indicates a
movement from a social state to a night watchman
style of governance (a sliding back from one state
form to another)
A stacking and shifting of roles: Changes in the
salience of discourse and in priorities of
governments but underlying architecture and
activities of state remain a complex and
contradictory mix (a stacking of paradigms and
discourses and shifting in relative emphasis)
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IMPLICATIONS FOR STUDENTS OF POLITICS,
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND SOCIAL
POLICY
Probe behind the latest policy discourse
 Always the intergovernmental:
interdependencies and externalities even under
“open federalism”
 Look at historical contexts, trace policy legacies,
the circulation of ideas, and path dependencies
 Continued provincialization of social policy and
programs and variations across the country
 Activities and focus of social movements and civil
society organizations
 Examine the substance and the spin: the
material as well as the symbolic, including labour
markets and social risks
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SUMMARY
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Stephen Harper's perspective on social policy is
generally minimalist, tactical politically, and
philosophically Hobbesian
Recent emphasis on criminal law power and making
rules on policing, sentencing, corrections
Social investment in Canadian policy is more than a
sound bite but less than a new phase in state
formation; evident mostly in provincial spheres than
at federal level
Changes in the social role of the state involve shifting,
resurfacing , and submerging various aspects of
government, rather than outright substitution of one
role or paradigm for another
Federal and provincial states thus have layered
characteristics and sedimentary outcomes
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THANK YOU
Michael J. Prince
Lansdowne Professor of Social Policy
Faculty of Human and Social Development
University of Victoria
mprince@uvic.ca
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