Restructuring the Welfare State: Theory and Reform of Social Policy PDF
Preview Restructuring the Welfare State: Theory and Reform of Social Policy
Studies in Economic Ethics and Philosophy Series Editor Editorial Board Peter Koslowski F. Neil Brady James M. Buchanan Richard De George Jon Elster Amitai Etzioni Gerard Gafgen Serge-Christophe Kolm Michael S. McPherson Yuichi Shionoya Philippe van Parijs Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York Barcelona Budapest Hong Kong London Milan Paris Santa Clara Singapore Tokyo Studies in Economic Ethics and Philosophy P. Koslowski (Ed.) Ethics in Economics, Business, and Economic Policy (out ofprint) 192 pages. 1992 P. Koslowski· Y. Shionoya (Eds.) The Good and the Economical Ethical Choices in Economics and Management (out ofprint) 212 pages. 1993 H. De Geer (Ed.) Business Ethics in Progress? 124 pages. 1994 P. Koslowski (Ed.) The Theory ofEthical Economy in the Historical School 345 pages. 1995 A. Argandoiia (Ed.) The Ethical Dimension ofFinancial Institutions and Markets 264 pages. 1995 G.K. Becker (Ed.) Ethics in Business and Society. Chinese and Western Perspectives 232 pages. 1996 P. Koslowski Ethics ofCapitalism and Critique ofSociobiology. Two Essays with a Comment by James M. Buchanan 153 pages. 1996 F. Neil Brady (Ed.) Ethical Universals in International Business 255 pages. 1996 Peter Koslowski Andreas F011esdal (Eds.) Restructuring the Welfare State Theory and Reform of Social Policy With 6 Figures and 13 Tables " Springer Professor Dr. Peter Koslowski Forschungsinstitut fur Philosophie Hannover The Hannover Institute ofPhilosophical Research GerberstraBe 26 D-30169 Hannover, Germany Dr. Andreas F011esdal ARENA, Advanced Research onthe Europeanisation ofthe Nation-State P.O. Box1143, Blindern N-0317 Oslo, Norway CataJoging-in-PublicationDataappliedfor Die Deutsche Bibliothek- CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Restructuringthewelfarestate: theoryand refonnofsocial policy; 13 tables/ PeterKoslowski; Andreas F011esdal(ed.). Berlin; Heidelberg; NewYork; Barcelona; B':Idapest ;Hong Kong; London; Milan; Paris; SantaClara;Smgapore ; Tokio: Springer. 1997 (Studies ineconomicelhicsandphilosophy) ISBN-l3:978-3-642-64494-8 NE: Koslowski. Peter[Hrsg.J ISBN-13:978-3-642-64494-8 e-ISBN-13:978-3-642-60652-6 DOl: 10.1007/978-3-642-60652-6 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York Thisworkis subjectto copyright. All rights are reserved, whether thewholeor part ofthe material is concerned, specifically the rights oftranslation, reprint ing,reuseofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmor in anyother way, and storagein data banks. Duplication ofthis publication or parts thereofis permitted only under the provisions ofthe German Copyright LawofSeptember 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution undertheGermanCopyrightLaw. 4>Springer-VerlagBerlin·Heidelberg1997 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition1997 The use ofgeneraldescriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publicationdoes notimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuch names are exempt from the relevant protectivelawsand regulations and there forefreeforgeneraluse. HardcoverDesign:ErichKirchner,Heidelberg SPIN10546642 4212202-5 4 3 2 10- Printedonacid-freepaper Preface The volume at hand contains the proceedings of the conference "Restructuring the Welfare State: Ethical Issues of Social Policy in an International Perspective" held with the support of the Stiftung Forschungsinstitut fur Philosophie Hannover at the Forschungsinstitut fiir PhilosophieHannoverinHanover,Germany,onSeptember8-10, 1995. Several of the papers in the volume have been read at the Fourth International Conference on Ethics in the Public Service at Stockholm, Sweden, on June 15-18, 1994, organised by Hans De Geer and Gunilla SilfverbergattheSwedishFAInstitute. Theeditors wish to thank the organisers, participants and speakers ofthe Stockholm and Hanover conferences. They are also grateful to Anna Maria Haukfor the smooth handling ofthe Hanoverconference, to Guttorm Aanes and Simen Brrein for their assistance in preparing the manuscript, and to Peggy Simcic Brl/lnn for the valuable and professional management of the manuscript. Osloand Hanover,October 1996 AndreasFl/lllesdal PeterKoslowski Table ofContents v Preface RestructuringtheWelfareState: Introduction PETER KOSLOWSKI .....•............••.....•.....•........•....•..••...•................. 1 PartI. TheWelfareStateUnderSiegeinWestern Europe 1. IstheBritishWelfareSystemSustainable? FRANCESCAIRNCROSS 9 2. Is theWelfareSystemofthe NetherlandsSustainable? KEESSCHUYT 21 3. Is theGermanWelfare StateSustainable? DIETHER DORING 38 PartII. TheSocialSecuritySystemin theEastCentral European NationsofTransitionand inJapan 4. ThePrincipleofSubsidiarityandtheTransitionofthe Welfare States inCentraland EasternEurope TIBORCZEH 65 5. TheSocialSecuritySystem inJapan YOSHIFUMI FUSHIMI 83 PartIII. TheRiseofthe WelfareStateinHistoryandTheory 6. StateandCitizenshipin the AgeofGlobalisation PETER BALDWIN 95 7. Originsofthe «Social State» inGermanPhilosophyand «Staatswissenschaft» STEFANKOSLOWSKI.. 119 PartIV. CurrentProblemsoftheWelfareState 8. DoWelfareObligationsEndattheBoundariesof theNationState? ANDREASF0LLESDAL 145 9. MeetingNeedsVersusRespectingAutonomy DilemmasoftheWelfareState ELISABETHLILIA 164 10. ForwardtotheNineteenthCentury: HasGrowingOldGracefullyBecomeaLuxury? PETERCURWEN 182 11. TheUnpaid WorkofMothersandHousewives in theDifferentTypesofWelfareStates ANNEKEVONDOORNE-HUISKES 203 12. SocialRights inaGenderPerspective ARNLAUGLEIRA 222 13. DoestheWelfareStateDestroy theFamily? MICHAELOPIELKA 238 PartV. TheoryandCritiqueoftheWelfareState 14. TheJustificationofWelfareRights PERBAUHN 277 15. Risk,JusticeandSocialPolicies SERGE-CHRISTOPHEKOLM 289 16. Sweden: Towardsa21stCenturyPost-Modern People'sHome? SVENE.OLSSONHORT 322 17. TheSocialStatein thePost-Modern PETERKOSLOWSKI 337 Conclusion 18. OntheMoralFoundationsoftheWelfareState ThreeResearchProgrammes PHILIPPEVAN PARIJS 383 AbouttheAuthors 393 IndexofNames 395 VIII Restructuring the Welfare State Introduction PETER KOSLOWSKI I. AreWelfareStatesSustainableatthePresentHigh DegreeofBenefitsandPublic"Insuredness"? II. ArePrivateInsuranceProgramsBetterthanSocial SecuritySchemes? III. WhyDoStrongWelfareStatesExistintheNorth WesternPartofEuropeandnotinOtherPartsof theWorld? IV. DoestheEuropeanisationoftheNationStateEnforce theEuropeanisationoftheWelfareStateand TherebytheDown-SizingofSocialSecuritySystems inEurope? Thedebateabout the welfare state inEurope hasenteredastage whereit is not anymore the question whether the welfare state in the industrialised countries ofEurope should be modified or not but how it could be restruc tured. The costs and financing problems of social security have shifted the emphasis in the discussion from questionsoflegitimacy as well asextension and reform of the welfare state to questions of its survival. Questions of legitimacy and questions of adaptation for survival can, however, not be completely separated since deficits in legitimacy very often point to short comingsinconstructionas well. In this introduction four questions are formulated thatguided the investi gationofthevolumeathand. I. Are WelfareStatesSustainableat the PresentHigh Degree ofBenefitsand Public"Insuredness"? The current problem in the European welfare states is not the question whether welfare states are sustainable at all. There seems to be consensus thatsomedegreeofsocial insuranceisdesirable. Rather, thequestion is how the welfare states instituted after World WarIIaresustainable at the present high degree of insuredness of the population. This question in turn is not PETERKOSLOWSKI only aquestionas to the financial meansand funds ofthe national insurance systems, to the financial provisionfor the social security system. More inter esting is the question whether the social insurance systems ought to be ~us tained in theirpresent institutionsalthough they create illusionsamongst the insuredabouttheirwealthandtheirsocialandeconomicwelfare. Thequestioncan be putthis way: The financial costsofthe welfare state have two causes. The first cause is the increased international competition and reduced wealth of the Western nations that cannot afford the former degreeofsocial benefitstheyhavegrown used to. Ifthis isthecase thecrisis ofthe welfarestateisacrisisofdown-sizingand unavoidable. The question more interesting toeconomics and social philosophy is the question whether the welfare states we are used to are inherently prone to create illusionsamongst the peopleabout theirreal wealthand whetherthese illusions can be reduced by a change ofeconomic organisation and of the design ofthe institutionsofsocial security. This problem is discussed below underthe heading of"welfarestate illusion": Is there anelement inherent in the welfare states that creates illusions about the actual state ofthe people's wealth in regard to theexpectedfuture paymentsforpensionsand tothestart ofretirementage? The welfare state makes the promise to pay to its citizens a pension at a certain retirement age. Ifit is not able to keep this promise the plans ofthe individualsareseverelychangedand theirlife plansdistorted. Sincethe indi viduals made the plans about their wealth creation and their distribution of wealth over the life cycle under the assumption that they will receive the pension paymentspromised by the welfare state there life plansaredistorted considerably ifthe welfare state cannotfulfil these promises. Afar reaching misallocationofresourcesoverthe lifecycledue to illusionsabouttheactual wealthsituationwill betheconsequence. The question can beclarified by an analysisofthe Gennan welfare state. The German welfare state is notedfor its robustness: Itcan adopt tochanges ofthe economic parameters by an adaptation ofthe parameters ofthe social security system. Ifthe amount ofthe contributions to the system decreases due toeconomicrecession the social securitysystemcanreactbyalaterstart of retirement, by an earlier start of employment in younger years or by a lowerlevel ofwelfare benefits. By changing these parameters the system, in theory, willalwaysfind toanewequilibrium. Thefinancial equilibriumofthesocial securitysystem,however,does not mean that the expectations and plansofthe individuals being insured in this systemare inequilibrium.The robustness ofthe system mightbe very costly 2 INTRODUCTIONRESTRUCTURINGmEWELFARTESTATE in tenusofadisappointmentoftheexpectationsofthosebeing insured in the system. Even ifthe macroeconomic contributions/payments ratio is in equi librium the individual economic plans that people made for their life are in utter disequilibrium since they made these plans under very different assumptionsabouttheirwealthsituationthan theone that is becomingreality in the payments of the social security system. The social insurance system mightbe over-robust, too robust to respond to thedifferentiated needsofthe individuals. II. ArePrivate Insurance Programs Betterthan Social Security Schemes? As a remedy to the present high costs ofthe welfare state, the return to more self-reliance and reliance on private insurance systems is recommend ed. The politics ofThatcherism in the United Kingdom argued for a privat isationofsocial security notprimarily becauseofarguments offinancial cri sis butforargumentsofthe valueofself-relianceand forargumentsofmoral hazardinthesocial insurancesystems. In 1983, Icontended myself that the welfare state due to its anonymity and robustness of its schemes weakens the ethics of self-responsibility and self-reliance and decreases the propensity ofthe individuals to a responsible conductoflife. The experience of Thatcherism and of the privatisation of social insu rance is, however, that problems ofmoral hazard are also present in private insurancesystems. The transparencyon the behaviourofthe individual in its attitude towardsrisk and inhisorherchangeofhabitsafterbeing insuredare alsoeffective in private insurance systems. These private insurance systems are also anonymous and do not have the size at which the "large number problem" (James M. Buchanan) does not apply. The large number problem arises where people act in large groups in which they cannot control their behaviour and their adherence to the rules. Only very small groups have no "large number problem". The question is, therefore, whether there is really an inherent superiority ofprivate insurance oversocial security in respect to moral hazard and to the otherproblems ofchange ofbehaviourtowards risk whenpeopleare insured. 3
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