Comparative European Politics
Social Democracy and the European Social Model
Social
Democracy
What
is it? What is its vision for society?
Historical roots in Europe
Means of Obtaining Social Democracy
elections, representative government, welfare
state
European Social Model
Chapter in T.R. Reid "The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy"
Story on The United
States of Europe
Reid Interview on WHYY
The European Social Model
What is it? What does it consist of?
According to Reid, "an elaborate network of publicly funded,
cradle-to-grave programs designed to protect everyone in Europe against
the vicissitudes of contemporary life" (146).
But really, the ESM is more than just protection against the vicissitues of contemporary life (as in our "social
safety net" idea)
Rather, what does it do?
Guarantees social rights
Makes good on a social contract between the state and citizens
state makes available health, education, housing, jobs, retirement, vacation, etc.
Citizens - their responsibility (to society, to fellow citizens, to each other)
is to pay for these PUBLIC GOODS
Reid describes the ESM as "relentlessly egalitarian"
he means that everyone benefits, and enjoy the same responsibility to
pay
Cradle-to-grave (literally)
1. Birth
one time
payments to parents
paid parental leave (parent's salary) with right to return to position
2. Childhood
child allowances through age of 18
health care
education
parents with vacation time, time for family life
3. Working Age
employment rights
wages often set (agreed) by reps of labor, industry and government
(corporatism)
maximum hour laws
Italy and France 35-hour work week
average of 4 - 5 weeks of paid vacation/holidays per year
(Britain 23 days; France 25 days; Sweden 30)
Hours worked per year:
US workers: 1,976
German and French = 400 hrs less (10 weeks of FT wk per year!)
British workers = 200 hrs less
Differences with US economy
1. higher unemployment (with more generous
unemployment benefits)
average in early 21st Century 9% (compared to US 6%) (156)
2. slower rates of growth in GDP
According to Reid, is Europe's economy on the verge of collapse?
Why not? Why do businesses stay there?
What are the strengths of Europe's system? Success stories?
4. Health care
British system
"single payer" the National Health System
no fees at point of service
Reid's experiences
France, Italy have public insurance system
some fees at point of service, with reimbursement
Costs and results(158)
|
|
|
|
|
|
US |
|
Cost as % of GDP |
8.5 |
9.4 |
8.0 |
6.7 |
13.0 |
|
% paid by
govt |
70 |
77 |
84 |
84 |
45 |
|
Male life expectancy |
75 |
75 |
77 |
75 |
73 |
Problems with European health
systems?
5. Retirement
pensions
health care
The Cost of the
European Social Model
Click here
for comparison of OECD countries and US in welfare state spending as
percentage of GDP
Average Welfare
State Spending for Europe as percentage of GDP (incl. southern, CE) = 23.2%
US = 14.8%
Taxes - income taxes, payroll deductions in some cases, property
but also Value-Added Taxes (VAT)
of between 17.5% in UK to 25% in Denmark
RIGHTS as part of the model
Not such political/civil rights but also social rights, such as right to free
education through university level, right to housing, right to communicate in
one's mother-tongue, etc.
Charter on the Fundamental Rights of the European Union
Movement for
"Renewal of Social Democracy"
From the Left: Anthony Giddens, "The Third
Way"
Director of the London School
of Economics
Tony Blair’s “guru”
Accuses Blair and Clinton "of talking the talk, but not walking the walk,
"warmed over neo-liberalism")
Old Left
Orientations
Pervasive state involvement in social and economic life
State dominates over Civil Society
Collectivism
Keynesianism
Confined role for markets: the mixed or social economy
Full employment
Strong egalitarianism
Comprehensive welfare state, cradle to grave
*Linear modernization
*Low ecological consciousness
Internationalism
*Geo-political context: bipolar world
Movement for
"Reform"/Dismantling of European Welfare State
From the Right: Thatcherism/Neo-Liberalism
Minimal government
Autonomous civil
society
Market fundamentalism
Moral authoritarianism,
plus strong economic individualism
Labour market clears like any other
Acceptance of
inequality
Traditional nationalism
Welfare state as safety
net
Linear modernization*
Low ecological
consciousness*
Geo-political
context: bipolar world*
Realist theory of
international order
The Third Way
“an attempt to transcend both old-style social democracy and neo-liberalism”
(26)
Third Way Values (64-68)
Equality
Protection of the vulnerable
Individual autonomy
No rights without responsibilities
No authority without democracy
Cosmopolitan pluralism
Philosophic conservatism
The Third Way Program for the
State (77)
Devolution
Double democratization
(upward and downward; increased authority and responsiveness of state)
Renewal of public
sphere, transparency
Administrative
efficiency
Direct democracy
Government as risk
manager
The Third Way Program for
Civil Society (79)
Government and Civil Society
in Partnership
Community Renewal,
Local Initiative
Involvement of Third
Sector (explain)
Community-based crime
prevention
The Context (Need for) The
Third Way
Globalization: changing scales of economics
Individualism: post-modern
societies becoming more individualistic
(rise of identity-based politics)
Left and right: what
do these mean under current political conditions??
Giddens argues no one seriously challenges capitalism
anymore; merely to what extent it should be regulated
Yet, many questions have no inherently left or right position – he suggests.
How should we deal with an
ageing population?
How should we react to global
warming??
Should we accept nuclear
energy??
How far should work remain a
central life value??
Should we favor devolution??
What should be the future of
the EU?
Other insights from Giddens:
Political agency:
economic and social change have undermined traditional forms and bases of
political agency. What are the new forms and bases of political agency??
Ecological problems: have new, more pronounced salience.
“sustainable development.”
How can these be integrated into democratic politics? (scale;
process)