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Humanities & Social SciencesJuly 2015The social face of the Regulatory State
Reforming public services in Europe
by Sandra Eckert
Capitalism in Europe is transformed as a result of liberalisation, privatisation and regulatory reform. Unravelling the state as service provider and employer has posed significant social policy challenges to the emerging regulatory state. The book examines how these challenges have been addressed in different varieties of capitalism and across sectors. It compares change in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, takes stock of the reform movement in Europe and internationally, and discusses policy approaches in telecoms and electricity. It pays special attention to falling mail volumes as a driver of change and a new wave of privatisation triggered by the European sovereign debt crisis. The analysis reveals whether and how social policy goals have been addressed by means of regulation and redistribution. The book explains why liberal market economies have been postal reform latecomers and why the regulatory state benefits consumers, but is likely to leave employees' interests behind. ;
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Politics & governmentMarch 2009The Boundary Commissions
Redrawing the UK's map of Parliamentary constituencies
by David Rossiter, R.J. Johnston, Charles Pattie
Available in paperback for the first time, this work of original scholarship is the first to trace in full detail how the UK's system for defining parliamentary constituencies has evolved since the Great Reform Act of 1832 and how the eight redistrictings since then were undertaken. Particular attention is paid to the five redistrictings that have been undertaken by the independent Boundary Commissions established in 1944, with a detailed study of all aspects of their work on the most recent review of all constituencies. The book is both a standard reference work on redistribution in the UK and provides the only detailed insight into how that task is currently undertaken, based on a study of the relevant documents and interviews with over a hundred of those most closely involved. The book will be essential for all those interested in the British constitution, and administrators concerned with making the constitution successful, as well as politicians.
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Humanities & Social SciencesNovember 2010Globalisation, Integration and the Future of European Welfare States
by Theodora-Ismene Gizelis, Emil Kirchner, Thomas Christiansen
This book argues that the welfare state cannot be understood purely as a set of social policy arrangements, but must be seen as a political institution, intended to achieve certain political objectives. The political dimension of the welfare state is essential for understanding its initial emergence as well as assessing its ability to deal with contemporary challenges. Governments use welfare transfers to decrease the risk of political instability that may be politically disruptive and threaten to undermine social cohesion. The success of welfare institutions stems from their ability to foster a redistribution of resources and political consensus that has enabled long-term political stability and economic development. The book develops a general model that looks at the interactive effects between welfare transfers, political instability and state capacity. It provides a unique theoretical contribution to the study of welfare spending in the context of globalisation and integration, analyses the key politial rationale for welfare programmes, namely their role in preserving social cohesion and governance and demonstrates clearly that welfare policies can be successfully adopted to meet new challenges and that retrenchment of the welfare state is not inevitable, using Scandinavia as a leading example of modern thinking policies. ;
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Humanities & Social SciencesOctober 2023Towards a just Europe
A theory of distributive justice for the European Union
by João Labareda
This highly original book constitutes one of the first attempts to examine the problem of distributive justice in the European Union in a systematic manner. João Labareda argues that the set of shared political institutions at EU level, including the European Parliament and the Court of Justice of the EU, generate democratic duties of redistribution among EU citizens. Furthermore, the economic structure of the EU, comprising a common market, a common currency and a free-movement area, triggers duties of reciprocity among member states. The responsibilities to fulfil these duties, Labareda argues, should be shared by the local, national and supranational levels of government. Not only should the EU act as a safety net to the national welfare systems, applying the principle of subsidiarity, but common market and Eurozone regulations should balance their efficiency targets with fair cooperation terms. The concrete policy proposals presented in this book include a threshold of basic goods for all EU citizens, an EU labour code, a minimum EU corporate tax rate and an EU fund for competitiveness. Labarada argues that his proposals match the political culture of the member states, are economically feasible, can be translated into functioning institutions and policies and are consistent with the limited degree of social solidarity in Europe. This book is a major contribution to the understanding of what a just Europe would look like and what it might take to get us there. This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10, Reduced inequalities
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Humanities & Social SciencesNovember 2022Imperial Inequalities
by Gurminder Bhambra, Julia McClure
