Critical Commentaries On The Social Security Review

"A collection of responses ... to the federal government; paper, Improving Social Security in Canada." -- Foreword.

Social Security forms a major area of government policy and social expenditure. Government activity in this area impacts directly on all citizens, and consequently social security policy is the focus for much debate. People are affected by social security whether by funding it through taxation, or using it when claiming unemployment or other benefits. Introduction to Social Security is an up-to-date text on this important and complex social policy issue. It provides a second introduction for students of social policy and administration and includes contributions from some of the best known and most respected names in the field.

Social security institutions have been among the most stable post-war social programs around the world. Increasingly, however, these institutions have undergone profound transformation from public risk-pooling systems to individual market-based designs. Why has this 'privatization' occurred? Why do some governments enact more radical pension privatizations than others? This book provides a theoretical and empirical account of when and to what degree governments privatize national old-age pension systems. Quantitative cross-national analysis simulates the degree of pension privatization around the world and tests competing hypotheses to explain reform outcomes. In addition, comparative analysis of pension reforms in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay evaluate a causal theory of institutional change. The central argument is that pension privatization emerges from political conflict, rather than from exogenous pressures. The argument is developed around three dimensions: the double bind of globalization, contingent path-dependent processes, and the legislative politics of loss imposition.

In this volume eleven areas of government policy are analyzed, including economic management (deficit control, trade promotion and employment), national unity social policies (child care, elderly benefits and housing) and ethics. Overall, Liberal policies bear a much stronger resemblance to Tory Blue philosophy than their own Red Book.

This book builds the case for a comprehensive social security system to be developed in all countries – to eliminate desperate conditions of poverty, reverse growing inequality and sustain economic growth. It gives the history of the rich countries in meeting poverty and shows how the strategies in the poor countries can be greatly improved.