Evaluating the Welfare State

Evaluating the Welfare State: Social and Political Perspectives together with its companion Social Policy Evaluation: An Economic Perspective is the outgrowth of an international and interdisciplinary conference on policy evaluation held at Tel Aviv University in December 1980. The conference brought together scholars from the fields of economics, sociology, political science, social work, and administration. The papers presented at this conference approached the welfare state and social policy evaluation from a number of different theoretical and methodological perspectives. A selection of these papers has been included in this volume.
The book is divided into five parts. Part I is devoted to the political antecedents and consequences of the welfare state and to the social and psychological processes that affect the development of social policies and reactions to them. Part II analyzes the discontinuity between policies that are the subject of public debate, and the programs that affect the well-being of populations and the distribution of resources. The chapters in Parts III and IV present current developments in the practice of evaluation and explore the frontiers of this field. Part V focuses on the relationship of evaluation to policymaking. This involves examinations of the culture of political debates, the nature of choices facing policymakers, and the impact of research on policy.

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Contributors
Preface
Introduction
I The Welfare State: Causes and Consequences
1 The Political Consequences of the Welfare State
What is "The Welfare State"?
Identifying the Welfare State's Political Consequences
Hopes and Fears
The Welfare State's Actual Consequences
An Inference and a Noninference
References
2 Class Politics and the Western Welfare State
Prologue: Socialism and the Welfare State
Theoretical Perspectives on the Welfare State
Class Interests and the Welfare State
The Pro-Social-Democratic Consensus and Its Shortcomings
Alternatives to the Social Democratic Interpretation
Epilogue: Socialism and the Welfare State
References
3 Political Legitimacy and Consensus: Missing Variables in the Assessment of Social Policy
Types of Political Economy among Market-Oriented Rich Democracies: Democratic Corporatism or the Mass Society
Corporatist Democracies Can Tax, Spend, and yet Stay Cool
Corporatism, Consensus, and the Politics of Evaluation Research
Conclusion
References
4 Social Policy Evaluation and the Psychology of Stagnation
The Rising Expectations Hypothesis
Economic Sentiment and Changes in the National Economy
The Maldistribution Hypothesis
The Malallocation Hypothesis
Conclusions
References
5 Expectancies, Entitlements, and Subjective Welfare
Introduction
Conceptual Considerations
Expectancies and Entitlements with Respect to Pay
Measures
Empirical Model
Results
Summary and Some Implications
References
II Boundaries of the Welfare State and the Foci of Policy Evaluation
6 The Growing Complexity of Economic Claims in Welfare Societies
The Welfare Economy
Employer-Provided Welfare Benefits
The Redefinition of the Territory of Social Policy
The Development of Employee Benefits and Government Transfers in the United States since 1929
Conclusion
References
7 Systematic Confusions in the Evaluation of Implementing Decisions
Publicized Governmental Actions with Little Effect on Value Allocations
Implementation That Maintains Established Inequalities
The Free Market in Creating Regulatory Agencies
The Symbolic Uses of Formal Goals
Issue Networks as Masked Regulators
Governmental Organizations as Political Reinforcements
References
8 The Welfare State: Issues of Rationing and Allocation of Resources
9 Charting the Iceberg: Visible and Invisible Aspects of Government
Introduction
The Growth of the Public Sector
Indirect Spending by the Government
The Invisible Government
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Forms of Government Control
Conclusion
References
III Evaluation Research: Concepts and Issues
10 The Scope of Evaluation Activities in the United States
Policy Issues and Evaluation Research
Policy Issues and Corresponding Evaluation Strategies
References
11 Equity Criteria for the Evaluation of Social Welfare Programs: Mothers' Summer Recreation
Summer Recreation for Mothers
Criteria and Procedures for Selecting Participants: The Theoretical Target Efficiency of the Program
Implementation of the Selection Process
The Outcome of the Recruitment and Selection Processes in One Community
The Distribution of Resources among Communities
Conclusions
References
12 Community Mental Health in Israel: an Interim Policy Assessment
Introduction
Community Mental Health in the United States and Israel
Data Sources
Findings
Discussion
Conclusion
References
13 Reward Structures and the Organizational Design of Institutions for the Elderly
Introduction
Reimbursement Policy and Nursing Home Adaptations
Interactions between Staff and Patients
Organizational Design
Implications for Policy
References
14 Evaluating Slack in Public Programs by the Experience Curves Method
The Meanings and Definition of Slack in Public Programs
The Experience Curves Technique
The Use of Experience Curves in Calculating Slack in Public Programs
Conclusion and Further Policy Implications
References
IV Policy Evaluation in Selected Fields
15 Predicting the Consequences of Policy Changes: the Case of Public and Private Schools
Segregation and Private Schooling
The Current Status: Segregation between and within Public and Private Sectors
Internal Segregation in Public, Catholic, and Other Private Sectors
The Predicted Impact of a Policy Change Facilitating Private Schools
Discipline, Order, and Private Schooling
The Current Status: Discipline and Order in Public and Private Schools
Conclusion
References
16 The Evaluation of Social Outcomes in Education
Introduction
Two Social Interventions
Data and Measurement
Concluding Remarks
References
17 The Impact of Employment Programs on Offenders, Addicts, and Problem Youth: Implications from Supported Work
Introduction
Impacts of Early Programs
Supported Work: Program and Demonstration Design
Findings
Conclusions
References
18 Changes in Helping Networks with Changes in the Health of Older People: Social Policy and Social Theory
Introduction
Kinds of Helping Patterns
Sequencing of Primary Groups with Stages of Health
The Analysis of Empirical Data
The Sequence of Primary Groups for "Regular" Nonhousehold Functions
Research and Social Policy
References
V Debate, Choices, and the Impact of Evaluation
19 Policy Evaluation as Societal Learning
The Nature of Policy Decision Making
Alternative Routes to Policy
The Place of Research
Conclusion
References
20 Fluctuations in the Political Demand for Policy Analysis
Fluctuations in the Political Demand for Analysis over the Policy Cycle
Fluctuations in the Political Demand for Analysis over the Economic Cycle
Conclusion
References
21 Hardness of Choice
Introduction
The Hardness of Hard Choices
The Evaluation and Judgment of Hard Choices
References
22 The Political Culture of Social Welfare Policy
The Nature of Issue Cultures
The Culture of Welfare Policy
Resonances with Cultural Themes
Welfare Resonances
Conclusion
References
Subject Index