Economic Crisis, Political Transition and Poverty Policy Reform
Author : Santiago Levy
Publisher :
Page : 179 pages
File Size : 40,60 MB
Release : 2004
Category : Poor
ISBN :
Political Competition, Economic Reform and Growth
Author : Ivan Pavletic
Publisher : vdf Hochschulverlag AG
Page : 235 pages
File Size : 32,70 MB
Release : 2010
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 3728132969
Book Description
Which political and institutional factors trigger reforms that enable the poor to benefit from the process of economic growth? How can the incentives of policy makers be influenced in order to achieve such a dynamic? These are the questions this study seeks to address by examining the transition process in post-communist countries. The author argues that political competition within an accepted and respected institutional environment has been a driving force in shaping the direction and success of transition reforms. Evidence shows that in countries with a sufficient degree of political competition, citizens responded to economic crises by calling for economic liberalization. Economic liberalization removed existing distortions, increased economic efficiency and raised public welfare. This activated a dynamic, self-enforcing reform process that also strengthened the political and economic power of the poor. In the absence of political competition, such a process failed to emerge, thereby contributing to the persistence of poverty. Based on these findings, there is good reason to postulate that some level of political competition is essential for transition reforms to improve economic efficiency and public welfare in a sustainable manner.
Safety Nets, Politics, and the Poor
Author : Carol L. Graham
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
Page : 393 pages
File Size : 28,17 MB
Release : 2010-12-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0815719892
Book Description
Countries worldwide are attempting difficult transitions from state-planned to market economies. Most of these countries have fragile democratic regimes that are threatened by the high social and political costs of reform. Governments—and ultimately societies—have to make hard choices about allocating scarce public resources as they undergo these transitions. A central, often controversial, and most poignant question is how to protect vulnerable groups and the poor. What compensation, what "safety net" will be provided for them? Carol Graham argues that safety nets can provide an environment in which economic reform is more politically sustainable and poverty can be permanently reduced. However, these two objectives frequently involve trade-offs, as vocal and organized opponents of reform (for obvious political reasons) often concern governments far more than the poor. These organized and less vulnerable groups tend to place heavy demands on the scarce resources available to governments at times of economic crisis. Governments that fail to address the social costs of reform, meanwhile, often face popular opposition that jeopardizes or even derails the entire market transition--the results of the September 1993 elections in Poland are a case in point. The author examines these trade-offs in detail, with a particular focus on how political and institutional contexts affect the kinds of safety nets that are implemented. For example, reaching the poor and vulnerable with safety nets tends to be more difficult in closed-party systems, such as in Senegal, where entrenched interest groups have a monopoly on state benefits. In contrast, dramatic political change or rapid implementation of economic reform undermines the influence of such groups and therefore can provide unique political opportunities to redirect resources to the poor, as in the case of Bolivia and Zambia. Rather than focus their efforts on organized interest groups--such as public sector
Changing Poverty, Changing Policies
Author : Maria Cancian
Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
Page : 441 pages
File Size : 28,46 MB
Release : 2009-08-27
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1610445988
Book Description
Poverty declined significantly in the decade after Lyndon Johnson's 1964 declaration of "War on Poverty." Dramatically increased federal funding for education and training programs, social security benefits, other income support programs, and a growing economy reduced poverty and raised expectations that income poverty could be eliminated within a generation. Yet the official poverty rate has never fallen below its 1973 level and remains higher than the rates in many other advanced economies. In this book, editors Maria Cancian and Sheldon Danziger and leading poverty researchers assess why the War on Poverty was not won and analyze the most promising strategies to reduce poverty in the twenty-first century economy. Changing Poverty, Changing Policies documents how economic, social, demographic, and public policy changes since the early 1970s have altered who is poor and where antipoverty initiatives have kept pace or fallen behind. Part I shows that little progress has been made in reducing poverty, except among the elderly, in the last three decades. The chapters examine how changing labor market opportunities for less-educated workers have increased their risk of poverty (Rebecca Blank), and how family structure changes (Maria Cancian and Deborah Reed) and immigration have affected poverty (Steven Raphael and Eugene Smolensky). Part II assesses the ways childhood poverty influences adult outcomes. Markus Jäntti finds that poor American children are more likely to be poor adults than are children in many other industrialized countries. Part III focuses on current antipoverty policies and possible alternatives. Jane Waldfogel demonstrates that policies in other countries—such as sick leave, subsidized child care, and schedule flexibility—help low-wage parents better balance work and family responsibilities. Part IV considers how rethinking and redefining poverty might take antipoverty policies in new directions. Mary Jo Bane assesses the politics of poverty since the 1996 welfare reform act. Robert Haveman argues that income-based poverty measures should be expanded, as they have been in Europe, to include social exclusion and multiple dimensions of material hardships. Changing Poverty, Changing Policies shows that thoughtful policy reforms can reduce poverty and promote opportunities for poor workers and their families. The authors' focus on pragmatic measures that have real possibilities of being implemented in the United States not only provides vital knowledge about what works but real hope for change.
Economic Crisis And The Politics Of Reform In Egypt
Author : Ray Bush
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 184 pages
File Size : 19,76 MB
Release : 2019-04-10
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0429721471
Book Description
This book examines the character and consequences of Egypt's economic reform and structural adjustment programme of 1991, along with the second stage of reforms in 1996. It contributes to the debates underpinning the political economy of economic reform and agricultural reform.
Political Competition, Economic Reform and Growth
Author : Ivan Pavletic
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 37,64 MB
Release : 2010
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9783728133113
Book Description
Abstract: Which political and institutional factors trigger reforms that enable the poor to benefit from the process of economic growth? How can the incentives of policy makers be influenced in order to achieve such a dynamic? These are the questions this study seeks to address by examining the transition process in post-communist countries. The author argues that political competition within an accepted and respected institutional environment has been a driving force in shaping the direction and success of transition reforms. Evidence shows that in countries with a sufficient degree of political competition, citizens responded to economic crises by calling for economic liberalization. Economic liberalization removed existing distortions, increased economic efficiency and raised public welfare. This activated a dynamic, self-enforcing reform process that also strengthened the political and economic power of the poor. In the absence of political competition, such a process failed to emerge, t
The Political and Social Construction of Poverty
Author : Romano, Serena
Publisher : Policy Press
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 44,83 MB
Release : 2014-01-29
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1447312732
Book Description
Poverty is not a neutral phenomenon, nor are social inclusion programmes neutrally conceived, designed and implemented.Their ultimate nature is built upon ideas, values, actors, politics and economic constraints.This topical book is one of the first to examine the social and political construction of anti-poverty programmes in Central Eastern Europe and their transformation from communist rule to the current economic crisis. It covers the approach towards the ‘parasite’ poor through to Guaranteed Minimum Income Schemes and illustrates how the distinction between different categories of ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor has evolved over the years as the result of changing paradigms, combined with the pressure exerted by domestic and international actors, the European Union and the World Bank among others. This text breaks new ground for social policy students and scholars interested in understanding how differently post-communist welfare states have represented, legitimised and dealt with poverty, need and social justice in accordance with divergent normative frameworks constructed at national level.
Economic Reform and Democracy
Author : Larry Jay Diamond
Publisher :
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 41,69 MB
Release : 1995
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN :
Book Description
The emergence of new democracies in Eastern Europe has raised anew the question of the relationship between economic reform and political liberalization. This work brings together a group of authorities to examine this question as it relates to Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Political Crises, Social Conflict and Economic Development
Author : Andrés Solimano
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 28,64 MB
Release : 2005-01-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781845425715
Book Description
Political Crises, Social Conflict and Economic Development is a rare attempt to undertake comparative political economy analysis of the Andean region and thus represents a welcome contribution. . . It is clearly written and will engage scholars interested in Latin America from a wide range of disciplines. Jonathan di John, Journal of Agrarian Change This collection of essays on the political economy of the Andean region goes to the heart of the struggle these smaller economies face in completing crucial reforms and achieving higher growth. Andrés Solimano has brought together the best and the brightest talent from each country, the result being the most compelling analysis ever of how enclave development and a historical dependence on primary exports renders these countries distinctly Andean. As the essays argue, the political solutions and economic remedies must address this phenomenon, rather than mimicking those strategies of the larger emerging market countries in the region. Carol Wise, University of Southern California, US The contributors to this authoritative volume analyze the impact of political crises and social conflict on economic performance in the Andean region of Latin America. The blend of theory and case studies is also relevant for understanding other complex societies in the developing world and transition economies. The book provides illuminating insights on how to understand, and survive, the complicated interactions between volatile politics, unstable democracies, violence, social inequality and uneven economic performance. Recent political economy theories are combined with valuable quantitative and qualitative information on presidential crises, breakdowns of democracy, constitutional reforms, quality of institutions, and social inequality and exclusion to understand actual country realities. Part I provides the conceptual framework and a regional perspective of the book. Part II contains five political economy country studies Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela written by leading scholars in the field and former senior policymakers, including a former President. Together, the chapters highlight the detrimental effects of political instability and social conflict on economic growth and stability, as well as the feedback effects from poor economic performance on political instability and institutional fragility. The country studies warn that narrow economic reforms that do not pay adequate attention to politics, institutions and social structures are bound to fail in bringing lasting prosperity and stability to complex societies. Examining new and rich information on episodes of political turmoil, military interventions, forced presidential resignations, constitutional reforms and social uprisings, this book will be required reading for all those interested in the interface of politics and economic development.
Poor States, Power and the Politics of IMF Reform
Author : Mark Hibben
Publisher : Springer
Page : 195 pages
File Size : 42,90 MB
Release : 2016-06-02
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1137577509
Book Description
This books provides a timely comparative case study that reveals the factors driving the International Monetary Fund's policy reform in Low Income Developing Countries (LIDCs), as a resurgent IMF expands its footprint in the world's poorest states. Through a research design that employs both mainstream and critical IPE theory, Mark Hibben uncovers three major tendencies. Principal-agent analysis, he argues, demonstrates that coalition formation among powerful states, IMF staff and management, and other influential actors is necessary for policy reform. At the same time, he uses constructivist analysis to show that ideational frameworks of what merits appropriate macroeconomic policy response also have an impact on reform efforts, and that IMF management and staff seek legitimacy in their policy choices. In response to the crises in 1999 and 2008, the author maintains, poverty and inequality now 'matter' in IMF thinking and serve as an opportunity for policy insiders and external actors to deepen the institution's new commitment to 'inclusive' growth. Finally, Hibben draws on neo-Gramscian analysis to highlight how the IMF looked to soften the destabilizing effects of globalization through reforms focused on stakeholder participation in poor states and will continue to do so in its support of the new United Nation Sustainable Development Goals. This means that the 2015-2030 time period will be a critical juncture for IMF LIDC reform. By drawing from diverse theoretical traditions, the author thus provides a unique framework for the study of contemporary IMF change and how best those interested in LIDC policy reform can meet this objective.
