Class 1 Introduction 2

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MDS C-305 Course



Human beings have historically relied on their own efforts tomeet their needs.

Support from families, clans, neighbors and religiousorganizations also assist in meeting needs.

Government now play a major role in meeting needs andpromoting welfare. They have done so through passing laws,using tax subsidies and incentives, paying income benefitsand providing social services.

Also the courts make judicial decisions that have an effecton the welfare of people.

These various measures are collectively known as social policies.



Social policy primarily refers to guidelines, principles,legislation and activities that affect the living conditionsconducive to human welfare. Thus, social policy is that part of public policy that has to do with social issues.

The Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy atHarvardUniversity describes it as "public policy and practice in theareas of health care, human services, criminal justice,inequality, education, and labor.

Social Policy is also distinct as an academic field whichfocuses on the systematic evaluation of societies' responses tosocial need.





Different Paradigms (fromnormative perspective) of Social Policy



Residual social policy model favor

limited state intervention,

high degree of personal responsibility,

involvement of nonprofit organizations in welfare, and

maximum use of market mechanisms to meet socialneeds.

governments role should be limited to providing a safety netfor those who cannot help themselves and to that smallproportion of the population that is not able to functioneffectively in the market.

Residual ParadigmResidual Paradigm



Institutional social policy model believe

Government should cover everybody and provideuniversal benefits and social services for all,

long term provision of benefits, and

Extensive government intervention in both the economy and social affairs.

governments role should be to protect all from the socialcosts of operating an industrialized capitalist market, ratherthan letting those costs fall on those who experience the risksof industrial society

Institutional ParadigmInstitutional Paradigm



Social Policy Scholars pointed that these two models mostly fit the experience of Western industrial countries but do notaccurately describe the social policies of many developingcountries which were seeking to integrate social policies with

economic policies for promoting economic development. Thismodel of social policy is called as developmental model of social policy or social development. Both terms are widely used and has the same meaning.

In developing countries, social development term is commonly used as it was popularized by UN agencies to describe the way thegovernments of many developing countries linked social policies with their economic development activities. NGOs also have a rolein popularizing the term as most of their activities fall under theheading of social development.



Definition of Social Development Definition of Social Development

The developmental social policy or SocialDevelopment promotes those social welfare interventionsthat are productivist and contribute to economic

development. These interventions are known as socialinvestment strategies.

Earlier two models, residual and institutional, has

separated the goals of social welfare and economicdevelopment.

Social Development model is rooted in the belief thatadvancement in material production is only justified if it

brings desirable social improvement.



History of Social Development Paradigm



inin Developed CountriesDeveloped Countries

Social Policy history reveals that almost all Western developedcountries have adopted social development model in early 1900sto bring progressive social change through deliberate policy interventions.

European scholars in 18th and 19th century challenged thedominance of laissez-faire and Social Darwinist theoriesproposing that social science knowledge should be applied inplanning to bring desired social progress.

Their argument gained dominance in the early decades of the20th century when social democratic political parties representingthe interests of industrial workers in the European countriesbecame influential and later won elections and came to office.



(cont.) (cont.)

Soviet Russia introduced developmental social policy in theircentralized economic planning.

Countries who still had not adopted developmental socialpolicy soon followed other countries as Keynesian economic

management policies and Leonard Hobhouses social planningboth suggested government intervention as a way to get out fromthe economic depression of 1930s. Hobhose is particularly remembered for coining and popularizing the term socialdevelopment. Thus Developmental social policy was the chief feature of new deal policies by the Roosevelt administration.

After World War II, European and Scandinavian countries hadsubstantially increased the coverage of developmental socialpolicy chiefly due to its productivist feature and partly in fear of

spreading socialistic ideals.



(cont.) (cont.)

Social Development perspective came under serious questionduring the oil shocks of the 1970s and subsequent stagflation(stagnation + inf lation). Using the discontent of ordinary people,radical right-wing political parties gained electoral support in USand UK and began a dramatic reduction of governments role in

social and economic affairs.

In this period, some economists persuasively argued in favor of minimal government role in economic and social life of citizens.

Feldstein (1974) claimed social insurance was encouragingexcessive consumption and harming the nations capacity to save.

Bacon and Eltis (1976) argued excessive government spending hasplaced a huge burden on the productive economy.

Murray (1984) reasoned that social programs in US had created

serious work disincentives.



(cont.) (cont.)

Neoliberal ideology, resorting on these claims, attacked on thebelief that social welfare is a key responsibility of government.They actually despised any form of government intervention andkind of worship market forces. Soon many developed countriesdenationalized a large part of publicly owned industries and

deregulated large part of the economy. These accompaniedretrenchments in government welfare provisions.

By the late 1980s communist governments of East Europeancountries and Soviet Union collapsed and neoliberal ideology hadbecome well established. The social development model, itseemed, became obsolete and irrelevant.

However, some developed countries are still pursuinginstitutional model and justify their actions based on humanrights perspective. (Current Sovereign Debt Crisis???)



inin Developing CountriesDeveloping Countries

During 19th and half of the 20th century, most of the developingcountries were under colonial rules. The colonial authorities hadintroduced limited social development services to modernize thecolonial society of cities, facilitate the business interest, and in

some cases to improve the welfare of poor. Religious institutionshave played key role in materializing these policies.

One of the key aspirations of gaining independence was thatfreedom will create opportunity for economic development and

increase in social welfare. To the people of developing countries,economic growth and social welfare were always intertwined.However, low resource base of these countries forced them tochoose between economic growth and social welfare. Interestingly countries adopted those social welfare policies which has linkageto economic growth.



(cont.) (cont.) Many academic experts supported this path of developing

countries claiming that governments will not able to raise thestandards of living of the people through economic growth if they did not simultaneously adopt social policies and programdesigned specifically to improve peoples well-being.

Concept of unified socio-economic planning by Myrdal (1960s)

Redistribution with growth model by World Bank (Chenery et al.,1974) and Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University.

Basic needs approach by Paul Streeten and others (1981)

Social planning approach by Hardiman and Midgley (1982)

And, the community participation movement by NGOs

The term social development came into use at this time todescribe the efforts of governments and communities to promotethe well-being of all people in conjunction with an ongoing

process of economic development (Midgley, 1995).



(cont.) (cont.) In the early 1980s many developing countries defaulted on theirforeign loans as stagflation in the developed countries resultedinto substantial decline of export earnings. As a result they areforced to ask aid from IMF and World Bank. These organizationsimposed SAP as a condition to give loans. Soon many developing

countries, due to SAP criteria, privatized and deregulated a largepart of economy as well as substantially reduced the size of various social welfare programs.

The idea of targeted coverage policy rather than universal

coverage policy is actually the outcome of SAP.

From 1990 onwards, UNDP strongly argued in favor of integrated social and economic objectives for a sustainabledevelopment process in its Human development reports. Thus

MDG is a recent example of developmental social policy.



Theory of Social Development Paradigm



Normative and Conceptual IssuesNormative and Conceptual Issues

Some social policy scholars argue that social development lackscoherence and clarity in its theoretical perspective. Socialdevelopment, according to them, is a pragmatic approach to socialpolicy and therefore is often accused of being vague and nebulous

in terms of its goal.

However, scholars has general agreement and understandingabout the conceptual and normative issues on whichdevelopmental social policy is based.

Progressive Social Change

Social Intervention and Collective action

Universalism, Equality and Inclusivity

Harmony between economic and social policies



Progressive Social ChangeProgressive Social Change

Advocates of social development are critical of charityapproach which merely transfer resources to the poor throughconventional income maintenance and social service programsbut tend to maintain needy people at unacceptably low income

levels. So, they actively support in the dynamic conception of socialchange that invests in peoples capacities and thereby raisesstandards of living for all.

The argument goes that empirical findings does not sufficiently support that economic growth automatically draw all the poor outof poverty and improve standards of living. So besides economicgrowth, countries need to adopt social policies to successfully alleviate poverty and meet social needs of poor and disadvantaged

class.



Social Intervention & Collective ActionSocial Intervention & Collective Action

Social development, besides progressive change, also stressesthe need for purposeful interventions to bring significantimprovements in standards of living. The rationale is some socialproblems can only be solved through deliberate and planned

effort. And the interventions only achieve success when thesolution are decided, agreed upon and implemented collectively.

Collective action at the community and local level is vital but insome cases implementation by government is more effective.

Proponents of social development reject the claim that all socialproblems can be solved or all social needs can be metspontaneously through economic/ market processes. According tothem developing countries developing countries suffer some

unique problems due to the structure of society and economy.



Universalism, Equality and InclusivityUniversalism, Equality and Inclusivity

Advocates of developmental social policy argue that social policy interventions should benefit all members of society and shouldnot be concerned only with the most needy and vulnerablegroups. So, social development, with some exceptions, need to be

universal and seek to enhance the well-being of entire population. They also believe that steps must be taken to deal with the highinequality and support redistributive policies which createsinclusive economic growth.

They argue that social policy toward disadvantaged anddiscriminated groups like women, ethnic and tribal minorities,nomadic and immigrant communities etc. should beimplemented within a universalistic set of developmental policiesand programs that seek to promote the welfare of all.



Harmony between economic andHarmony between economic and

social policiessocial policies Proponents of social development argue that it is possible toharmonize the social and economic components of thedevelopment process and to offer a holistic, inclusive set of policy prescriptions for addressing the problems of poverty, economic

growth and social deprivation. In one hand, social policy need to be focused on those social

welfare programs that contribute positively to economicdevelopment. This emphasis on productivism is a unique anddefining feature of social development. So, it is not a drain for

the economy. On the other hand, economic policy need to be people-centeredand enable maximum participation in gainful activities. Economicgrowth should accompany decline in corruption, safeguarding

democratic institutions & protecting human rights.



Social Development inPractice



Investing in Human CapitalInvesting in Human Capital

Economists now agree that human capital investments producepositive rates of return not only to the individual (facilitate theirentry and effective participation in the productive economy) butto society as a whole (more productive labor).

Unfortunately human capital programs are often poorly plannedand administered and that investments in education and training were not specifically linked to gainful permanent employment. (example: JOBS program in US)

There is growing awareness that human capital investments areparticularly needed for the children of poor people to raisenutritional standards, improve health conditions, bettereducational skills and foster positive social behavior. (example -

Integrated Child Development Services in India)



Investing in Employment andInvesting in Employment and

Self Self--employment programsemployment programs

Those who currently receive income/food benefits need to besupported with retraining, job placement opportunity and credit,if we want to stop perpetual dependency.

Job placement program has some common difficulties -eligibility determination is complex, funds are limited, employersare not always enthusiastic about employing those who receive welfare benefits, etc. However, empirical evidence shows that suchprograms often produce significant gains in economicparticipation as well as improvements in attitudes among those who are served by these programs.

Employment programs also involve job creation, particularly forthose who cannot cope in the open labor market. (example foodfor work/cash for work)



Investing in Social CapitalInvesting in Social Capital

Social capital refers to the social networks and socialrelationships that promote community integration. In a famousstudy by Putnam and others (1993) found that communities with ahigh degree of social capital are more prosperous than those witha low degree of social capital. Low-income communities with highrates of social disorganization, crime and despair have low socialcapital as well as low levels of economic development. Whilecommunities that were well integrated and had high levels of social participation and strong social networks had a better

economic development record.

Social capital formation programs include mobilize local peoplearound a variety of local economic development initiatives, betterlinks among local people and planners, support SME activities in

the area and promote external investment.



Investing in Asset Development Investing in Asset Development

Asset development approach argues that poor people should notonly be encouraged to save but also incentives to be given to do so.Sherraden (1991) advocates creation of matched savings accountsby governments and that total accumulations may be withdrawnfor socially approved purposes e.g. education or housing. Scholarsclaim that such programs change attitudes, values and workhabits so that participants acquire the confidence to become self-sufficient.

Such approach also worked successfully in accumulation of community assets - local people collaborate with government andinternational/ local NGOs to build roads, clinics and schools andto install clean drinking water and irrigation systems. Thesefacilities function as productive assets to the local economy.

Community assets also contribute in social capital formation.



Removing barriers to economicRemoving barriers to economic

participationparticipation

There are many examples where welfare benefit receivers like to work but they are prevented from doing so by lackingtransportation to work/access to day care/credits etc.

These are other entrenched and institutionalized obstacles likethe problems of prejudice and discrimination based on race andethnicity, gender, age, nationality, disability, etc. Unless thesechallenges are met, human capital programs, job placement and

others social investments will not achieve the goal of promotingfull economic participation.

Many countries have adopted anti-discriminatory andaffirmative action programs which played major role in reducing

these impediments. However, some people resist such programs.



Investing in Cost Effective SocialInvesting in Cost Effective Social

ProgramProgram Social programs themselves should be efficient, well-managedand regularly evaluated to ensure that they meet their stated goalsin cost effective ways. It is unfortunate that empirical findings

suggest many social service programs are wasteful,administratively rigid and mismanaged. Some also claim that they serve political and bureaucratic interests rather than the needs of poor people.

Therefore such programs require greater use of planning toolssuch as cost benefit analysis, needs assessments and evaluationresearch to ensure that efficiency is maximized. However, moralcriteria should not be ignored when conducting efficiency test of the programs.



Although the strategies described earlier are chiefly focused on poor and needy people,

it is important to stress that social development is concerned with social welfareat the broadest level and for promoting the

well-being of all people.

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Class 1 Introduction 2