Public policy conceptions: priorities of social service provision in Europe

Mätzke, Margitta; Anttonen, Anneli; Brokking, Peter; Javornik, Jana

doi:10.4337/9781786432117.00011

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Central‐local tensions may arise from the supply side (e.g., access to services as a function of social service and benefit availability as seen from the perspective of social service providers); and the demand side (e.g., the perspective of users of social services, cf. Mätzke et al, 2017). Street‐level bureaucrats operate in between these two perspectives, which can create significant moral dilemmas (Sabbe, Moyson, & Schiffino, 2021), forcing them to operate as pragmatic agents (Maynard‐Moody & Musheno, 2012).…”

Section: Central‐local Tensions From a Camentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two key trends in central‐local governance are visible: (a) the devolution of regulative powers from central government to local organizations ( vertical subsidiarity ); and (b) the multiplication of actors involved in designing, managing and implementing social policies ( horizontal subsidiarity ) (Kazepov, 2010; cf. Mätzke, Brokking, Anntonen, & Javornik, 2017). Territorial reorganization of social policies has created unprecedented cost containment and retrenchment, yielding new roles and responsibilities for regions and municipalities, increased involvement of private and public actors, and diversification of policy delivery and outcomes at local levels (Kazepov, 2010; cf.…”

Section: Central‐local Tensions From a Camentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Territorial reorganization of social policies has created unprecedented cost containment and retrenchment, yielding new roles and responsibilities for regions and municipalities, increased involvement of private and public actors, and diversification of policy delivery and outcomes at local levels (Kazepov, 2010; cf. Mätzke, Brokking, Anntonen, & Javornik, 2017; Trommel, 2013). These processes have fundamentally altered the powers and autonomy of local authorities, and include national‐level retrenchment in welfare state provision and other developments through which the national state awarded local authorities new powers but also imposed new constraints.…”

Section: Central‐local Tensions From a Camentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Central‐local tensions in the decentralization of social policies: Street‐level bureaucrats and social practices in the Netherlands

Jansen

Javornik²,

Brummel

et al. 2021

Soc Policy Adm

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European welfare reforms often involve the decentralization of social care services. This potentially creates central‐local tensions for professionals implementing and delivering policies on the ground. Using the capability approach (CA) as a conceptual frame, this article compares local professionals' experiences in the decentralization of social work and care services in an urban and a rural mid‐sized municipality in the Netherlands. It offers a missing insiders' perspective on central‐local tensions, focusing on front‐line workers' capabilities to effectively implement policy on the ground. It finds that perfect policy implementation is hardly achievable locally and that policies are translated through implementation and on‐the‐ground delivery. This leads to central‐local tensions and the absence of reflective space for professionals to deal with normative dilemmas. We conclude that the CA is both useful for identifying these tensions as well as providing a normative framework to guide professionals in reflecting on and negotiating street‐level issues.

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Section: Central‐local Tensions From a Camentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Central‐local Tensions From a Camentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Central‐local Tensions From a Camentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Central‐local tensions in the decentralization of social policies: Street‐level bureaucrats and social practices in the Netherlands

Jansen

Javornik²,

Brummel

et al. 2021

Soc Policy Adm

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“…Most childcare policy scholars agree that available data have several shortcomings, such as a focus on the public sector, expenditure levels covering multiple services and programmes and variation in what is measured (Fagan and Hebson, 2005; Keck et al, 2009; Lambert, 2008; Mätzke et al, 2017; OECD, 2018; Plantenga and Remery, 2005). Considering these issues, we use multiple sources and single-country reports to provide a comprehensive comparative analysis (Eurostat, 2017; Eurydice, 2018; Multilinks, 2011; OECD, 2017a, 2017b, 2018; Plantenga and Remery, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2015).…”

Section: Operationalizing and Evaluating Childcare Capabilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Creating capabilities: Childcare policies in comparative perspective

Yerkes

Javornik

2018

Journal of European Social Policy

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This article analyses childcare services in six countries, assessing this policy instrument’s potential to facilitate parents’ capabilities for arranging childcare in a way they have reason to value. It draws on Sen’s capability approach to conceptualize and assess childcare policy design across five key aspects of childcare provision (accessibility, availability, affordability, quality and flexibility) in a country-comparative perspective. The conceptualization of the multifaceted nature of childcare provides compelling insights into the complexity of comparing childcare services across countries. The ensuing analysis and comprehensive overview of national policies challenges the idea of a defamilialization policy cluster, which masks key distinctions between public and market service provision. The more nuanced conceptualization and operationalization of childcare policy design through the capability approach reveals parents’ real opportunities for arranging childcare and the varying effects of policy design across gender and class. In addition, it goes beyond implicit commodification assumptions and opens up space for parents’ potential desire for multiple care arrangement possibilities.

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Conceptualizing National Family Policies: A Capabilities Approach

Javornik

Yerkes

2020

The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy

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Comparative family policy research has advanced significantly in recent years. The growing availability of more and better data have improved our understanding of cross-national similarities and differences in family policies, as well as how they shape the lives of different families. Despite these advancements, comparative family policy research continues to face difficulties. The multifaceted nature of family policies makes cross-country comparisons complex. Conceptualizing our theoretical understanding of which policy aspects matter and why as well as operationalizing them into measurable indicators, often remains problematic for comparative analyses. Using examples of British and Swedish policies on childcare, a policy area particularly prone to conceptual challenges, we discuss the difficulties involved in conceptualizing family policies in comparative research. We argue that taking a capabilities approach provides a useful way forward in the field and show how such a conceptual framework allows us to more meaningfully analyze both work-family policies and their outcomes.

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Public policy conceptions: priorities of social service provision in Europe

Cited by 3 publications

References 16 publications

Central‐local tensions in the decentralization of social policies: Street‐level bureaucrats and social practices in the Netherlands

Central‐local tensions in the decentralization of social policies: Street‐level bureaucrats and social practices in the Netherlands

Creating capabilities: Childcare policies in comparative perspective

Conceptualizing National Family Policies: A Capabilities Approach

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