When ‘Choice’ and ‘Choice’ Are not the Same: Institutional Frameworks of Choice in the German Welfare System

Abstract

The creation and strengthening of welfare markets in Germany means that citizens can increasingly choose among competing providers of welfare goods and services. However, the conditions under which citizens may exercise choice in various fields of social policy are quite different. A major reason for these differences can be found in the public institutions that frame citizens' choice in welfare markets. This article analyses welfare markets in German health care, long-term care, pensions and employment policies, paying special attention to the respective public institutional frameworks. It will be argued that differences between frameworks of choice can be categorized by means of four parameters representing different aspects of public involvement in welfare markets. Depending on the kind and the degree of public involvement, welfare markets may be compatible with 'traditional' notions of public responsibility for citizens' social security.

Capabilities and Choices of Vulnerable, Long-Term Unemployed Individuals

“…Such conditions form part of the institutional framework of choice (Blank, 2009), which is largely determined by the players providing employment services and the policies they implement and enforce. There have been strategic shifts within the provider landscape that have resulted in powerful prime providers dominating the field (Taylor et al, 2016).…”

“…Choice can broadly be defined as a freedom to decide based on self-determined preferences (Blank, 2009). For the purpose of this paper, choice is conceptualised by drawing on and critiquing the capabilities approach, originally developed by Sen (cf.…”

“…This paper investigates the extent to which employment support within a market-based system of delivery can damage individuals' capability to make choices. To this end, the 'institutional framework of choice' (Blank, 2009) is assessed, though it can be argued that the employment and support provision is designed to reduce choice. More specifically, the focus is on the support provided by 'Charity A', a third-sector organisation working with long-term and vulnerable unemployed individuals.…”

Welfare user roles in a conservative welfare state. Are Germans citizens, consumers or co-producers?

“…This has been argued with a strong focus on British social policy. Recently, more case studies of changes in other European countries added to this strand of research, such as Sweden (Blomqvist 2004) and Germany (Ewert 2009;Blank 2009) as well as increasingly comparative studies (Newman and Kuhlmann 2007;Fenger 2009;Greve 2009). Likewise, the original concept of social citizenship has been contested as a consequence of policy reforms that increased the conditionality of citizens' social rights (Clegg and Clasen 2007).…”

Technologies of choice: The shaping of choice on the World Wide Web

“…In thinking about choice in contemporary society, choice has become a key organising principle of public services and public policy in many countries, including -but not limited to -Australia (Campbell, Proctor, & Sherington, 2009;Haigh, 2012); the U.K. (6, 2003;Newman & Kuhlmann, 2007;Taylor-Gooby, 1998); Germany (Blank, 2009); the United States (Bownds, 2003); and Sweden (Blomqvist, 2004). Choice is framed in these discourses in terms of 'consumer' and 'customer' choice, whereby individuals are constructed as consumers of public services.…”