Christian Aspalter – författare

Aspalter asserts that the belief that the development of high standard welfare states is primarily based on the ideology that pro-welfare, mostly leftwing, parties dominate welfare state literature and common thought in the Western world. Instead, in this examination of the welfare states of East Asia, Aspalter and his contributors show that they grew as naturally as they did in most Western countries, but that the reasons for this are other than pro-welfare ideologies. The five welfare states—Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore—are residual welfare states with low levels of welfare benefits and provision when compared to extended welfare states in Western Europe. While East Asian welfare states have experienced a hefty increase in welfare provision that has been regulated or provided by the state since the early 1970s, all five were set up and expanded by conservative governments with clear anti-welfare ideologies.The case studies provided by Aspalter and his contributors suggest that welfare state development in East Asia is caused to a large extent by social protests in general, and, for welfare in particular, by competition in democratic elections, and by the changing role of women. Social and demographic factors, such as the rise of the age structure of the population, do not cause welfare state expansion in the first place. They cause street protests, and street protests convince all kinds of governments—if they rule out the use of force—to implement social welfare. Moreover, politicians, who are afraid to lose elections, also take up welfare issues, which they would not do without electoral competition between candidates and parties. As Aspalter makes clear, governments do not have to wait until major protests occur or until they have lost an election in order to promote social welfare. The anticipation of such an event is sufficient. This book provides new insights on the development of welfare systems that will be of particular interest to scholars, students, and other researchers involved with social welfare, East Asian studies, and comparative politics.

Aspalter provides six country studies of the most developed welfare state systems in East Asia-Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the People's Republic of China. He applies a political approach to examine the causal determinants of welfare state development, such as:•historical factors•political systems•party systems•the politics of legitimization•the impact of constitutions•state structures•elections•social movementsA common trend in East Asian welfare state politics appears throughout this approach, and Aspalter shows that the welfare state is being extended, not reduced, as is the case in many areas affected by economic globalization. He concludes that social insurance systems are, for the most part, divided into occupational classes. Also, social assistance is highly stigmatized, and, for the most part, guaranteed after means tests. Most importantly, the State shows a strong disapproval of government-financed social welfare policies. This provocative analysis will be of particular interest to scholars, students, and other researchers involved with East Asia and comparative social welfare systems.

In recent years, government and policymakers around the world have shifted their attention away from money-oriented, supply-side economics to institutional economics and people-oriented social and economic development. Issues such as poverty reduction, win-win solutions and strategies in social policy and their implementation, universalization, and a variety of new large-scale conditional cash transfers programs have become ever-present in the global discussion about development and social policy.This book provides win-win strategies for social policies on the ground, as developed and put forward by the normative theoretical paradigm of Developmental Social Policy (DSP). Taking the state-of-the-art general development theory as a starting point of reference and discussion, it goes on to discuss in detail the key win-win strategies that form the basis and core of the DSP paradigm. It examines key related issues such as the performance of provident fund systems, the performance of conditional cash transfer systems (especially their elements that are based on asset- and means-testing), universalism and extension in social security provision in the context of especially developing countries, and "non-economically targeted" social welfare benefits and services.Providing fully-fledged theoretical guidance paired with key social policy strategies and solutions, it will be highly valuable for students and scholars of social policy, development studies, and Asia Pacific studies.

This book introduces readers to the world of ideal types within the readings of Max Weber by giving a theoretical understanding of ideal types, as well as applying the development of ideal types to an array of social policy arenas.The 21st century has seen the development of welfare regime analysis marked by two differing strands: real-typical welfare regime analyses and ideal-typical welfare regime analysis; the latter focusing on the formation, development, and application of ideal types in general comparative social policy. Designed to provide new theoretical and practical frameworks, as well as updated in-depth developments of ideal-typical welfare regime theory, this book shows how Weber’s method of setting up and checking against ‘ideal types’ can be used in a wide variety of policy areas, such as welfare state system comparison, comparative social and economic development, health policy, mental health policy, health care system analysis, gender policy, employment policy, education policy, and so forth.The book will be of interest to all scholars and students working in the fields of social policy, including health policy, public policy, political economy, sociology, social work, gender studies, social anthropology, and many more.

For the last two decades, major Asian economies have successfully kept their economic growth momentum going. Now, as these economies are entering a new phase of economic growth, more attention is being paid to their respective states of social development, especially the provision and the expansion of social security and, in particular, health care. Academic study of the development of health care in developing countries has been for the most part neglected by the literature, and in-depth country case studies that are directly comparable on a one-to-one basis have not yet been conducted in a systematic manner. This book volume also proposes a new stance on health policy and the health care policy paradigm, one that focuses on "saving lives" from premature death, as well as illness, accidents, misery and poverty, based on the normative theory of developmental social policy (DSP). This groundbreaking book will therefore serve as a valuable reference volume for health policy, social policy and public policy experts, social development experts, health and development economists, health sociologists, social workers, government administrators as well as other medical and health professionals and academics.

This book introduces readers to the world of ideal types within the readings of Max Weber by giving a theoretical understanding of ideal types, as well as applying the development of ideal types to an array of social policy arenas.The 21st century has seen the development of welfare regime analysis marked by two differing strands: real-typical welfare regime analyses and ideal-typical welfare regime analysis; the latter focusing on the formation, development, and application of ideal types in general comparative social policy. Designed to provide new theoretical and practical frameworks, as well as updated in-depth developments of ideal-typical welfare regime theory, this book shows how Weber’s method of setting up and checking against ‘ideal types’ can be used in a wide variety of policy areas, such as welfare state system comparison, comparative social and economic development, health policy, mental health policy, health care system analysis, gender policy, employment policy, education policy, and so forth.The book will be of interest to all scholars and students working in the fields of social policy, including health policy, public policy, political economy, sociology, social work, gender studies, social anthropology, and many more.

This book identifies the main causes of welfare state system extension, as well as the differences in welfare state system design and their consequences for human behavior and the future financial stability of the systems in place in different parts of Asia.Providing ten in-depth country case studies from across the region, including India, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and South Korea, as well as Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the book focuses on the situation of welfare state system development and its financing in some of the largest countries on earth. It addresses previously neglected areas for investigation, such as the causal reasons for welfare state system extension (not only in Asia, but in general), the types of social security systems and their incentive systems in place and the way they chiefly determine behavior—and thus determine the resulting social security needs.This book will be of interest to all scholars and students of social policy, public policy, political science, sociology, finance and economics, development studies and Asian studies more broadly.

This book addresses the global need for more comparative studies on health policy and health care systems, given the rise in recent decades of societal aging, modern mass diseases, economic globalization, and resulting permanent fiscal austerity of governments which have fundamentally altered the status quo of health care systems. The book examines the healthcare experiences of the most developed countries in Asia (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore) and compares these with four of the most important health care systems in Europe (UK, France, Germany and Italy). Focusing on the public health care systems the contributors discuss the rising need for reforms in health care and health insurance administration, delivery systems, financing and overall health care policy strategies, particularly in fast-aging societies in Asia, and highly aged societies in Europe. This book will appeal to students and scholars of health care policy, health and social administration, social policy, public policy and social work. It will also provide a reference for professionals who need a view of the trajectory of public health financing in relation to changed and changing demographics and disease patterns.

East Asian societies are changing rapidly, and one of the most important facets of this transformation is population the ageing. of society. "Active ageing" is one of the few concepts available today to effectively address the problems arising from a highly-aged and, particularly in East Asia, fast-ageing society, offering a new social policy paradigm to redirect and innovate new social policies, particularly social services, social transfers, social regulations and laws, towards more investment in and support of the fast rising number of olderelderly citizens. This book focuses on the experiences of East Asian societies where active ageing has been implemented. It presents a thorough analysis of the concept of active ageing and its potential and problems of implementations in different stages of development in East Asia, whilst providing theoretical clarity to, and broadening the concept of, active ageing. Further, the country-focused case studies explore how to design, pursue, measure and evaluate social policies, highlight the problems related to the implementation of the concept of active ageing in social policy and outline the practical implications of active ageing theory forin policy making. Active Ageing in Asia will appeal to students and scholars of social and public policy, social work, gerontology and health and social administration, as well as to policy makers working in the field.

Focusing on aspects of modern Taiwan related to the fields of economics, social policy and politics, this collection brings together leading scholars to discuss recent developments in Taiwanese society. The contributors discuss economic policy making in Taiwan, the Diaspora of Taiwanese businessmen, the issue of national identity, the factors behind political liberalization and democratization, labour and social politics, the emergence of social movements that promote new social policies, and the impact of democratization on welfare state politics in Taiwan. Since the lifting of martial law in 1987, Taiwan has undergone a period of rapid industrialization and democratization which has changed the face of Taiwanese society. This volume will provide an insight into these dramatic economic, political and societal changes.

This book identifies the main causes of welfare state system extension, as well as the differences in welfare state system design and their consequences for human behavior and the future financial stability of the systems in place in different parts of Asia.Providing ten in-depth country case studies from across the region, including India, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and South Korea, as well as Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the book focuses on the situation of welfare state system development and its financing in some of the largest countries on earth. It addresses previously neglected areas for investigation, such as the causal reasons for welfare state system extension (not only in Asia, but in general), the types of social security systems and their incentive systems in place and the way they chiefly determine behavior—and thus determine the resulting social security needs.This book will be of interest to all scholars and students of social policy, public policy, political science, sociology, finance and economics, development studies and Asian studies more broadly.

Developing countries may not have full-fledged welfare states like those we find in Europe, but certainly they have welfare state systems. For comparative social policy research, the term "welfare state systems" has many advantages, as there are numerous different types/models of welfare state systems around the world. This revised and expanded second edition brings together leading experts to discuss social policy in 32 countries/regions around the world: from the most advanced welfare state systems in Scandinavia and Western Central Europe to the developing powers of Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Russia. Country-specific chapters provide in general a historical overview, discuss major characteristics of the welfare state system, and analyze country-specific problems, as well as critical current and future trends for further discussions, while also providing one (additional) major focal point/issue for greater in-depth analysis. Including new country case studies on Mali, South Africa, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Vietnam, this book is reframed around urgent contemporary issues including migration and rising social inequalities, LGBTQIA+ rights, universal basic income, and transboundary social policy. It will be of great interest to all scholars and students of social policy, social development, development economists and health economists, experts in public policy, health policy (including mental health policy), housing policy, education policy, family policy, cis- and trans-gender policy, migration and population policy, sociology, social work, anthropology, as well as social policy and public policy makers and administrators.

Developing countries may not have full-fledged welfare states like those we find in Europe, but certainly they have welfare state systems. For comparative social policy research, the term "welfare state systems" has many advantages, as there are numerous different types/models of welfare state systems around the world. This revised and expanded second edition brings together leading experts to discuss social policy in 32 countries/regions around the world: from the most advanced welfare state systems in Scandinavia and Western Central Europe to the developing powers of Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Russia. Country-specific chapters provide in general a historical overview, discuss major characteristics of the welfare state system, and analyze country-specific problems, as well as critical current and future trends for further discussions, while also providing one (additional) major focal point/issue for greater in-depth analysis. Including new country case studies on Mali, South Africa, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Vietnam, this book is reframed around urgent contemporary issues including migration and rising social inequalities, LGBTQIA+ rights, universal basic income, and transboundary social policy. It will be of great interest to all scholars and students of social policy, social development, development economists and health economists, experts in public policy, health policy (including mental health policy), housing policy, education policy, family policy, cis- and trans-gender policy, migration and population policy, sociology, social work, anthropology, as well as social policy and public policy makers and administrators.

Following in the footsteps of Wieser, Mises, Schumpeter, Hayek and Rothschild, Christian Aspalter presents a novel economic theory synthesis, based on insights from human quantum mechanics. Including cutting-edge concepts and diagrams of quantum supply and demand field curves, the book outlines old and new quantum physics theories and demonstrates how they can contribute to, elevate and extend standard mainstream economic theory.This innovative book presents an in-depth exploration of the concept of human quantum mechanics. It introduces the idea of human entanglements as force-based and probability-based causalities, highlighting their central role in future economic action and developments. Aspalter takes this one step further treating economics as the science of human action ‘praxeology’ and expands on this approach using power exertion and power relation exertion via psychological processes, language processes and culture and social pressures as well as economic and cost realities. Presenting a dynamic and context-sensitive concept of ‘homo communicationis’ - the communication human, the book places communications, power and power relations centre stage in this new economic framework.This book offers a solution to Hayek’s unsolved ‘coordination problem’ in the form of human entanglements that act from the past into the future and through current-day communications, also activating and amplifying power relations from the past. This for the first time fully explains instantaneous human coordination of economic markets, the majority of market agents and market institutions, as well as governments.This book is an essential resource for academics in both macro- and micro-economics, behavioral and evolutionary economics as well as quantum economics and the emerging field of quantum social sciences. The theories and concepts showcased will also be of interest to those specializing in computational economics and finance to assist in advancing technological applications.

East Asian societies are changing rapidly, and one of the most important facets of this transformation is population the ageing. of society. "Active ageing" is one of the few concepts available today to effectively address the problems arising from a highly-aged and, particularly in East Asia, fast-ageing society, offering a new social policy paradigm to redirect and innovate new social policies, particularly social services, social transfers, social regulations and laws, towards more investment in and support of the fast rising number of olderelderly citizens. This book focuses on the experiences of East Asian societies where active ageing has been implemented. It presents a thorough analysis of the concept of active ageing and its potential and problems of implementations in different stages of development in East Asia, whilst providing theoretical clarity to, and broadening the concept of, active ageing. Further, the country-focused case studies explore how to design, pursue, measure and evaluate social policies, highlight the problems related to the implementation of the concept of active ageing in social policy and outline the practical implications of active ageing theory forin policy making. Active Ageing in Asia will appeal to students and scholars of social and public policy, social work, gerontology and health and social administration, as well as to policy makers working in the field.

In recent years, government and policymakers around the world have shifted their attention away from money-oriented, supply-side economics to institutional economics and people-oriented social and economic development. Issues such as poverty reduction, win-win solutions and strategies in social policy and their implementation, universalization, and a variety of new large-scale conditional cash transfers programs have become ever-present in the global discussion about development and social policy.This book provides win-win strategies for social policies on the ground, as developed and put forward by the normative theoretical paradigm of Developmental Social Policy (DSP). Taking the state-of-the-art general development theory as a starting point of reference and discussion, it goes on to discuss in detail the key win-win strategies that form the basis and core of the DSP paradigm. It examines key related issues such as the performance of provident fund systems, the performance of conditional cash transfer systems (especially their elements that are based on asset- and means-testing), universalism and extension in social security provision in the context of especially developing countries, and "non-economically targeted" social welfare benefits and services.Providing fully-fledged theoretical guidance paired with key social policy strategies and solutions, it will be highly valuable for students and scholars of social policy, development studies, and Asia Pacific studies.

This title was first published in 2002: Since the bloodless transition from authoritarian state to fully-fledged democracy, Taiwan has undergone a period of dramatic social and political change. In a political culture increasingly dominated by platforms built on social policy issues, this book provides an intriguing case study of the application of welfare state theories to the real-life social development of Taiwan. Combining a state-of-the-art discussion of the major theoretical schools of thought with in-depth analysis of the electoral promises and programmes in recent Taiwanese elections, the book looks at the direct causal relationship between political competition in democratic elections and welfare state construction. It will prove essential reading for all those interested in the area of comparative social policy, welfare theory, Asian studies and politics.

This title was first published in 2002: Since the bloodless transition from authoritarian state to fully-fledged democracy, Taiwan has undergone a period of dramatic social and political change. In a political culture increasingly dominated by platforms built on social policy issues, this book provides an intriguing case study of the application of welfare state theories to the real-life social development of Taiwan. Combining a state-of-the-art discussion of the major theoretical schools of thought with in-depth analysis of the electoral promises and programmes in recent Taiwanese elections, the book looks at the direct causal relationship between political competition in democratic elections and welfare state construction. It will prove essential reading for all those interested in the area of comparative social policy, welfare theory, Asian studies and politics.

This book addresses the global need for more comparative studies on health policy and health care systems, given the rise in recent decades of societal aging, modern mass diseases, economic globalization, and resulting permanent fiscal austerity of governments which have fundamentally altered the status quo of health care systems. The book examines the healthcare experiences of the most developed countries in Asia (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore) and compares these with four of the most important health care systems in Europe (UK, France, Germany and Italy). Focusing on the public health care systems the contributors discuss the rising need for reforms in health care and health insurance administration, delivery systems, financing and overall health care policy strategies, particularly in fast-aging societies in Asia, and highly aged societies in Europe. This book will appeal to students and scholars of health care policy, health and social administration, social policy, public policy and social work. It will also provide a reference for professionals who need a view of the trajectory of public health financing in relation to changed and changing demographics and disease patterns.

Owing to rapid economic development and the onset of population ageing, social work has become a major means of delivering social services and relieving and preventing social problems at an individual, family, and community level in East Asia. In addition to this, the number of activities undertaken by social welfare NGOs has risen a great deal throughout East Asia, resulting in a greater demand for professional social workers. With governments across the region having discovered the beneficial effects of professional social work for both social integration and social harmony, there is now greater support for the development of this academic discipline and profession. This groundbreaking volume explores the current state of development of social work provision across the region. It is the first book of its kind to investigate current and future trends, as well as the challenges and pitfalls of social work - one of the fastest-growing professions in East Asia.

Owing to rapid economic development and the onset of population ageing, social work has become a major means of delivering social services and relieving and preventing social problems at an individual, family, and community level in East Asia. In addition to this, the number of activities undertaken by social welfare NGOs has risen a great deal throughout East Asia, resulting in a greater demand for professional social workers. With governments across the region having discovered the beneficial effects of professional social work for both social integration and social harmony, there is now greater support for the development of this academic discipline and profession. This groundbreaking volume explores the current state of development of social work provision across the region. It is the first book of its kind to investigate current and future trends, as well as the challenges and pitfalls of social work - one of the fastest-growing professions in East Asia.

For the last two decades, major Asian economies have successfully kept their economic growth momentum going. Now, as these economies are entering a new phase of economic growth, more attention is being paid to their respective states of social development, especially the provision and the expansion of social security and, in particular, health care. Academic study of the development of health care in developing countries has been for the most part neglected by the literature, and in-depth country case studies that are directly comparable on a one-to-one basis have not yet been conducted in a systematic manner. This book volume also proposes a new stance on health policy and the health care policy paradigm, one that focuses on "saving lives" from premature death, as well as illness, accidents, misery and poverty, based on the normative theory of developmental social policy (DSP). This groundbreaking book will therefore serve as a valuable reference volume for health policy, social policy and public policy experts, social development experts, health and development economists, health sociologists, social workers, government administrators as well as other medical and health professionals and academics.

This book presents a new step farther into the twenty-first century, for the first time truly combining a comprehensive global data analysis with social policy theory development.

This book presents a new step farther into the twenty-first century, for the first time truly combining a comprehensive global data analysis with social policy theory development.

This innovative book has combined the latest drive to integrate the findings and principles of quantum mechanics and quantum technology, especially here quantum computing, into the flamboyant world of social sciences. Starting with Friedrich Nietzsche as a role model, especially his “Human, All-too-Human,” the book explores the world of interpersonal and intrapersonal, intercultural and transhistorical, human communication. This book uses an innovative experiential and abductive research design. The philosophy inspired by Nietzsche meets new inspirations stemming from quantum mechanics and quantum computing in particular.Building on derived guiding principles of (fuzzy) randomness, parallelity, and universality (with communication, words and feelings, as the least common denominator), the book arrives at the formation of a new quantum-inspired theory, called the Theory of Human Entanglement, where entanglements are causal forces for human communication (and hence human actions) that either instigate and propel, or inhibit and stifle human communication (and thus human actions). Human entanglements are diverse; they are complex and accumulative in nature. They operate in a multi-dimensional space, encompassing language usage (including their hidden connotations and culturally constructed truths, such as hidden notions of good and evil, allowed and forbidden), cultural traditions and limitations, governance, institutions, court rulings and practices, particular usages of common sense, local/neighborhood culture and practices, socio-economic and environmental forces and limitations, personal situations and experiences, personal thoughts, feelings, memories and aspirations, and much more.The theory may serve as starting point for greater causality focus in research design and applications across all social sciences and far beyond, especially when dealing with high number or infinite number of potentially causal and causal variables, as well as their aggregate forces (i.e. probability-based vector forces). On top, artificial intelligence applications, quantum information, and quantum finance applications, for example, may contribute to the further development of human entanglement theory, and vice versa.

This book presents an overview of social problems and health problems that arose out of, or were flared up by, the global COVID-19 pandemic. It addresses most vital problems in developed and developing countries from literally around the world, by top country experts in their respective fields of study. The book debates first certain overall thematic topics and then analyzes a number of key country case studies. Apart from a set of key theme/problem-based chapters, the country case studies from major-hit countries in the world are yet another highlight of the book. They also feature, in addition to analyzing the pandemic and policy responses per se, one extra special focal point each. The book hence covers the core of most severe social problems, including health problems, that have been spurred or set off by the COVID-19 pandemic. An overall theory chapter that uses a global data analysis and a short theoretical appraisal on the 'human face' of the Pandemic is also offered at the beginning of book, to bring back humanity and human decency (i.e. decency of the human condition) into the scientific debate as well as policy making arena, which is utterly needed at this point of human development.