Resisting austerity measures to social policies: multiple explanatory case studies

Abstract

Since Margaret Thatcher reached power in the United Kingdom, European governments have increasingly turned to neoliberal forms of policy-making, focusing, especially after the 2008 Great Recession on ‘austerity policies’ rather than investing in social protection policies. We applied a multiple explanatory case studies methodology to examine how and why challenges and resistance to these austerity measures are successful or not in four settings for three different social policy issues: using a gender lens in state budgeting in Andalusia (Spain), maintaining unemployment benefits in Italy and cuts to fuel poverty reduction programs in Northern Ireland and England. In particular, we intended to learn about whether resistance strategies are shared across disparate cases or whether there are unique activities that lead to successful resistance to austerity policies. As our approach drew from realist philosophy of science, we started with initial theories concerning collective action, political ideology and political power of affected populations. Our findings suggest that there are similarities between the cases we studied despite differences in political and policy contexts. We found that joint action between advocacy groups was effective in resisting cuts to social spending. Evidence also indicates that the social construction of target populations is important in resisting changes to social programmes. This was observed in both England and Northern Ireland where pensioners held significant political clout.

A Realist Explanatory Case Study Investigating How Common Goals, Leadership, and Committed Staff Facilitate Health in All Policies Implementation in the Municipality of Kuopio, Finland

“… 36 Tables were created for each domain so that triangulation could be assessed to determine the level of support from multiple sources. Evidence was evaluated for quality based on triangulation of sources and strength of evidence 44 ( Table ).…”

“…No evidence was generated a Thick interview/literature CSMOs entail descriptions of the mechanisms that are detailed and typically include ample description of context, mechanism, and a clear link to the outcome. 44 b Thin interview/literature CSMOs imply there is lack of critical detail about the mechanism, or there is an unclear link between the mechanism and outcome. 44 wellbeing committee, as supported by strong evidence from four sources of data.…”

“…44 b Thin interview/literature CSMOs imply there is lack of critical detail about the mechanism, or there is an unclear link between the mechanism and outcome. 44 wellbeing committee, as supported by strong evidence from four sources of data. Local leadership can include impetus for HiAP efforts by local actors including policy and political elites.…”

Social and Economic Policies Matter for Health Equity: Conclusions of the SOPHIE Project

“…13 Realist analysis of other cases of "austerity-resistant" policies in Spain and Italy point to other mechanisms, including political leadership and commitment to equality, social attitudes, and fear of instability. [14][15][16] Policy Implications We characterized 5 job types in Europe according to the factors which determine employment quality: (1) standard employment relation (SER), similar to the standard, stable, idealized employment relationship; (2) instrumental, relatively stable but with few benefits; (3) portfolio, high quality but rather flexible; (4) precarious unsustainable, characterized by adverse employment conditions and relationships, part-time work, and low wages; and (5) precarious intensive, showing the most adverse scores, especially regarding work intensity and high flexibility. 17 Employment quality clearly varies among EU countries.…”

“…The conservative liberal coalition government has maintained the WFP for the elderly, whether they are fuel poor or not, “because by and large they vote.” 13 Realist analysis of other cases of “austerity-resistant” policies in Spain and Italy point to other mechanisms, including political leadership and commitment to equality, social attitudes, and fear of instability. 14–16…”