Social rights in the constitution and in practice

Ben-Bassat, Avi; Dahan, Momi

doi:10.1016/j.jce.2007.09.002

Cited by 67 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Using this threshold, the list of countries with a strong social security system includes all those in our sample except Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, and Japan. The second variable, SSCONST, represents the extent of legal protection for social rights; we borrowed it from Ben Bassat and Dahan (2008), who created an index of social security strength based on the constitutional commitment for seven features of social security. Their index, which ranges between 0 and 3, is characterized by a higher variance among developed countries than Botero et al (2004) show.…”

Section: Fiscal Rules and Legal Protectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fiscal Rules and the Composition of Government Expenditures in OECD Countries

Dahan¹,

Strawczynski²

2013

J. Pol. Anal. Manage.

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Since the 1990s many OECD countries have adopted fiscal rules. After the adoption of these rules, the ratio of social transfers to government consumption substantially declined, and it recovered following the global economic crisis. Using a sample of 22 OECD countries, we found a negative effect of fiscal rules on the ratio of social transfers to government consumption. This finding implies that fiscal rules are effective, but not necessarily binding. Our examination reveals that the negative effect of fiscal rules on the social transfers to government consumption ratio is particularly evident in countries with relatively weak legal protection to social rights.

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Section: Fiscal Rules and Legal Protectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fiscal Rules and the Composition of Government Expenditures in OECD Countries

Dahan¹,

Strawczynski²

2013

J. Pol. Anal. Manage.

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“…In a previous paper (Ben -Bassat and Dahan, 2003) we found a significant correlation between constitutional commitment to social security and transfer payments. If the constitution does have an effect on welfare policy it must show up in the connection between the degree of commitment to social security in the constitution and the extent and coverage of social security laws.…”

Section: Regression Analysismentioning

confidence: 65%

“…Table 8 presents several regressions for various indices of the generosity of social security. In this first column we replicate the Ben- Bassat and Dahan (2003) regression, where a summary index of constitutional commitment to social security was found to be with a positive coefficient in the share of transfer payments in GDP.…”

Section: Regression Analysismentioning

confidence: 88%

“…In a companion paper (Ben- Bassat and Dahan, 2003) we have constructed indices to assess the degree of constitutional commitment to five social rights (Social Security, Education, Health, Housing and Workers' Rights). While we did not trace a robust and significant effect of constitutional commitment to education and health on education and health expenditures, we did find a positive relationship between the degree of constitutional commitment to social security and transfer payments (as a share of GDP).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Constitutional Commitment to Social Security and Welfare Policy

Ben-Bassat¹,

Dahan

2016

Review of Law &Amp; Economics

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In this paper we construct an index of constitutional commitment to social security (CCSS) in seven areas: Old Age, Survivors, Disability, Unemployment, Sickness, Work Injury, and Income Support. We have found a positive connection between our measure of constitutional commitment to social security and the extent and coverage of actual measures of social security laws. The constitutional text of each nation seems to play a role in explaining the large variations in welfare state coverage around the world.

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“…' The importance of considering the role of democratic governance also becomes apparent when we view studies examining the impact of the constitutionalisation of social rights. Studies that neglect the interactive role of democratic governance are more likely to find that constitutionalisation has little impact [7,50]. However, Kavanagh's study of the effect of the 'right to health' in national constitutions across 144 countries first found empirical evidence of a positive role of the right to health.…”

Section: Theorising Impact: Conditional Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does it Matter: Constitutionalisation, Democratic Governance, and the Human Right to Water

Schiel

Langford

Wilson

2020

Water

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States are urged frequently by the UN, policymakers, and activists to recognise the human right to water domestically. However, does such legal incorporation, often in national constitutions, affect water policy and the realisation of the right? While several qualitative studies report positive impacts, initial quantitative assessments have questioned the systematic positive impact of the national recognition of the human right to water. Yet, such quantitative analyses of the effects of constitutional rights to water often overlook important mediating policy factors. We test specifically whether strong democratic governance is a significant condition for ensuring that the constitutional recognition of the human right to water has concrete outcomes. Results of a multivariate regression analysis on a global sample of 123 states over a 15-year period provide two findings. First, the constitutionalisation of the right to water and other economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCRs), in national constitutions alone is not associated with material benefits related to the human right to water. Second, the constitutionalisation of those rights can have positive material benefits for water access when the rights are foregrounded in democratic governance.

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Social rights in the constitution and in practice

Cited by 67 publications

References 24 publications

Fiscal Rules and the Composition of Government Expenditures in OECD Countries

Fiscal Rules and the Composition of Government Expenditures in OECD Countries

Constitutional Commitment to Social Security and Welfare Policy

Does it Matter: Constitutionalisation, Democratic Governance, and the Human Right to Water

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