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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Welfare State on Trial: The Triumph of Lockean Politics in Africa
Author:Mujaju, Akiiki B.ISNI
Year:1997
Periodical:Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review (ISSN 1027-1775)
Volume:13
Issue:2
Period:June
Pages:27-42
Language:English
Notes:biblio. refs.
Geographic term:Africa
Subjects:social policy
social welfare
Economics and Trade
Politics and Government
Economics, Commerce
Economic and social development
Locke, John
political science
Abstract:This article is about the tribulations of the welfare State, its rise and its fall. The welfare State is defined as one which has the economic and institutional capacity to attend to the social and economic needs of its vulnerable people, by providing such facilities and services as social security, housing, health and education. The author looks at the forces which produced the welfare State and those that have sustained it. Today, crucial social forces are agitating for the withdrawal of the State from many functions. The public sector as well as the welfare State are on trial. In Africa the demise of the welfare State will be attributable to poor organization on the part of the popular classes, abuse of office and corruption among the bureaucratic elites, and the successful offensive of imperialism. Two major forces have exerted considerable pressure on African governments to follow the Lockean laissez-faire way: the multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, notably the World Bank and the IMF, and the iniquitous terms of trade which arise from the contemporary world economy. The welfare State represented a progressive stage in the development of society. The current offensive against it is a retrogressive step. Bibliogr., note, ref., sum.
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