Social Development and Social Policy

International Experiences and China's Reform

Social policy reforms driven by profound social changes have been a popular and pressing topic worldwide in recent years in both policy and academic circles. In this book, prominent social policy scholars from Europe, North America, and Asia discuss the history of social policies, compare different social development models, and analyze the challenges facing these economies' social policy reforms. The book provides comprehensive and comparative perspectives and updated data on social development and social policy reforms in the world's major economies, and particularly, in mainland China.

Contents:

• Preface (Qi Dongtao & Yang Lijun)

• Europe and the US:

  • Europe's (Halfway) Social Investment Turn (Anton Hemerijck)
  • Shifting Reform Strategies in European Welfare States (Giuliano Bonoli)
  • The 21st Century Enabling State: Public Support for Private Responsibility in the US (Neil Gilbert)

• Developed Economies in Asia:

  • Exploring the Japanese Welfare Experience: Toward a Model and a Framework (Masao Watanabe)
  • Social Policy in Korea: Theory and Practice (Christian Aspalter)
  • The Role of Mandatory Retirement Savings in Protecting the Aged in Singapore (M Ramesh)
  • Singapore's Social Policy: Transition and Rebalancing (Zhao Litao)
  • Social Welfare Expansion and National Health Insurance in Taiwan (Qi Dongtao)
  • Workfare in Hong Kong (Joe C B Leung)

• Mainland China:

  • Between the State and the Market: The Political Logic of Social Policy Reform in China (Zheng Yongnian)
  • Social Policy and Health Care Reform in China (Åke Blomqvist)
  • Law Enforcement in the Chinese Health System: An Institutional Perspective (Qian Jiwei)
  • Social Protest, State Response, and Regime Legitimacy in China (Cai Yongshun and Zhou Titi)
  • What Took Away Chinese People's Happiness in the Past Two Decades? China's Puzzling Happiness Curve (Shan Wei)

Readership: Academics, undergraduate and graduate students, professionals and policy makers interested in social development and social policy.