Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wg55d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T11:44:01.333Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ideas and Welfare Reform in Saskatchewan: Entitlement, Workfare or Activation?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2015

Pierre-Marc Daigneault
Pierre-Marc Daigneault*
Affiliation:
École nationale d'administration publique
*
École nationale d'administration publique, Bureau 3314, 555 Boulevard Charest Est, Québec QC, CanadaG1K 9E5, email: pierre-marc.daigneault@enap.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Many provinces have enacted substantial reforms of their social assistance regime in the 1990s. However, we know surprisingly little about the ideas that underlie welfare reform in Canada. In particular, few empirical studies have directly examined the ideas of policy actors. This article presents a retrospective case study of a major policy initiative, namely Saskatchewan's Building Independence (BI), and examines its alignment with three paradigms of social assistance. Data come primarily from interviews with policy actors. This study concludes that the policy ideas informing BI align closely with the activation paradigm but also share some similarities with the entitlement and workfare paradigms. The significance of this finding is then discussed in light of three issues: 1) Aboriginal people, 2) the perspective of social assistance clients, and 3) “Third Way” ideology. This article concludes with a research agenda on ideas and policy change.

Résumé

Plusieurs provinces canadiennes ont mis en œuvre des réformes substantielles de leur régime d'aide sociale dans les années 1990. Or, nos connaissances à propos des idées qui sous-tendent ces réformes sont étonnamment limitées. En particulier, peu d'études empiriques ont directement examiné les idées des acteurs de politique. Cet article présente une étude de cas rétrospective d'une initiative saskatchewanaise majeure, soit la réforme Building Independence (BI), et examine sa congruence avec trois paradigmes d'aide sociale. Les données proviennent d'entrevues avec des acteurs de politique. Cette étude conclut que les idées sous-jacentes à BI sont étroitement alignées avec le paradigme de l'activation, mais présentent certaines similitudes avec les paradigmes du droit social (entitlement) et du workfare. Ce résultat est ensuite discuté à la lumière de trois enjeux : 1) les autochtones, 2) la perspective des prestataires d'aide sociale, et 3) l'idéologie de la Troisième voie. Des pistes de recherche sur les idées et le changement de politique viennent conclure cet article.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 147 - 171
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

August, Rick. 2006. “Social Policy.” Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Centre. http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/social_policy.html (January 15, 2013).Google Scholar
August, Rick. “Social Assistance in Saskatchewan: Development, Reform, and Retrenchment.” In Welfare Reform in Canada: Provincial Social Assistance in Comparative Perspective, ed. Béland, Daniel and Daigneault, Pierre-Marc. Toronto: University of Toronto Press (forthcoming).Google Scholar
Banting, Keith G. 2005. “Do We Know Where We Are Going? The New Social Policy in Canada.” Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de politiques 31 (4): 421–29.Google Scholar
Banting, Keith G., Soroka, Stuart, and Koning, Edward. 2013. “Multicultural Diversity and Redistribution.” In Inequality and the Fading of Redistributive Politics, ed. Banting, Keith G. and Myles, J.. Vancouver: UBC Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Battle, Ken. 2001. “Relentless Incrementalism: Deconstructing and Reconstructing Canadian Income Security Policy.” Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy.Google Scholar
Battle, Ken and Mendelson, Michael. 2001. “Benefits for Children: Canada.” In Benefits for Children: A Four-Country Study, ed. Battle, Ken and Mendelson, Michael. Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy.Google Scholar
Baumgartner, Frank R. 2014. “Ideas, Paradigms, and Confusions.” Journal of European Public Policy 21 (3): 475–80.Google Scholar
Béland, Daniel. 2005. “Ideas and Social Policy: An Institutionalist Perspective.” Social Policy & Administration 39 (1): 1–18.Google Scholar
Béland, Daniel. 2009. “Ideas, Institutions, and Policy Change.” Journal of European Public Policy 16 (5): 701–18.Google Scholar
Bemelmans-Videc, Marie-Louise, Rist, Ray C. and Vedung, Evert, eds. 2003. Carrots, Sticks and Sermons: Policy Instruments and Their Evaluation. Piscataway NJ: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar
Bernard, Paul and Saint-Arnaud, Sébastien. 2004. “Du pareil au même? La position des quatre principales provinces canadiennes dans l'univers des régimes providentiels.” Canadian Journal of Sociology/Cahiers canadiens de sociologie 29 (2): 209–39.Google Scholar
Boychuk, Gerard W. 1998. Patchwork of Purpose: The Development of Provincial Assistance Regimes in Canada. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boychuk, Gerard W. 2006. “Slouching Toward the Bottom? Provincial Social Assistance Provision in Canada, 1980–2000.” In Racing to the Bottom? Provincial Interdependence in the Canadian Federation, ed Harrison, Kathryn. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Canada. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC). 2013. The National Child Benefit: Progress Report 2008. Ottawa: HRSDC.Google Scholar
Cox, Robert H. and Béland, Daniel. 2013. “Valence, Policy Ideas, and the Rise of Sustainability.” Governance 26 (2): 307–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daigneault, Pierre-Marc. 2013. “Reassessing the Concept of Policy Paradigm: Aligning Ontology and Methodology in Policy Studies.” Journal of European Public Policy 21 (3): 453–69.Google Scholar
Daigneault, Pierre-Marc. 2014. “Three Paradigms of Social Assistance.” Sage Open 4 (4): 1–8. doi: 10.1177/2158244014559020.Google Scholar
Dufour, Pascale, Boismenu, Gérard and Noël, Alain. 2003. L'aide au conditionnel: La contrepartie dans les mesures envers les personnes sans emploi en Europe et en Amérique du Nord. Montréal: Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal.Google Scholar
Dyck, Carmen. 2004a. “Off Welfare … Now What? A Literature Review on the Impact of Provincial Welfare to Work Training Programs in Saskatchewan.” Saskatoon: Community—University Institute for Social Research, University of Saskatchewan.Google Scholar
Dyck, Carmen. 2004b. “Off Welfare … Now What? Phase II, Part 2: Analysis.” Saskatoon: Community—University Institute for Social Research, University of Saskatchewan.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, Gøsta. 2002a. “A Child-Centered Social Investment Strategy.” In Why We Need a New Welfare State, ed. Esping-Andersen, Gøsta. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, Gøsta. ed. 2002b. Why we Need a New Welfare State. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Frankel, Sid. 2013. “Poverty Reduction in Manitoba under Neoliberalism: Is the Third Way an Effective Way?” Manitoba Law Journal 36 (2): 270–300.Google Scholar
Gazso, Amber. 2007. “Balancing Expectations for Employability and Family Responsibilities While on Social Assistance: Low-Income Mothers' Experiences in Three Canadian Provinces.” Family Relations 56 (5): 454–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerring, John. 2004. “What is a case study and what is it good for?” American Political Science Review 98 (2): 341–54.Google Scholar
Giddens, Anthony. 1998. The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Graefe, Peter. 2006. “State Restructuring, Social Assistance and Canadian Intergovernmental Relations: Same Scales, New Tune.” Studies in Political Economy 78: 93–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Peter A. 1993. “Policy Paradigms, Social Learning, and the State: The Case of Economic Policymaking in Britain.” Comparative Politics 25 (3): 275–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hemerijck, Anton. 2002. “The Self-Transformation of the European Social Model(s).” In Why We Need a New Welfare State, ed. Esping-Andersen, Gøsta. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Herd, Dean, Mitchell, Andrew and Lightman, Ernie. 2005. “Rituals of Degradation: Administration as policy in the Ontario Works program.” Social Policy & Administration 39 (1): 65–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, Garson and Donovan, Kathleen. 2007. “Social Exclusion and the Justification of Welfare-to-Work Programs in Saskatchewan.” Saskatoon: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives—Saskatchewan.Google Scholar
Hunter, Garson and Miazdyck, Dionne. 2004. “Current Issues Surrounding Poverty and Welfare Programming in Canada: Two Reviews.” Saskatoon: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives—Saskatchewan.Google Scholar
Huo, Jingjing. 2009. Third Way Reforms: Social Democracy after the Golden Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jacobs, Alan M. 2015. “Process Tracing the Effect of Ideas.” In Process Tracing: From Metaphor to Analytic Tool, ed. Bennett, Andrew and T. Checkel, Jeffrey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jenson, Jane. 2004. “Changing the Paradigm: Family Responsibility or Investing in Children.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 29 (2): 169–92.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O. 2009. “Political Science as a Vocation.” PS: Political Science & Politics 42 (2): 359–63.Google Scholar
Kerr, Mildred, Frost, Debbie and Bignell, Diane. 2004. “Don't We Count as People?” Saskatchewan Social Welfare Policy and Women's Health. Winnipeg: Prairie Women Health Centre of Excellence.Google Scholar
Kneebone, Ronald D. and White, Kathleen G.. 2009. “Fiscal Retrenchment and Social Assistance in Canada.” Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de politiques 35 (1): 21–40.Google Scholar
Leski, Angela and Thériault, Luc. 2007. “Rethinking the Productivity of Saskatchewan Welfare Recipients: Daily Activities and Self-Perceptions.” In Redefining Productivity for Social Development and Well-Being, ed. Douglas, Fiona and Geller, Gloria. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center.Google Scholar
Levitas, Ruth. 2005. The Inclusive Society? Social Exclusion and New Labour. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, Janice. 2003. Minding the Public Purse: The Fiscal Crisis, Political Trade-Offs, and Canada's Future. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
McGrane, David. 2008. “Which Third Way? A Comparison of the Romanow and Calvert Governments from 1991 to 2007.” In Saskatchewan Politics: Crowding the Centre, ed. Leeson, Howard. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center.Google Scholar
McIntosh, Tom. 2004. “Intergovernmental Relations, Social Policy and Federal Transfers after Romanow.” Canadian Public Administration/Administration publique du Canada 47 (1): 27–51.Google Scholar
McKeen, Wendy. 2006. “Diminishing the Concept of Social Policy: The Shifting Conceptual Ground of Social Policy Debate in Canada.” Critical Social Policy 26 (4): 865–87.Google Scholar
Morton, Bonnie. 2006. “From Welfare to Workfare: Women and the Erosion of Social Policy in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.” Briarpatch 35: 10.Google Scholar
Papillon, Martin. “Playing Catch-up with Ghosts: Income Assistance for First Nations on Reserve.” In Welfare Reform in Canada: Provincial Social Assistance in Comparative Perspective, ed. Béland, Daniel and Daigneault, Pierre-Marc. Toronto: University of Toronto Press (forthcoming).Google Scholar
Parsons, Craig. 2007. How to Map Arguments in Political Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Peck, Jamie. 2001. Workfare States. New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Pitsula, James M. and Rasmussen, Kenneth A.. 1990. Privatizing a Province: The New Right in Saskatchewan. Vancouver: New Star Books.Google Scholar
Proulx, Christine, Faustmann, Samuel, Raïq, Hicham and van den Berg, Axel. 2011. “Internal Diversity in Social Policy Regimes: The Case of Canada's Four Major Provinces.” Social Statistics, Poverty and Social Exclusion: Perspectives from Quebec, Canada and Abroad, ed. Fréchet, Guy, Gauvreau, Danielle and Poirier, Jean. Montréal: Presses de l'Université de Montréal.Google Scholar
Pulkingham, Jane, Fuller, Sylvia and Kershaw, Paul. 2010. “Lone Motherhood, Welfare Reform and Active Citizen Subjectivity.” Critical Social Policy 30 (2): 267–91.Google Scholar
QSR International Pty Ltd. 2008. NVivo Qualitative Data Analysis Software. Version 8.Google Scholar
Ralph, Diana and Stobbe, Mark. 1991. “Welfare Reform as Moral Reform in Saskatchewan.” In Devine Rule in Saskatchewan: A Decade of Hope and Hardship, ed. Biggs, Leslie and Stobbe, Mark. Saskatoon: Fifth House Publishers.Google Scholar
Rice, James J. and Prince, Michael. 2013. Changing Politics of Canadian Social Policy 2nd ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Riches, Graham and Manning, Lorelee. 1991. “The Breakdown of Public Welfare in Saskatchewan.” In Devine Rule in Saskatchewan: A Decade of Hope and Hardship, ed. Biggs, Leslie and Stobbe, Mark. Saskatoon: Fifth House Publishers.Google Scholar
Sandelowski, Margarete. 2008. “Theoretical Saturation.” In The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods, ed. Given, Lisa M.. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
Saskatchewan. Government of Saskatchewan. 1996. “Redesigning Social Assistance: Preparing for the New Century—Discussion Paper.” Regina.Google Scholar
Saskatchewan. Government of Saskatchewan. 1997. “Children, Families and Independence: Social Assistance Redesign—Progress report.” Regina.Google Scholar
Saskatchewan. Government of Saskatchewan. n.d. “Building Independence: Investing in Families.” Regina.Google Scholar
Saskatchewan. Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. 1998. “Committee of the Whole. Bill No. 49—The Saskatchewan Assistance Amendment Act, 1998” In Debates and Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, June 2.Google Scholar
Saskatchewan. Ministry of Social Services. 1998. “Support for Building Independence” [Press release]. http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=788305a2-62b4-44e5-a1ce-26bafc8ded2c (May 12, 2014).Google Scholar
Snyder, Linda. 2006. “Workfare: Ten Years of Pickin' on the Poor.” In Canadian Social Policy: Issues and Perspectives, ed Westhues, Anne. Guelph ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.Google Scholar
Somers, Margaret R. and Block, Fred. 2005. “From Poverty to Perversity: Ideas, Markets, and Institutions over 200 Years of Welfare Debate.” American Sociological Review 70 (2): 260–87.Google Scholar
Canada, Statistics. 2013. “Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: First Nations People, Métis and Inuits” [National Household Survey 2011, no. 99–011-X2011001]. Ottawa: Minister of Industry. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-011-x/99-011-x2011001-eng.pdf (May 12 2014).Google Scholar
Wardhaugh, Robert. 2007. “Productivity and Popular Attitudes toward Welfare Recipients in Saskatchewan, 1970–1990.” In Redefining Productivity for Social Development and Well-Being, ed. Douglas, Fiona and Geller, Gloria. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center.Google Scholar
White, Linda A. 2012. “Must We All Be Paradigmatic? Social Investment Policies and Liberal Welfare States.” Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique 45 (03): 657–83.Google Scholar