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2018 | Buch

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Statecraft and Liberal Reform in Advanced Democracies

verfasst von: Dr. Nils Karlson

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This book explains how advanced democracies and welfare states can achieve welfare-enhancing, liberal institutional reform. It develops a general theory based on an extended comparative case study of Sweden and Australia over the last 25 years, and offers an in-depth contribution to the field of institutional change, explaining how to govern a country well and how to overcome different barriers to reform, such as special interests, negativity biases and media logic. It develops the concepts of the ‘reform cycle’, ‘reform strategies’ and ‘polycentric experiential’ learning in order to explain successful reforms, and the key role of policy entrepreneurs, who introduce and develop new ideas. The book further examines why these reforms came to an end. Karlson also applies the ideas of Popperian, Kuhnian and Machiavellian reform strategies, and explains why they are needed for reform to come about.

The theory of modern statecraft presented here involves a combination of knowing w

hat and knowing how. It has the potential to be generally applicable in any advanced democracy with the ambition to improve its economy and society. This book is of interest for anyone who is concerned about budget deficits, slow growth, over regulation, lack of structural reforms and the rise of populism. It will appeal to scholars of political science, public policy and political economy.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

1. Introduction

Abstract

Most advanced democracies and welfare states are in need of liberal, welfare-enhancing reforms. But how can reform be promoted? Can a general theory of reform of how to govern a country well, modern statecraft, be formulated based on previous research about institutional change and the experiences of Sweden and Australia?How did they do it? How could Sweden and Australia reform and modernize their economies and societies from the 1980s and onwards in such successful ways? How did the reform processes start, what made them persist, and why did they, as it seems, come to a halt?

The introduction presents the puzzle that the book seeks to answer, defines central concepts, and summarizes the major contributions.

Nils Karlson

2. Barriers to Reformbarriers to reform reform reform barriers to reform

Abstract

The chapter explains why welfare-enhancing institutional change is a difficult task in advanced democracies due to a strong bias in favor of the status quo, which conserves undesirable, inefficient social states and creates barriers to reform, some of which are especially severe in modern welfare states.

This status quo bias has rational, cognitive, and social reasons that can be summarized into:

Special interests and public goods traps
Negativity biases and ideational traps
Public opinion and preference falsification

Hence, both existing institutions and media logic work against reforms even though the status quo is highly inefficient and undesirable from most perspectives.

Nils Karlson

Chapter 3. Two Reform Countries

Abstract

The chapter explains why Sweden and Australia have been chosen for the extended comparative case study. Over 25 years, from the mid-1980s to around 2010, both the Swedish and Australian welfare states underwent fundamental change. Taxes were cut, deficits abolished, markets deregulated, public enterprises privatized, and welfare services reformed. Somehow the barriers to reform were overcome. Welfare and liberty increased.

By studying cases in which reform would seem particularly difficult, and yet has been achieved in far-reaching, systemic ways, the causal processes by which barriers to reform in modern welfare states can be overcome should be especially clear. Also the two countries are different in a number of ways which may strengthen the results.

Nils Karlson

4. Explaining Institutional Changeinstitutional change

Abstract

The chapter surveys, comments, and summarizes some of the most important theories of institutional and policy change to be used as an analytical framework in the case studies.

These explanations starts with simple models, with few variables, including theories that use changing economic, social conditions, power resources, and interests, followed by increasingly more complex models, which incorporate ideas, beliefs, and values, as well as policy entrepreneurs and policy-advocacy coalitions. Also the role of crises, formative moments, and focusing events in institutional change is discussed.

Nils Karlson

5. Reform Cyclesreform cycle and Reform Strategies

Abstract

The chapter synthesizes the theories in the previous chapter into the reform cycle. The cycle starts with changing economic and social conditions. These create a demand for new ideas, which need to be articulated by different policy entrepreneurs, who interact with and activate power resources and interests, which influence institutional and policy changes. Also statecraft is defined and three major kinds of reforms strategies are developed: Popperian, Kuhnian, and Machiavellian.

The reform cycle and the reform strategies will serve as hypotheses to be studied in the case studies. Moreover, remaining puzzles are identified: How and why liberal and welfare-enhancing policy ideas, rather than the opposite, become implemented, and how the collective action problem involved in reform is solved.

Nils Karlson

Chapter 6. The Swedish Reform Process

Abstract

The chapter analyzes in detail the successful reform of the Swedish model over the last 30 years. The process is divided into several distinct stages: the early social democratic reforms; the crisis and the shift of policy paradigm; debt reduction and structural reforms; and a new model emerging.

A large number of actors, using all three reform strategies, were involved in the Swedish statecraft. However, Machiavellian strategies dominated the process. The development and implementation of new policy ideas by policy entrepreneurs played a key role. Both Social Democratic and center-right governments were important. The process of sustained liberalization was largely incremental and pragmatic, but a paradigmatic policy shift occurred in the early 1990s.

Nils Karlson

7. The Australian Reform ProcessAustralia

Abstract

The chapter analyzes in detail the successful reform of the Australian model. Just as in Sweden, it took Australia 25–30 years to change a largely failing model. The process can be divided into several stages: financial deregulation and a series of structural reforms; from a banana republic to a new narrative; debt reduction and continued reforms creating a new model; and, finally, the reform process coming to a halt.

Many actors, using all three reform strategies, were involved. Policy entrepreneurs introduced new ideas, beliefs, and values. Both Labor and Liberal-National governments played important roles. The process of sustained liberalization was largely incremental and pragmatic, even though Kuhnian strategies played a crucial role in setting the direction of the process.

Nils Karlson

8. Modern Statecraftmodern statecraft

Abstract

The chapter formulates a general theory of reform for advanced democracies and welfare states, modern statecraft. It identifies the causal mechanisms that can be traced in the case studies of how reform can be promoted. Modern statecraft requires a combination of knowing what and knowing how. Such statecraft takes place within the reform cycle, where advanced political skills and Popperian, Kuhnian, and Machiavellian reform strategies are used. This generates new policy ideas that in a polycentric effort of experiential learning involving a large number of actors, with a critical mass being intrinsically motivated, located in the central zone of the country, make welfare-enhancing reform possible.

In addition the chapter analyses the role of strategic reforms, the intentionality of the process, why the reform processes stopped, democratic dilemmas caused by the use of Machiavellian strategies, and whether the results hold for other countries.

Nils Karlson

Chapter 9. Summary and Conclusions

Abstract

The chapter summarizes the main conclusions. Modern statecraft requires a combination of knowing what and knowing how. It is equivalent to the polycentric governance governance of welfare-enhancing institutional change and combines advanced analytical and political skills. The causal mechanisms behind successful political reform identified in the study—modern statecraft—have the potential of being generally applicable to other advanced democracies and welfare states, and possibly to other countries that have the ambition to improve their economies and societies.

Nils Karlson

Backmatter

Titel: Statecraft and Liberal Reform in Advanced Democracies
verfasst von: Dr. Nils Karlson
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-64233-8
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-64232-1
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64233-8