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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Public Good and the Welfare State in Africa |
Author: | Karger, Howard Jacob |
Year: | 1996 |
Periodical: | Journal of Social Development in Africa (ISSN 1012-1080) |
Volume: | 11 |
Issue: | 1 |
Pages: | 5-16 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic terms: | Subsaharan Africa Africa |
Subjects: | political systems social welfare Economics and Trade Politics and Government Economics, Commerce social policy International economy economic policy |
Abstract: | The relationship between the public good and the welfare State is being reexamined in many industrialized and developing countries. The exigencies of the global economy, i.e. the interlinking of corporate markets and large sums of capital on a worldwide basis, exacerbate the dilemma faced by governments in trying to walk a tenuous line between appearing simultaneously to promote both the public and the private good. The public good is increasingly being redefined in terms of the private, 'what's good for business is good for the public'. However, the only real buffer between the violence of unregulated self-interest and the maintenance of civil society is the welfare State. How the public good is translated into a compassionate and cost-effective welfare programme is the task facing African social planners. As such, the public good must be defined as those policies which positively enhance the quality of life for all members of society. Values such as productivity, reciprocity, familial responsibility, social cohesion, and social choice are benchmarks around which future thinking about social welfare policy in Africa can be organized. Bibliogr., sum. |