The political economy of the Irish welfare state provides a fascinating interpretation of the evolution of social policy in modern Ireland, as the product of a triangulated relationship between church, state and capital. Using official estimates, Professor Powell demonstrates that the welfare state is vital for the cohesion of Irish society with half the population at risk of poverty without it. However, the reality is of a residual welfare system dominated by means tests, with a two-tier health service, a dysfunctional housing system driven by an acquisitive dynamic of home-ownership at the expense of social housing, and an education system that is socially and religiously segregated. Using the evolution of the Irish welfare state as a narrative example of the incompatibility of political conservatism, free market capitalism and social justice, the book offers a new and challenging view on the interface between structure and agency in the formation and democratic purpose of welfare states, as they increasingly come under critical review and restructuring by elites.
| ISBN: | 9781447332916 |
| Publication date: | 13th September 2017 |
| Author: | Fred (Department of Applied Social Studies, National University of Ireland, Cork) Powell |
| Publisher: | Policy Press an imprint of Bristol University Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 304 pages |
| Genres: |
Political economy Religion and politics Social welfare and social services |