Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2003, 49(12):564-570 | DOI: 10.17221/5449-AGRICECON
Rural anticipation towards welfare state in Czech Republic
- Czech University of Agriculture, Praque, Czech Republic
Although empirical findings show the deterioration of living standards in post- communist countries in the 1990s, there are significant differences in the public opinion about the "welfare state" project in countries where more rigorous liberal reforms were implemented and countries with much slower progression towards the liberal model of capitalism. The Czech Republic with its economic development is still on the symbolic crossways to make a decision about how to approach the welfare state. There is a very actively discussed model of an "active approach" (non-state subjects) to social policy with a residual role of the state. The model should have a chance to a more effective implementation in (small) rural communities where social problems can be better identified and resolved. The questions to be asked are that of the potential of social policy actors to participate in the process and the attitudes and approaches to social policy models in rural communities. It should be asked how the opinion of actors can be evaluated in the process of making a new system of social policy which still remains a "reform from above". The paper follows a preceding qualitative study of the author with a quantitative survey of public opinion on the participation and responsibility in social policy actors' action and acceptance of the welfare state model based on the liberal model of capitalism. The first part provides a review of international studies on rural poverty in post- socialist states. The main part of paper presents results of a quantitative investigation in one Czech rural community where significant social problems of the welfare state project (unemployment, illness, education, age, living conditions) have been studied.
Keywords: public opinion, rural community, questionnaire, welfare state
Published: December 31, 2003 Show citation
References
- Bauman Z. (2000): Globalizace. Dùsledky pro èlovìka. Praha.
- Bruckmeier K., Kopytina M.A. (2001): Post-traditional or Post-modern Rurality? Cases from East Germany and Russia. In: Granberg L., Kovách I., Tovey H. (2001): Europe’s Green Ring. Perspectives on Rural Policy and Planning. Wiltshire.
- Elster J., Offe C., Preuss U.K. (1998): Institutional Design in Post-communist Societies. Cambridge.
Go to original source... - Emigh R.J, Szelényi I. (2001): Poverty, ethnicity, and gender in Eastern Europe during the market transition. London.
- Eyal G., Szelényi I., Townsley E. (2000): Making Capitalism Without Capitalists. London. New York.
- Fodor, E. (2001). The Feminisation of Poverty in Six PostState Socialist Societies. Review of Sociology of the Hungarian Sociological Association, 7 (2): 91–108. Budapest. Go to original source...
- Giddens A. (1998): Dùsledky modernity (Consequences of Modernity). Praha.
- Giddens A. (2001): Tøetí cesta (The Third Way. The Renewal of Social Democracy). Praha.
- Granberg L., Kovách I., Tovey H. (2001): Europe’s Green Ring. Perspectives on Rural Policy and Planning. Wiltshire.
- Hudeèková H., Lošák M. (1995): Social Cost of Transformation in the Czech Agriculture. Eastern European Countryside, (1): 81–90, Torun.
- Keller J. (1996): Sociologie a byrokracie (Sociology and Bureaucracy). Praha.
- Konopásek Z. (1998): Estetika sociálního státu (The Aesthetic of the Welfare State). Praha.
- Kovách I. (2001): De-pesantation of Hungarian Rurality. In: Granberg L., Kovách I., Tovey H. (2001): Europe’s Green Ring. Perspectives on Rural Policy and Planning, Wiltshire.
- Kuèerová E. (2002): Active social policy as a chance for endogenous rural development. Agricultural Economics – Czech, 4 (12): 554–558, Praha. Go to original source...
- Lošák M. (1998): Rùzná vnímání globalizace a èeské zemìdìlství (Different Perceptions of Globalisation and the Czech Agriculture). In: Filipov I., Praha.
- Mlèoch L. (1997): Zastøená vize ekonomické transformace (The Blear Vision of the Economical Transformation). Praha.
- Potùèek M. (1995): Sociální politika (Social policy). Praha.
- Stark D. (1992): Path Dependence and Privatization Strategies. East Central Europe. East European Politics and Societies, 6 (1): 17–51. Go to original source...
- Szelényi I. (2001): Poverty, Ethnicity, and Gender in Transitional Societies – Introduction. Rewiev of Sociology of the Hungarian Sociological Association, 7 (2): 5–10, Budapest. Go to original source...
- Veèerník J. (1998): Zpráva o vývoji èské spoleènosti 1989– 1998 (Ten years of rebuilding capitalism: Czech society after 1989). Praha.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.