CONCEPT OF SOCIAL POLICY
Broadly speaking, the term ‘policy’ refers to the general guidelines or principles, which give direction to a particular course of action by the government or by an organization. It also refers to, in a very specific sense, an intended or executed course of action.
Definitions of Social Policy
An attempt to define social policy is beset with many practical difficulties. Is there one social policy with capital S and P or are there multiple social policies with small s and small p? This question is relevant because we have social policies compartmentalized into a policy for scheduled castes, a policy for backward classes, a policy for weaker sections, a policy for women, a policy for children and so on. Does an addition of these policies make up a “whole” social policy? We have Directive Principles of State Policy, the Fundamental Rights and the preamble to the constitution. Do these make up a social policy? In the light of the above dilemmas, in the following section, we attempt to define social policy:
Social policy can be referred to both in the plural and singular case.. When referred to in the plural, it denotes comprehensive and integrated set of policies in the social sectors such as health, social welfare, education, social security etc., when used in singular the term social policy refers to a specific governmental policy such as the policy towards the SCs and STs, the policy for providing universal education etc.
Following are definitions of social policy:
According to David Gill:
Social policies are priniciples/course of action designed to influence:
i. the overall quality of life in a society;
ii. the circumstances of living of individuals and groups in that society and
iii. the nature of intra- societal relationships among individuals, groups and society as a whole.
According to Kulkarni “Social policy is the strategy of action indicating means and methods to be followed in successive phases to achieve the declared social objectives.”
Marshall states that the term, “Social policy refers to the policy of governments with regard to action having a direct impact on the welfare of citizens, by providing them with services or income.”
According to Prof. Titmuss, social policy represents a summation of acts of government, deliberately designed to improve the welfare of people.
While summarizing the whole discussion, it can be said that social policy is a deliberate action on the part of individuals, collectivities and governments, undertaken to organize services, opportunities and social action so as to affect the life styles of people and initiate a process to prevent, postpone, initiate and manage change.
B. Characteristics of Social Policy-
1) Many writers on social policy including such well-known names like Titmuss, Donnison and Boulding have stressed that the distinguishing trait of social policy is its distributional or redistributive character. Thus the concern of social policy is with social and economic justice based on the principle of equality, which means that the redistribution of social resources should take place from the better off sections towards the worse off sections of society.
2) The second characteristic of social policy is its concern with weaker and vulnerable sections of society such as poor, women, children, disabled, backward classes so as to bring them at par with the rest of society. Thus social policies visualize of an egalitarian society where inequalities are reduced to minimum level.
3) Another characteristic of social policy is that social policies do not exist in isolation. These are determined to a large extent by the socio-political scenario of a nation, its economic viability and last but not the least, by socio-cultural ethos of people of the nation. Now after Liberalisation, Globalisation and Privatization, policies have become global and changes in one corner of the world definitely leave impact over rest of the world. Most live example of this feature is the opening up of economy by most of third world countries in accordance with guidelines of World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
C. Objectives of Social policy
1) It is frequently stated that social policies aim to bring about social change. In the final analysis all social policies are government policies as stated by Marshall and Boulding. As part of the operation of the government, social policy cannot hope to introduce fundamental changes in society, which would mean undermining the status quo on which government rests. Whether in the socialist countries or in the capitalist countries, the social policy cannot usher in the fundamental structural change. It can only achieve moderate social change, whereby certain undesirable conditions of a section or sections of society are redressed and as a result social tension is minimized.
2) Pinker has argued that objective of social policy is minimization of sufferings and maximization of welfare.
3) Another objective of social policy is improvement of quality of life of people. It is necessary to ask whose quality of life that we want to improve? This is a pertinent question in developing countries like India where majority of the population live in conditions of serious deprivation, without being able to get even the basic necessities for survival. They are said to be living in absolute poverty or below the poverty line. According to World Bank the estimates of poor population in the developing countries is 57%. It should be very clear that the limited resources of the developing countries cannot be utilized to improve the quality of life of all the population of these countries. It has been very well documented by several studies that the major beneficiaries of development planning in the Third World have been the numerically small fraction of the population. So the aim of social policy should be to redistribute social resources so that the quality of life of the top 20% of the population does not keep on improving at the cost of the provision of the basic necessities for the very survival of the 50 or 60% of the population. It is for this reason that Mahboob-ul-Haq has stated that the aim of development planning in Third World should be stated as the preservation of the very life itself and not as the improvement of the quality of life, which presumes that the basic survival needs have been met.
D. Models of Social Policy
Model A: Residual Welfare Model of Social Policy
This formulation is closely related with laissez-faire position. With concomitttant social changes that have accompanied industrialization and urbanization, there emerged a grudging recognition that under rather exceptional circumstances, malfunctions of market or of the family, may necessitate some temporary supplement to social provisions. From the angle of policy, however, this approach perceives the family and the market as the only instruments for meeting human needs. There is emphasis on “means-testing” and less eligibility”. Selectivity is inherent in such a policy-frame and only the poor who qualify means test are selected for benefits.
Model B: Industrial Achievement- Performance Model of Social Policy
This incorporates a significant role for social welfare institutions. It holds that social needs should be met on the basis of merit, work performance and productivity. It is derived from various economic and psychological theories concerned with incentives, efforts and reward and the formation of class and group loyalties.
Model C: Institutional Redistributive Model of Social Policy
This envisages built-in institutional social provision to overcome the stresses of modern complex industrial-urban life. This model sees social welfare as a major integrated institution in society, providing Universalist services outside the market on the principle of need. It is basically a model incorporating systems of redistribution in command-over-resources-through-time.
Modern concept of social policy is inextricably bound with social justice. Mere equalization of opportunities in an inequalitarian socio-economic system reduces social justice just to absurdity. Thus in the modern concept of social policy, concepts of positive discrimination and equity find prominent place. India follows this model while envisaging social policies.
These three models are, of course, only very broad approximations to the theories and ideas of economists, philosophers, political scientists and sociologists. Many variants could be developed of a more sophisticated kind.
E. Actors in Formulation of Social Policy
Evolving social policy everywhere is a challenging task, more so in the age of dynamic technological changes affecting physical environment and social mobility. Policy formulation is done or influenced by following actors:
i. Government
ii. Political parties
iii. Individual reforms
iv. Voluntary organizations
v. Social action groups
vi. Plan documents
vii. Laws and courts
viii. Parliamentary committees
ix. Consumer reactions
x. Technological breakdown etc.
F. Problems in Policy Implementation
ii. Prevalence of coalition government
iii. Widespread corruption at each and every level of functioning
iv. Financial constraints
v. Red-tapism
vi. Erosion of moral values
vii. Financial constraints
viii. Inadequate staffing
ix. Absence of training
x. Lack of people’s participation
xi. Gross mismatch between actual needs and perceived needs of people
xii. Delay in getting justice.
G. Strategies for effecting Changes in Policies
ii. Creation of public opinion
iii. Demonstrations
iv. Public Interest Litigation
v. Discussions, Meetings and Seminars
vi. Building pressure over government
vii. Submission of memorandum
viii. Signature campaign
ix. Pressure groups etc.
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