Healthy Democracies : Welfare Politics in Taiwan and South Korea / Joseph Wong.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wong, Joseph, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy--Korea (South).

Democracy.

Public welfare--Korea (South).

Public welfare.

Democracy--Taiwan.

Public welfare--Taiwan.

Korea (South)--Social policy.

Korea (South).

Taiwan--Social policy.

Taiwan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 209 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Do the pressures of economic globalization undermine the welfare state? Contrary to the expectations of many analysts, Taiwan and South Korea have embarked on a new trajectory, toward a strengthened welfare state and universal inclusion. In Healthy Democracies, Joseph Wong offers a political explanation for health care reform in these two countries. He focuses specifically on the ways in which democratic change in Taiwan and South Korea altered the incentives and ultimately the decisions of policymakers and social policy activists in contemporary health care debates.Wong uses extensive field research and interviews to explore both similarities and subtle differences in the processes of political change and health care reform in Taiwan and South Korea. During the period of authoritarian rule, he argues, state leaders in both places could politically afford to pursue selective social policies-reform was piecemeal and health care policy outcomes far from universal. Wong finds that the introduction of democratic reform changed the political logic of social policy reform: vote-seeking politicians needed to promote popular policies, and health care reform advocates, from bureaucrats to grassroots activists, adapted to this new political context. In Wong's view, the politics of democratic transition in Taiwan and South Korea has served as an effective antidote to the presumed economic imperatives of social welfare retrenchment during the process of globalization.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1.Democratization And The Welfare State

Chapter 2.A Dynamic Policymaking Framework

Chapter 3.Authoritarianism And The Origins Of Social Insurance

Chapter 4.Democratic Breakthrough And Universal Health Care

Chapter 5.Coalition Building In Korea

Chapter 6.Resisting Retrenchment In Taiwan

Chapter 7.Democracy And The Idea Of Social Welfare

Chapter 8.Defending Democracy

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [175]-200) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

1-5017-1148-2

OCLC:

1080551430