Social policy
Social policy refers to government strategies and initiatives designed to address issues affecting the well-being of society, particularly in areas such as education, poverty, employment, housing, and health care. The scope of social policy can vary significantly; while some definitions focus specifically on welfare state policies, others extend to a broader range of societal concerns, including discrimination, immigration, and public health. This field has historical roots that trace back to ancient civilizations but gained formal recognition in the mid-twentieth century with increased attention to social welfare services.
In the United States, social policy is a contentious topic, often reflecting deep political divides between conservative and progressive ideologies. Key debates center around the extent of government involvement in improving citizens' lives, particularly for marginalized groups. Major social welfare programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, highlight government efforts to support vulnerable populations, while initiatives like the Affordable Care Act signify ongoing developments in health care policy. Critics of expansive social policy argue it contributes to government debt and fosters dependency, while proponents advocate for its role in promoting social justice and addressing inequality. As such, social policy remains central to public discourse, intimately connected to the daily lives and concerns of citizens.
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Subject Terms
Social policy
Social policy is a broad term that may be interpreted in various ways depending on the context. At the most basic level, it refers to any government policy related to social issues, particularly those of domestic concern such as education, poverty, employment, housing, and health care. Some definitions restrict the term specifically to discussion of welfare state policies and other direct social services, while others include governmental approach to a wider range of subjects such as discrimination, privacy rights, immigration, gun control, and recreational drug use. In academic settings, social policy often takes on an even broader scope, encompassing the interdisciplinary study of how societal needs are met through the distribution of resources, whether by governments or through other channels. Social policy is sometimes considered a subcategory within the larger umbrella of public policy, though some scholars instead view the two as distinct philosophical approaches to often overlapping subject matter.
Social policy is a key element of politics. Differing views on what outcomes are best for society and what role governments should play in achieving such outcomes help generate the fundamental disagreements that lead to debate, the formation of competing political parties, and so on. In the United States, social policy is a continual source of political tension and public discourse. For example, heightened partisan polarization between generally conservative Republicans and generally progressive Democrats in the early twenty-first-century was in many ways rooted in disagreement on various issues of social policy.
Overview
In one sense, social policy has existed at least as long as governments have attempted to improve society. Such policies are documented in ancient civilizations and were increasingly codified in many societies as the Industrial Revolution led to widespread social reforms. However, social policy as a formal concept did not fully appear until the mid-twentieth century. This coincided with increasing academic and governmental attention to the potential of social welfare services to improve citizens' well-being. In the modern era, governments worldwide all address questions of social policy to some degree, though approaches vary widely.
In the United States there has long been disagreement over how involved the government should be in social issues. Since the nation's founding, a key political divide has been between those who prefer limited government and those who consider it the government's duty to improve society however possible. In general this split has been along conservative-progressive lines, though the political reality is often more complex. Another important factor has been the traditional American value of individualism, which historically often led the United States to idealize hard work and personal responsibility over state assistance and therefore spend less on social services than most other Western nations.
A revolutionary new vision of social services in the United States emerged with President Franklin Roosevelt’s landmark New Deal programs, designed to bring the country out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. These included the establishment of Social Security, a massive social insurance program using a payroll tax to fund benefits for retirees and others. Since then, understanding of social policy has often focused specifically on the use of government resources to assist society’s most vulnerable citizens, including the poor, the unemployed, the disabled, the elderly, persons of color, first-generation immigrants, members of the LGBTQ community, and children. President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society programs of the 1960s, which especially sought to combat poverty and racism, also became influential examples of increasingly robust federal social policy efforts. For example, the Medicare and Medicaid programs greatly expanded government involvement in health care. Other highly prominent, if controversial, examples of social policy over the decades included the education-focused No Child Left Behind Act (2001) and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as Obamacare) health insurance law passed in 2010.
While some major social welfare programs such as Social Security and Medicare quickly became integral parts of American society, the competing narrative that the government should be minimally involved in social issues remained prominent, especially after the conservative revolution of the 1980s. At the heart of the debate over social policy is whether the government has a responsibility to improve the lives of the marginalized and to promote social justice. Included in this debate is the question of what constitutes public welfare and the good of the community and what constitutes personal disadvantage and unfortunate personal circumstances. Progressive thinkers tend to argue in favor of using the power and weight of government to pursue goals such as fighting discrimination based on race, gender, and sexual orientation; creating equal job opportunities; preserving or extending welfare and unemployment benefits; protecting women’s reproductive rights; providing affordable housing for low-income families; ensuring equal access to low-cost medical insurance; and balancing inequities in public education. Critics, meanwhile, contend that many social policy initiatives, although perhaps well-intentioned, represent an ever-deepening financial obligation measured in trillions in government debt and create an increasingly dysfunctional and bloated bureaucracy. Some conservative commentators go further, arguing that such policies represent a significant (and potentially unconstitutional) overreach of government authority into the workplace, schools, hospitals, and even homes. Proponents of personal responsibility argue that many social policy programs only create dependence on the government and that a free market capitalist economy provides better solution to social problems.
Although issues of national security and international relations are also important to politics, social policy often provides particular fodder for political debate. In many cases social policy programs may have more relevance to people’s daily lives than events taking place around the world. Citizens tend to be most passionate about political subjects that impact them directly, and by definition social policy involves many of the most pressing issues affecting public well-being.
Types of Social Policy
Social policy is a nebulous concept; essentially any issue involving society can theoretically be subject to policy initiatives. In the broadest academic sense, the study of social policy covers any way in which society distributes resources. However, most discussion of social policy focuses more narrowly on government policies related to domestic social issues. In particular, it most often refers specifically to welfare or social service programs. These include social insurance programs such as Social Security, food security programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps), health care benefits such as Medicaid, direct cash payments to those living in poverty, and many other government initiatives. In the United States, welfare programs have been politically divisive due to their financial cost as well as negative cultural stereotypes of welfare recipients as lazy or fraudulent, despite strong statistical evidence that many programs have helped reduce poverty, child hunger, and other social problems.
Social policy often overlaps considerably with economic policy. Similarly, it may be seen as overlapping with or including categories such as education policy and health policy. In American politics, social policy is also characterized as including many subjects that are not strictly considered welfare. Prominent examples include LGBTQ rights, women's rights, abortion, child care, racism, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and crime.
Bibliography
Baldock, John, Nick Manning, Sarah Vickerstaff, and Lavinia Mitton, eds. Social Policy. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print.
Barnes, Mitchell, et al. "The Social Insurance System In the US: Policies to Protect Workers and Families." Brookings, 23 June 2021, www.brookings.edu/research/the-social-insurance-system-in-the-u-s-policies-to-protect-workers-and-families/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2022.
Barusch, Amanda S. Foundations of Social Policy: Social Justice in Human Perspective. Stamford: Brooks, 2008. Print.
Becker, Saul, Alan Bryman, and Harry Ferguson, eds. Understanding Research for Social Policy and Social Work: Themes, Methods and Approaches. Bristol: Policy, 2012. Print.
Chambers, Donald E., and Kenneth C. Wedel. Social Policy and Social Programs: A Method for the Practical Public Policy. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2008. Print.
Hoggett, Paul, Hen Wilkinson, and Pheobe Beedell. “Fairness and the Politics of Resentment.” Journal of Social Policy 42.3 (2013): 567–585. Print.
Jimenez, Jillian A. Social Policy and Social Change: Toward the Creation of Social and Economic Justice. New York: Sage, 2009. Print.
Marx, Jerry. "Current Issues and Programs in Social Welfare: 2001–2017." Social Welfare History Project, VCU Libraries, 2017, socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/recollections/current-issues-programs-social-welfare-2001-2017/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2022.
Segal, Elizabeth A. Social Welfare Policy and Social Programs. Belmont: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. Brooks/Cole Empowerment Ser.
Skocpol, Theda. Social Policy in the United States: Future Possibilities in Historical Perspective. Princeton UP, 1996.
"What Is Social Policy?" University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, www.strath.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/politicsinternationalrelationssocialpolicy/whatissocialpolicy/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2022.