Comparative Politics

B12(b) - Health, Wealth and Education: Social and Economic Policies in Welfare States

Date: May 31 | Time: 02:00pm to 03:30pm | Location: Classroom - CL 232 Room ID:15718

Chair/Président/Présidente : Linda White (University of Toronto)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Linda White (University of Toronto)

The ‘School for All’ Goes Through the ‘Choice Revolution’: School Vouchers Politics in Sweden: Anne Lachance (Queen's University)
Abstract: Since 1990, the most important trend in the evolution of public education systems has been the spread of policies that allow parental choice of school. School choice policies seek to break the traditional link between schooling and neighbourhood, and by doing so, they create education markets: parents are free to choose between several school options, and schools must compete to attract students. Sweden is one of the countries that moved the furthest in that direction. In 1991, a center-right government replaced the residentially-based education system with a universal vouchers system, in which families were given a tuition voucher that they could use in any school, public or private. After the 1994 election, the new Social-Democratic government decided against abolishing the vouchers system, thereby accepting the existence of a market-like competition between schools. The ease with which centre-right politicians introduced market principles in education policy is puzzling, but even more surprising is the lack of opposition by the Social-Democrats and teachers’ unions. This paper seeks to explain this policy outcome. It argues that the structure of the pre-reform education system created grievances among middle-class and high-income parents, who became the strongest supporters of school choice. Their preferences were articulated by centre-right parties, but not strongly opposed by the Social-Democrats, who did not want to alienate middle class voters. The Social-Democrats also sought to preserve their positive relationship with the Green Party, which supported the reform. Large-scale change was also facilitated by the lack of veto points in the Swedish polity.

Electoral Regimes and Population Health: A Bayesian Analysis of Economic Mediators: Andrew Patterson (University of Alberta)
Abstract: A growing literature suggests that population health may be contingent on whether and how a country uses elections to choose its leaders. Relationships with macroeconomic correlates remain unclear, however. Empirical studies do not necessarily support an intervening role for economic inequality, which may be due to problems of missing data, while the mediating potential of economic wealth remains controversial. To investigate these issues, this study reviews the debate around economic correlates as determinants of health. It then tests corresponding hypotheses with 35 years of annual data for 179 countries. Five regime types are specified based on the style of their elections: majoritarian, proportional, mixed-member and competitive-authoritarian electoral systems as compared to closed autocracies. Bayesian structural equation models are used to impute missing data including net Gini. Tests of the mediating potential of GDP suggest it could be a mediate the influence of democracy overall on health but not either of the two types of autocracy. Tests of the mediating potential of income inequality highlight possible differences between democracies, however. Results suggest that differences in net Gini may link purely proportional systems to stronger life expectancy. If GDP is interpretable as a mediator, they also suggest that higher levels of income inequality in majoritarian systems may hamper life expectancy by way of depressing economic growth. Although consistent with the view that democracies overall have better population health because they are richer, findings also suggest that income inequality in majoritarian democracies may have harmed prospects for both wealth and health.

International Credit Ratings and Subnational Welfare States: Kyle Hanniman (Queen's University)
Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between the credit ratings and spending responsibilities of subnational governments. A cross-national statistical analysis reveals a positive and statistically significant relationship between S&P credit ratings and the ratio of capital to operating expenditures. A qualitative review of rating reports suggests this is not primarily because S&P considers capital expenditures more productive, but because it considers operating expenditures – including spending on healthcare and other social services – harder to cut in the event of fiscal distress. The qualitative analysis also reveals that these rigidities are considered strongest in developed economies, where the wages of unionized service providers are stickier and citizens have higher expectations of service provision. This is in sharp contrast to studies of market constraints at the national level, which suggest credit markets pay little attention to the spending priorities of developed countries. The findings have important implications for the relationship between financial markets, decentralization and the viability of the welfare state.