Chinese Social Policy in a Time of Transition (International Policy Exchange) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 019999031X ISBN 13: 9780199990313

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2013

Synopsis

The story of China's spectacular economic growth is well known. Less well known is the country's equally dramatic, though not always equally successful, social policy transition. Between the mid- 1990s and mid-2000s---the focal period for this book---China's central government went a long way toward consolidating the social policy framework that had gradually emerged in piecemeal fashion during the initial phases of economic liberalization. Major policy decisions during the focal period included adopting a single national pension plan for urban areas, standardizing unemployment insurance, (re)establishing nationwide rural health care coverage, opening urban education systems to children of rural migrants, introducing trilingual education policies in ethnic minority regions, expanding college enrolment, addressing the challenge of HIV/AIDS more comprehensively, and equalizing social welfare spending across provinces, among others. Unresolved is the direction of policy in the face of longer-term industrial and demographic trends---and the possibility of a chronically weak global economy. Chinese Social Policy in a Time of Transition offers scholars, practitioners, students, and policymakers a foundation from which to explore those issues based on a composite snapshot of Chinese social policy at its point of greatest maturation prior to the 2007 global crisis.

About this title

About the Author

Douglas J. Besharov is the Norman and Florence Brody Professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, where he teaches courses on poverty, welfare, children and families, policy analysis, program evaluation, and performance management. He is also a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, where he leads a program in international policy exchanges. In 2008, he was President of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) and is currently APPAM's International Conference Coordinator.

Karen Baehler is Scholar in Residence at the American University School of Public Affairs and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the Australia New Zealand School of Government. Her research focuses on the theory and practice of policy analysis in social and environmental policy. She holds a Ph.D. in Policy Sciences from the University of Maryland.

Review

"Douglas J. Besharov and Karen Baehler have teamed up to put together an impressive collective of cutting-edge research on various aspects of social policy in contemporary China. There is something for everyone interested in rapidly changing China. " -- M Ramesh, PhD, Chair Professor of Governance and Public Policy, Hong Kong Institute of Education.

"This book takes on an important and interesting topic. Massive transitions in Chinese society, and therefore transitions in social policy, ask for extensive research. The world lacks an updated understanding of China's social policies. The book includes all the important topics of social policy, pension, health policy, housing, education, children, disabled, etc. This book can provide a comprehensive overview on the wide scope of social policies." -- Xiaojiang Hu, PhD, Vice Dean, and Associate Professor, School of Social Development and Public Policy; Beijing Normal University

"...a worthy read for several reasons. First, within each theme, the chapters and the overall conclusion provide a nice overview of current academic and policy thinking in general and for Europe in particular. Second, the concluding chapter of the theme continues adding insights because it critically reviews the arguments seen through a US lens. Thirdly and more subtly, the book reveals differences in American and European perspectives on issues such as solidarity (federal vs. national), distributing benefits from economic growth (less vs. more equal), the use of official poverty lines (program eligibility vs. broad strategic goals), and the definition of poverty (low income vs. social exclusion). As politics and policy are never far removed from poverty measurement, it is this characteristic of the book that makes it a relevant read, not only for a US audience but also for a European audience."--International Journal of Social Welfare

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 019999031X
• ISBN 13: 9780199990313
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 314
• Editor: Besharov Douglas, Baehler Karen