Compare and contrast the social policies of the Clark Labour Government (1999-2008) with those of the Key Government (2008-present)
Introduction
Key Government has many similar ideas as the Clark Labour Government. In order to compare two different governments, we need to know the context of the whole society including economy, politics, culture, international environment. The problems and needs in these society, the causes of diverse problems, the ideology and value of different governments and policies they promote are also significant. In this essay, we are going to discuss the similarities and differences of policies between the Clark Labour Government and the Key Government from the aspect of ideology.
Social Policy
Social
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Actually, the Clark Labour Government got a number of positive outcomes during its days and had achieved an acceleration in the rate of economic growth, the lowest rate of unemployment and the realization of treasury surpluses under the Third Way(Cheyne, O’Brien & Belgrave, 2008).
On the other hand, under the economy background of global financial crisis and economic recession in New Zealand, the Key Government took over the government from the Clark Labour Government in 2008. Being different from Clark Labour Government, the Key Government has been considered as a practitioner of neo-liberalism. Neo-liberalism has been defined by David Harvey (2005, p2)as :
“ a theory of political economic practices that proposes that human well-being can best be advanced by liberating individual entrepreneurial freedoms and skills within an institutional framework characterized by strong private property rights, free markets and free trade. ”
There is no doubt that neo-liberals In belief, the state’s intervention will really destroy freedoms, equalities, and liberties, this intervention can only emerge when necessary, and individuals should not depend on government services but to take responsibilities for themselves, according to neo-liberals’ views.
While asserting the flexibility of
Another area in which it is suggested that modern liberalism has departed from classical liberalism is freedom. Classical liberals believe in negative freedom. This is simply that there should be an absence of external constraints on the individual and as such they should be left alone to make their own choices. In this way classical liberals were heavily influenced by the natural rights theories of John Locke and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson claimed that we were born with inalienable rights and therefore no individual or government had the right to take these away. Freedom from constraints is therefore an essential condition for exercising these rights. In practise, this has meant that classical liberals have advocated a minimal state or what John Locke referred to as the ‘night-watchman state’. The activities of this state should be limited to the enforcement of contracts, maintaining order and protection from foreign threats to prevent the state from infringing on individual liberties as much as possible.
In the mid 70’s, a new type of Conservatism was introduced, especially in Thatcher and Reagan’s governments in Britain and America. This was a very ideological strand in conservatism with a mixture between neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism, aiming to free markets while keeping society stricter and under more authority; almost Victorian like. This therefore challenges the idea that conservatives favour pragmatism over principle. The new-right adopted a stance of absolute economic liberty and free markets, a neo-liberal view on how the economy should be run. Individuals should be encouraged to be self-reliant and make rational choices in their own interests. This therefore caused the shrink of the state, and the amount of help they gave to people who were struggling; completely
One of the most important things in our lives today is Canada’s welfare state, as it transformed Canada’s economy after the economy’s downturn from the Great Depression. The democratic system was formed to maintain prosperity, solidity and security in our everyday lives. One of the key pillars of the nation’s welfare state is employment insurance (EI). Through this analysis of Canada’s employment insurance, I will elucidate why I believe that this program should continue, but with refinements, as it has benefited a large portion of unemployed Canadians over the years and should continue doing so to fulfill the countries goals of the welfare state.
How effectively did the liberal government deal with the problem of poverty between 1906 and 1914?
The Labour government in 1945-1951 achieved a high degree of activity and success, despite working within ‘the aftermath of war’ which inevitably ‘brings enormous difficulties’. The Labour government devoted their power to reconstructing a better nation, one that would be a ‘better place in which to be born, to grow up, and to live and even die’. On the other hand it is possible to criticise Labour due to their ‘irresponsible’ spending.
Firstly, in order to understand the implication of neo-liberals ideals about choices, understanding the concept is essential. Neoliberalism is implemented in majority of contemporary policy reforms in Australian society. It started with labour governments under Hawk’s leadership between 1983-1991, and is presently being implemented by the Howard government (Beder, 2005). Beder (2005) defines Neo-liberalism
This essay will aim to analyze the extent to which New Labour having been elected in 1997 continued the implementation of Thatcher’s policies.
federalism and argue why federalism is a core aspect of Canadian political life and more
Considering the amount of hardship Canadians were going through during The Great Depression, it seemed as though the Liberal government was doing nothing to help with the people 's conditions. By the 1930’s election, signs of the great depression were becoming more
As we know, the Social Welfare State was published in 1967, which was used to provide help to those poverty, homelessness, unemployment or disability citizens. To help them had a better live condition or had enough money to survive. Therefore the Canadian government set up several policies to improve Canadians life. For instance, the Canadian Pension Plan, Canada Health Act and Child Welfare League of Canada. These policies or laws finally successfully helped Canadians life after used them.
With reference to Ideological and Economic factors, analyse what has shaped government decision in funding and delivering welfare.
What was the ideology that discouraged many political leaders from supporting social programs? On this “land of unlimited opportunities” everyone who was poor considered as a lazy and unwilling to work hard; therefore, there was no reason to support people with social help and services. Canada’s second major social program was Ontario’s Mother Allowance. Mother’s allowance was designed to take care of needy women with children.
In this essay is about the relationship between the social policy and social problem, but before going into a deep understanding of the two related parts that involve in a society, let is defined each one of them and know what they are and how they connect. When it comes defining the social policy or social problem; there is no one solid definition for them as it has many definitions because of their widely involvement in the society. In Bessant Theories, Mark Considine (1994;2) , fairly recommended that policy is cleverly easy caption that is able to cover parts of actual complicated actions.
Neo-liberalism is a political ideology that suggests that ‘human well-being can be advanced by the maximisation of entrepreneurial freedom, characterised by private property rights, individual liberty, free markets and free trade’ (Geografiskar, A 2006). In today’s modern society neo-liberalism is widespread around the globe with various stakeholders offering conflicting views. Some advocates, namely the capitalistic portion of society argue that a liberal market is
The government determines how well the state will function, the analogy of the car and driver helps simplify how the government and state correlate. The car represents the state and the driver represents the government, so depending how well the driver treats the car determines how well the car will function; for instance, if the driver is not good then switching drivers will change how the car will work (Brodie, 2014). Through a political lens, it is evident to see the distinct difference between conservatism and liberalism in Canada. Conservatives are right wing on the