Small Transformations

The book focuses on how the macro-policies and institutions of welfare reform appear at the lower levels of the social policy system, and, conversely, how civic/local initiatives affect the macro-reforms. It consists of three parts: I. Local Welfare Provision: the State, the Market and the Non-Profit Sector (The Example of Health Care) II. Between Governmental and Individual Responsibility: New Social Programs (The Example of the Pension System) III. The Role of Mediating Institutions: Social Policy "from Above" and "from Below" (The Example of Unemployment) East-Central European social reforms open up a plethora of questions for discussion. The contributors provide original results and engage in discussions on the virtues of the third sector, the privatisation of the pension system or the ways of combating unemployment.