1st Edition

A Democratic Architecture for the Welfare State

By Victor A. Pestoff Copyright 2009
346 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

336 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

336 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

The welfare state faces various challenges in Scandinavia and many European countries today, including a poor work environment in the public sector, a growing democracy deficit, and demographic obstacles. In this new book, Victor A. Pestoff argues that the state cannot resolve these challenges alone or together with the market, rather it requires the active participation of citizens and the third... Read more
1. Making Citizenship Meaningful in the 21st Century  Part I: Social Economy Actors  2. The Future of Cooperatives in Post-Industrial Societies  3. The Development and Future of the Social Economy in Sweden  Part II: Major Issues for the Welfare State  4. Balancing Profit and Social Goals in Public/Private Partnerships  5. Work Environment, Service Quality & the Third Sector  6. Consumer Perspectives on the Social Economy and Civil Society  7.  Democratizing Medical & Health Care – the Japanese Example  8. Co-Production of Welfare Services: Childcare in Eight European Countries  Part: III  Revisiting the Third Sector and State  9. Revisiting the Third Sector and State in Democratic Theory  10. Revisiting the Third Sector and State in Welfare Theory  11. Hurdles to the Third Sector & Democratization of the Welfare State  Part IV  The Politics of Participation in European Welfare States  12. The Politics of Participation in European Welfare States

Biography

Victor A. Pestoff is Guest Professor at the Civil Society Research Unit at Ersta Skondal University College, Stockholm, Sweden. He is the author of Co-production: The Third Sector and the Delivery of Public Services, also published by Routledge.

'At a time of deficits of the democratic political system Viktor Pestoff offers a critical and fundamental insight: the solution is to promote a greater role for the third sector and full-range citizen participation or even empowerment in public policy making and service provision.' Gyorgy Jenei (Corvinus University, Budapest)