4.3 Article

From Retrenchment to Selective Social Policy Expansion: The Politics of Federal Cash Benefits in Canada

Publisher

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0008423921000524

Keywords

social policy; welfare state; permanent austerity; retrenchment; expansion; pensions; child benefits; employment insurance; social investment; Canada

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The article delves into the new politics of social policy expansion in Canada, emphasizing the interaction of five factors. Empirically, it focuses on the politics of federal social policy expansion during the Harper and Justin Trudeau years.
While much has been written about the politics of retrenchment, in a number of advanced industrial societies social policy expansion does occur today, which raises issues about how to study it in a post-retrenchment era. The present article explores the new politics of social policy expansion in Canada. Drawing on the work of Paul Pierson, we use an integrated framework that highlights the interaction of five factors: the availability of fiscal resources; the emergence of new social risks; the intensity and nature of partisan competition; the policy preferences of the main political parties; and the role of political institutions, especially federalism. Empirically, the article studies the politics of federal social policy expansion during the Harper (2006-2015) and Justin Trudeau (2015-) years, with a focus on three policy areas: child benefits (Universal Child Care Benefit and Canada Child Benefit), pensions (Old Age Security and Canada/Quebec Pension Plan) and Employment Insurance.

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