Stephen Bach
Biographic Data
| ID | 249692 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Stephen Bach |
| GIVEN NAMES | Stephen |
| FAMILY NAME | Bach |
| SIGNATURE | BACH S |
| AFFILIATIONS | King's College London |
| ORCID | 0009-0006-3622-7006 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 23 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1989 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Barriers to Program Information for Populations Underrepresented in Social Security Disability Programs
Enrollment in federal and state government benefit programs is substantially lower for some eligible demographic subpopulations, particularly those living in rural areas. Barriers faced when seeking program benefits may, in part, explain differences in enrollment. This research seeks to identify barriers to information faced by prospective beneficiaries who are members of demographic groups who are historically underrepresented in programs such a…
The Administrative Burden Experienced by U.S. Rural Residents Accessing Social Security Administration Benefit Programs in 2024
Grounded in the existing literature on administrative burden and using a qualitative and community-engaged research approach, the research examined the administrative burden experienced in accessing disability, retirement, and survivor benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). The research team held in person and virtual focus groups and interviews with 40 adults with disabilities, older adults, and family members of people with dis…
A Tale of Two Cities
This paper examines the strategies and dilemmas faced by local employers and trade unions in Britain in responding to austerity measures. Drawing on two local authority case studies this paper extends strategic choice analysis highlighting the use of pro-austerity and anti-austerity frames by local actors to advance their strategies. We challenge the dominant interpretation of austerity as signalling the triumph of neo-liberalism in which there i…
Public Service Management and Employment Relations in Europe
Deprivileging the public sector workforce
The impact of the financial crisis has reignited debate about the scope and scale of public sector restructuring and its consequences for the workforce in Britain. The economic crisis precipitated austerity measures concentrated on expenditure reductions with the intention of reducing the public deficit. Because the public sector pay bill comprises over half of current public spending, achieving deficit reduction has major consequences for the to…
Interim Management
Interims are temporary appointments at senior management level, that take on a specific role or change management project for a limited time period. Employers use interim managers when they are seeking to address a short‐term problem without taking on a long term employment obligation. Individuals become interims for a variety of reasons, but are keen to stress that it is not a “stop‐gap” move in between permanent work but is a conscious career c…
Economic crisis and municipal public service employment
This article examines the impact of austerity policies in seven EU Member States on municipal employment and the ways in which social dialogue can influence consequences for employees. It provides a comparative institutional framework, looking at municipal tasks and powers, and the social dialogue institutions available in the respective countries. In addition, the outcomes of austerity policies are compared with regard to wages, employment level…
Reframing public service employment relations
This article introduces six national studies covering 11 countries of the EU-15, analysing the impact of government austerity measures on the working conditions of public employees and on public sector employment relations. It stresses how international financial markets and supranational actors have altered the dynamics of employment relations in a sector traditionally considered sheltered from external forces. Nevertheless, public sector employ…
Public service employment restructuring in the crisis in the UK and Ireland
The crisis has had major consequences for public service employment relations in the liberal market economies of the UK and Ireland. However, variations in the process of fiscal consolidation reflect different legacies of social partnership, prior patterns of public management reform and different relationships to the eurozone. The measures adopted nevertheless reflect a similar concern to decrease public sector employment, worsen pay and conditi…
Shrinking the state or the B ig S ociety? Public service employment relations in an era of austerity
The B ig S ociety is an integral part of the coalition's plans for public service retrenchment, but it is premature to dismiss it as exclusively concerned with expenditure cuts and privatisation. The B ig S ociety signals the government's ambition to transform public services and it is the rubric that is being used to shrink the state and undermine long‐standing systems of public service employment relations. This article considers the origins an…
Varieties of new public management or alternative models? The reform of public service employment relations in industrialized democracies
New public management (NPM) has been the dominant orthodoxy in analysing public service reform with major implications for employment relations. Drawing on comparative studies of major OECD countries, including Australia, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United States, this article examines recent reforms of public service human resource management. It refutes the proposition that reforms indicate conv…
Nursing a Grievance? The Role of Healthcare Assistants in a Modernized National Health Service
The complex division of labour in health care has encouraged the analysis of occupational boundary disputes between separate professions. Less attention has been directed at the divisions in individual occupational groups but in a context of intensive health sector workforce reform there has been a growth in lower status occupations. This article extends debate about lower status occupations by exploring the manner in which nurses and healthcare …
Public Service Modernization and Trade Union Reform
It is a curious feature of the debate about the UK Labour government’s modernization agenda that the consequences for trade unions have been almost wholly neglected. Focusing on a case study of UNISON, the public service trade union that is dominant in local government and health, this paper argues that UNISON has emulated key aspects of the modernization agenda, adopting a dual strategy to union renewal. It has attempted to rebuild workplace org…
Workforce Responses to the Creeping Privatization of the UK National Health Service
When the British National Health Service was founded in 1948, professional employees and support staff, with the exception of family doctors, worked directly for the state. Since the 1980s, private employment in the National Health Service (NHS) has steadily grown. Beginning with the outsourcing of support services, the number of privately-employed workers in the National Health Service has gradually increased. This paper argues that marketizatio…
The consequences of assistant roles in the public services
This article considers whether and how shifts in the division of labour in the context of organizational change lead to the empowerment or degradation of workplace roles. It focuses on the emergence of assistants in the British public services and, in particular, whether this leads to the degradation or empowerment of those who fill the role and the professionals they work with. Concentrating upon assistant roles in education and social care, cas…
Understanding assistant roles in social care
This article re-connects with structure-agency debates to explore the development of the social work assistant role. Drawing upon an analytical framework based on the tenets of critical realism, it seeks to explain the evolution of this role across three local authorities by looking at the interaction of structure and agency at different societal levels: the sub-sector, the organization and the workplace. In doing so, it establishes the analytica…
Public Service Employment Relations in Europe
The book provides an up-to-date analysis of the restructuring of public service employment relations in six European countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark and the UK. Each of the chapters on national systems is organized around a set of themes and policy issues including: * the impact of fiscal crises, and increasing macro-economic integration within the European Union, on the scope and organization of public services* changes in the …
Health services after the White Paper
Nursing a Grievance? The Role of Healthcare Assistants in a Modernized National Health Service
The complex division of labour in health care has encouraged the analysis of occupational boundary disputes between separate professions. Less attention has been directed at the divisions in individual occupational groups but in a context of intensive health sector workforce reform there has been a growth in lower status occupations. This article extends debate about lower status occupations by exploring the manner in which nurses and healthcare …
The consequences of assistant roles in the public services
This article considers whether and how shifts in the division of labour in the context of organizational change lead to the empowerment or degradation of workplace roles. It focuses on the emergence of assistants in the British public services and, in particular, whether this leads to the degradation or empowerment of those who fill the role and the professionals they work with. Concentrating upon assistant roles in education and social care, cas…
Public Service Modernization and Trade Union Reform
It is a curious feature of the debate about the UK Labour government’s modernization agenda that the consequences for trade unions have been almost wholly neglected. Focusing on a case study of UNISON, the public service trade union that is dominant in local government and health, this paper argues that UNISON has emulated key aspects of the modernization agenda, adopting a dual strategy to union renewal. It has attempted to rebuild workplace org…
Workforce Responses to the Creeping Privatization of the UK National Health Service
When the British National Health Service was founded in 1948, professional employees and support staff, with the exception of family doctors, worked directly for the state. Since the 1980s, private employment in the National Health Service (NHS) has steadily grown. Beginning with the outsourcing of support services, the number of privately-employed workers in the National Health Service has gradually increased. This paper argues that marketizatio…
Understanding assistant roles in social care
This article re-connects with structure-agency debates to explore the development of the social work assistant role. Drawing upon an analytical framework based on the tenets of critical realism, it seeks to explain the evolution of this role across three local authorities by looking at the interaction of structure and agency at different societal levels: the sub-sector, the organization and the workplace. In doing so, it establishes the analytica…
Health services after the White Paper
Health services after the White Paper
Public Service Employment Relations in Europe
The book provides an up-to-date analysis of the restructuring of public service employment relations in six European countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark and the UK. Each of the chapters on national systems is organized around a set of themes and policy issues including: * the impact of fiscal crises, and increasing macro-economic integration within the European Union, on the scope and organization of public services* changes in the …
Understanding assistant roles in social care
This article re-connects with structure-agency debates to explore the development of the social work assistant role. Drawing upon an analytical framework based on the tenets of critical realism, it seeks to explain the evolution of this role across three local authorities by looking at the interaction of structure and agency at different societal levels: the sub-sector, the organization and the workplace. In doing so, it establishes the analytica…
Workforce Responses to the Creeping Privatization of the UK National Health Service
When the British National Health Service was founded in 1948, professional employees and support staff, with the exception of family doctors, worked directly for the state. Since the 1980s, private employment in the National Health Service (NHS) has steadily grown. Beginning with the outsourcing of support services, the number of privately-employed workers in the National Health Service has gradually increased. This paper argues that marketizatio…
The consequences of assistant roles in the public services
This article considers whether and how shifts in the division of labour in the context of organizational change lead to the empowerment or degradation of workplace roles. It focuses on the emergence of assistants in the British public services and, in particular, whether this leads to the degradation or empowerment of those who fill the role and the professionals they work with. Concentrating upon assistant roles in education and social care, cas…
Public Service Modernization and Trade Union Reform
It is a curious feature of the debate about the UK Labour government’s modernization agenda that the consequences for trade unions have been almost wholly neglected. Focusing on a case study of UNISON, the public service trade union that is dominant in local government and health, this paper argues that UNISON has emulated key aspects of the modernization agenda, adopting a dual strategy to union renewal. It has attempted to rebuild workplace org…
Nursing a Grievance? The Role of Healthcare Assistants in a Modernized National Health Service
The complex division of labour in health care has encouraged the analysis of occupational boundary disputes between separate professions. Less attention has been directed at the divisions in individual occupational groups but in a context of intensive health sector workforce reform there has been a growth in lower status occupations. This article extends debate about lower status occupations by exploring the manner in which nurses and healthcare …
Varieties of new public management or alternative models? The reform of public service employment relations in industrialized democracies
New public management (NPM) has been the dominant orthodoxy in analysing public service reform with major implications for employment relations. Drawing on comparative studies of major OECD countries, including Australia, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United States, this article examines recent reforms of public service human resource management. It refutes the proposition that reforms indicate conv…
Shrinking the state or the B ig S ociety? Public service employment relations in an era of austerity
The B ig S ociety is an integral part of the coalition's plans for public service retrenchment, but it is premature to dismiss it as exclusively concerned with expenditure cuts and privatisation. The B ig S ociety signals the government's ambition to transform public services and it is the rubric that is being used to shrink the state and undermine long‐standing systems of public service employment relations. This article considers the origins an…
Reframing public service employment relations
This article introduces six national studies covering 11 countries of the EU-15, analysing the impact of government austerity measures on the working conditions of public employees and on public sector employment relations. It stresses how international financial markets and supranational actors have altered the dynamics of employment relations in a sector traditionally considered sheltered from external forces. Nevertheless, public sector employ…
Public service employment restructuring in the crisis in the UK and Ireland
The crisis has had major consequences for public service employment relations in the liberal market economies of the UK and Ireland. However, variations in the process of fiscal consolidation reflect different legacies of social partnership, prior patterns of public management reform and different relationships to the eurozone. The measures adopted nevertheless reflect a similar concern to decrease public sector employment, worsen pay and conditi…
Economic crisis and municipal public service employment
This article examines the impact of austerity policies in seven EU Member States on municipal employment and the ways in which social dialogue can influence consequences for employees. It provides a comparative institutional framework, looking at municipal tasks and powers, and the social dialogue institutions available in the respective countries. In addition, the outcomes of austerity policies are compared with regard to wages, employment level…
Interim Management
Interims are temporary appointments at senior management level, that take on a specific role or change management project for a limited time period. Employers use interim managers when they are seeking to address a short‐term problem without taking on a long term employment obligation. Individuals become interims for a variety of reasons, but are keen to stress that it is not a “stop‐gap” move in between permanent work but is a conscious career c…
Public Service Management and Employment Relations in Europe
Deprivileging the public sector workforce
The impact of the financial crisis has reignited debate about the scope and scale of public sector restructuring and its consequences for the workforce in Britain. The economic crisis precipitated austerity measures concentrated on expenditure reductions with the intention of reducing the public deficit. Because the public sector pay bill comprises over half of current public spending, achieving deficit reduction has major consequences for the to…
A Tale of Two Cities
This paper examines the strategies and dilemmas faced by local employers and trade unions in Britain in responding to austerity measures. Drawing on two local authority case studies this paper extends strategic choice analysis highlighting the use of pro-austerity and anti-austerity frames by local actors to advance their strategies. We challenge the dominant interpretation of austerity as signalling the triumph of neo-liberalism in which there i…
The Administrative Burden Experienced by U.S. Rural Residents Accessing Social Security Administration Benefit Programs in 2024
Grounded in the existing literature on administrative burden and using a qualitative and community-engaged research approach, the research examined the administrative burden experienced in accessing disability, retirement, and survivor benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). The research team held in person and virtual focus groups and interviews with 40 adults with disabilities, older adults, and family members of people with dis…
Barriers to Program Information for Populations Underrepresented in Social Security Disability Programs
Enrollment in federal and state government benefit programs is substantially lower for some eligible demographic subpopulations, particularly those living in rural areas. Barriers faced when seeking program benefits may, in part, explain differences in enrollment. This research seeks to identify barriers to information faced by prospective beneficiaries who are members of demographic groups who are historically underrepresented in programs such a…
Political science (17 works) · Business (12 works) · Economics (12 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (11 works) · Labor Movements and Unions (9 works) · Law (9 works) · Public Administration (9 works) · Public service (9 works) · Politics (8 works) · Sociology (8 works)