Ideology or the Iron Laws of Industrialism

The Case of Pension Policy in Britain and the Soviet Union

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6247652
AutoresNeil J Mitchell (0000-0003-0744-984X, autor correspondente)
Ano1983
Volume15
Fascículo2
Páginas177
Data de publicação1983-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoComparative Politics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0010-4159 • E-ISSN: 2151-6227
EditoraJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/421675
OpenAlexW2314287400
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas6

ly, it is useful to provide some concrete illustrations. Frederic Pryor's book Public Expenditure in Communist and Capitalist Nations is a good example of the first approach. In his study of seven communist and seven capitalist nations, Pryor claims that the level of economic development is the underlying cause of the establishment of social insurance systems.5 He argues that as the portion of the population that is not engaged in agriculture increases, so does the demand for social security, for agricultural workers can make nonmonetary provisions that are not available to those who have left the land. Further, he links the increasing relative importance of welfare expenditures with economic noting that with economic development the proportion of those over sixty-five in the population increases, thus stimulating demand.6 An important factor in the expansion of social security schemes, Pryor argues, is the length of time they have been in operation. He notes that most social security schemes start with limited coverage and relatively low benefits but that over the years such programs have been broadened incrementally in coverage and the benefits have been extended. Pryor explains this phenomenon as the result of a popular desire to make coverage more universal and an institutional momentum which appears to build up in certain public programs.7 Studies such as Pryor's, which emphasize the importance of economic development, lend support to those who are now busy analyzing the termination of ideology in the postpostindustrial society thesis called convergence. Convergence theorists, as their title suggests, claim that industrial nations are becoming increasingly alike in terms of economic, social, and cultural characteristics, irrespective of the nature of property ownership or political ideology. imperatives of the industrialization process itself effect this growing similarity. Noting a broad convergence between industrial systems, John Kenneth Galbraith says, The imperatives of technology and organizations, not the images of ideology, are what determine the shape of economic society.8 Although Galbraith regards this development as fortunate, his sup

Communism · Economic growth · Economics · Economy · Ideology · Industrial society · Pension · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Population · Social security · Sociology · Welfare · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies