The origin, development, and path choices of social security

Author: Liu Yansheng
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-01-01
Features: This book takes the needs, solutions, and recognition of responsibility of vulnerable groups as its main thread, elaborating on the general process of the origin, development, and rechoice of the path of social security. From this theme, the author uses a wealth of historical materials to trace and analyze the different ways in which social organizations implemented economic security for vulnerable groups in different historical periods, as well as the theoretical and practical explorations carried out by numerous thinkers, economists, social policy workers, social groups, and state actors in addressing social risks faced by laborers and members of society. It discusses the social and historical conditions under which the guarantee of human life risks shifted from the family mechanism of the natural economy era to the mutual aid mechanism of the early industrial working class, and then to the market-government mechanism of the era of large-scale social production. It analyzes the responsibilities, roles, and inherent risks of various security mechanisms, as well as the status and roles of different security mechanisms in countries with varying levels of economic development in the world today. Through an analysis of social security legislation in different historical periods, it describes the causes, backgrounds, and functional mechanisms of different security programs. It provides a comparative analysis of the goals and orientations of social security system reforms in different types of countries around the world today. It macroscopically depicts the historical process of social security systems worldwide and the institutional framework of the contemporary system. The author conducts an in-depth exploration of the "adverse selection" of market mechanisms, the "moral hazard" of government mechanisms, and issues related to family security mechanisms in the operation of social security. Under modern conditions, the family security mechanism based on kinship, the market mechanism centered on profit, and the mutual aid mechanism among laborers are all unable to bear the primary responsibility for protecting vulnerable groups. The responsibility of the government for security is inescapable, and this is one of the fundamental reasons why the governments of the vast majority of countries in the world have been unable to avoid establishing, developing, and continuously seeking to improve social security policies. However, the existence of "moral hazard" reveals the limitations of government mechanisms. This book attempts to illustrate: (1) the economic security of vulnerable groups is a trans-social form issue; (2) under the constraints of specific economic, social, cultural forms, and social value orientations, the ways and methods of achieving security show significant differences in different countries and different historical periods; (3) the society's focus on fairness directly led to the birth of social security policies, but while the government mechanism plays an irreplaceable role, it is also increasingly revealing its failures. These conclusions help people observe, think about, and understand the emergence, evolution, and rechoice of the path of social security systems from a broader perspective.
[Editor's Recommendation] The "Contemporary Social Security System Research Series" was jointly completed by nearly 100 experts and scholars engaged in theoretical and practical research on social security from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the General Logistics Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, relevant research institutions, universities and colleges, and other units over a period of three years. The series consists of 12 original works and 6 translated works. Each volume of the original works employs normative and empirical analysis methods to systematically elaborate on various systems of foreign social security theories, analyzes the formation, evolution, historical roles, challenges, and reform trends of social security models in countries and regions with typical representative significance worldwide, and explores the construction and improvement of China's social security system. The six translated works are all classic works in the field of welfare state theory research abroad. The series is of reference value to government policy research departments and practitioners, and can also serve as a reference textbook for postgraduate and undergraduate students in relevant research institutions and universities.