CAPTURE OF GOVERNMENTS: RE-NEGOTIATING THE SOCIAL CONTRACT

IN CENTRAL EUROPE

TAMÁS PÁL [Institute of Sociology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences]

THE QUESTIONS

Social contracts in the contemporary Central Europe- social pacts, demonstrations of the political goodwill, or tools for social engineering?

Their functions now: not a wage-inflation compromise, but

a. A tool for the state-s role re-definitions fbudget, welfare state, etc.]

b. A platform for the reconstruction and growth of underdeveloped social actors: unions, national capital, social movements

THE ACTORS

THE MAJOR AXES: STATE-SOCIETYThe frontline: not labour-capital, but the

government and the „users” of the welfare state administration

Therefore instead of the Western tripartite solution- involvement of civil structures, and independent scholars for their organisations]

Key question in CE: weak unions + multinational capital. WHO DOES REPRESENT WHOM AT THE NATIONAL ROUND TABLE?

POINTS OF REFERENCE

A. The Spanish political pact for democratic transition- a tool for stabilization

B. The classical tripartite system [mainly German, Austrian]

C. The Dutch system for employment policy [job sharing]

D. The Irish deal [a development pact for wage control]

THE LATIN- AMERICAN OPEN ECONOMY SOCIAL CONTRACT DEBATE

What´s needed: An open economy social contract that

• Goes beyond standard social programs to emphasize jobs for the less skilled

• Protects not just the poor but the large majority of near-poor households that are vulnerable in an open economy

THE ACTUAL DILEMMA

A. Enlarged, or growing cake VERSUS rolling back strategies?

B. Tool neutrality, versus tool specificity?

C. Local pacts and their framingD. Non-convergene of labour and

industrial relations between EU-15 and EU-10- short- or middle-term?

GOOD GOVERNANCE?

SOCIAL CONTRACTS AS REGULATORS

LEVELS OF FORMALIZATION I

HISTORICAL REFERENCES

TAXONOMY OF SOCIAL PACTS:LEVELS OF GOVERNANCE/DEGRESS –ARTICULATION

TYPES OF ISSUES/ NUMBER OF POLICY AREAS

LOW HIGH

LOW I. SHADOW PACTS

II. HEADLINE SOCIAL PACTS

HIGH III. INCOMES POLICIES

IV. NEO-CORPORATIST CONCERTA-TION

TAXONOMIES

I . narrow/exlusive weakly integrated shallowII. wide/inclusive weakly integrated/ shallowIII. narrow/exclusive highly integrated/deepIV. wide/inclusive highly integrated/deep

THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL PACTS- PATHS-TRAJECTORIES

Institutionalization De-institutionalization

Trajectory 1 Repetition I-I’, II-II’, III-III’, IV- IV’

Abondonment I-#I, II-#II, III- #III, IV -#IV

Trajectory 2 Integration/vertical shift I-III, II-III, II-IV

Disintegration/vertical shift III-I, III-II, IV-II

Trajectory 3 Expansion I-II, III- IV

Reduction/horizontal shifT II-I, IV-III

Social Contract on Two LevelsUnderlying Social

ContractThis is an attempt to get

the economic contract and the social contract to mutually reinforce themselves.

Questions that get answered here include: is this a short or long-term deal? Is it open or task specific? Is it a partnership or a series of transactions?

Ongoing Social Contract

It makes explicit the expectations for interaction, such as norms for communication, decision making, handling unforeseen events, dispute resolution at the source, and conditions and means for renegotiations.

ENFORCEMENT I

ENFORCEMENT II

OLD AND NEW CONTRACTS- LOYALTY, OR PARTICIPATION IN

CHANGE?

An Alternative Scenario: A New Social Contract

• Engaging the Public: Can it be a force for Change?

• Revisiting basic values: The moral foundations for work

• Work & its Role in Society• Expanded View of the Key “Actors” & Institutions• Multiple Stakeholder View of the Firm• Expanded Roles for Unions/Associations• Expanded Role for Labor Market Intermediaries

& Community Groups• Recast Government as a Catalyst for Change

Economic Function

• security

• standards

of living

• efficiency

• quality

goods &

services

Individual Value

• dignity•

respect•

identity•

voice•

social interaction

World of Work

Place in Society

family

community citizenship

REDEFINITION OF WORK IN THE NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT

SOCIAL CONTRACT I-LIFETIME EMPLOYMENT

EXPECTATIONS

OUR AGENDA: the major targets of the NEW SOCIAL

CONTRACTA. EDUCATIONAL PACT Creation of individual educational

accounts- joint financing- state, social actors, industry, individual families,etc.

B. SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY PACT labour standards + social cohesion

+ moderate green program