THE EVOLUTION OF CARIBBEAN SOCIAL POLICY Essay -- essays research pape

THE EVOLUTION OF CARIBBEAN SOCIAL POLICY Reasons for the Changes and Shifts in the affectionate Policy Agenda From the 1940s to the Present bound. amicable Policy may be broadly defined as a system of accessible welfare that includes economic as well as non-economic objectives and involves few measure of progressive redistribution in command over resources1. Using Mishras typology of social welfare models (see Fig. 1 below), this paper describes the evolution of social policy in the English-speaking Caribbean. Drawing primarily from the experiences of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, four chronological periods are used to highlight the factors contributing to the major developments in social policy 1) the Immediate Post-War Period and the Moyne Commission (1940 to 1950) 2) Transition to Self-Government (1950 to 1961) 3) Ideology and the Immediate Post-Independence Period (1962 to 1973) 4) the Oil Crisis, institution Recession and Structural Adjustment (1970 to 1980s) 5) (Concl usion) The Present Period (1990 to present)2. A followup of the literature revealed that a combination of social, economic, political/ideological and international factors contributed to policy development at each stage of this evolutionary process. This paper argues that as a result of these factors, Caribbean social policy gradually moved from a strong residual approach prior to the Moyne report, and tended to a more institutional approach during the variation period to full internal self-government, then to a more geomorphologic approach in the immediate post-independence period, and back to a residual approach when structural adjustment policies were instituted in the 1980s. Of course, in reality the policies formulated in the various periods do not conform perfectly to Mishras types. However, this does not detract from the pertinence of the model to the present analysis, as it is an inherent feature of all ideal types (as is implied by the descriptor ideal). Also, while the g eneral factors contributing to the evolution of Caribbean social policy has been highlighted, the specific ways in which these factors manifested in each country are extensively discussed. Fig. 1 Mishras welfare Models1 Main FeaturesType of WelfareResidualInstitutionalStructuralState responsibility in meeting needs (ideology of state intervention)MinimalOptimal... ...Henry, Ralph and Moesire, Alicia. Poverty Alleviation and Reduction Programmes the Commonwealth Caribbean love in Poverty, Empowerment and Social Development in the Caibbean. Ed, Norman Girvan. Mona Canoe Press UWI, 1997, 101 136. Mac Pherson, Stewart. Social Policy in the Third World The Social Dilemmas of Underdevelopment. UK Wheatsheaf Books Ltd. 1982. Neil, Joan. Targeting and Poverty New Trends in Social Policy Social Projects for Alleviation in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. UNECLAC, 1992. Robothom, Don. Social and Economic Policy Starting provide and End-States, UWI, 1995. Sinha, D.P. Health Care of T he Population in Children of the Caribbean. CFNI/PAHO, 198 8. 123-144. Stone, Carl. Power Policy and Politics in Independent Jamaica in Jamaican in Independence Essays on the azoic Years. Ed, Rex Nettleford. Kingston Heinemann Caribbean, 1989, 19-53. Thomas, Clive, Y. The interrelationship between economic and social development in Poverty, Empowerment and Social Development in the Caribbean. Ed, Norman Girvan. Mona Canoe Press UWI, 1997, 20-49. Titmuss, R. Social Policy An Introduction.