Search results

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the work of Bismarck in relation to social legislation.

Bismarck's points of views are sketched mainly through quotations from his speeches in Parliament. His position regarding social protection is discussed and a brief evaluation of his policy is presented.

Germany, through the work of Bismarck, was the first country where the state organised a modern social‐security system. Compulsory sickness, accident and old‐age insurances were passed in 1883, 1884 and 1889, respectively. However, the Chancellor's social policy was not the result of a comprehensive, global, “definitive” programme. It was an opportunist policy influenced more by political than by social motives.

The paper offers insights into Bismarck's social policy in the context of the social question.

This study aimed to describe facilitators and barriers in terms of regulation and financing of healthcare due to the implementation and use of person-centred care (PCC).

A qualitative design was adopted, using interviews at three different levels: micro = hospital ward, meso = hospital management, and macro = national board/research. Inclusion criteria were staff working in healthcare as first line managers, hospital managers, and officials/researchers on national healthcare systems, such as Bismarck, Beveridge, and mixed/out-of-pocket models, to obtain a European perspective.

Countries, such as Great Britain and Scandinavia (Beveridge tax-based health systems), were inclined to implement and use person-centred care. The relative freedom of a market (Bismarck/mixed models) did not seem to nurture demand for PCC. In countries with an autocratic culture, that is, a high-power distance, such as Mediterranean countries, PCC was regarded as foreign and not applicable. Another reason for difficulties with PCC was the tendency for corruption to hinder equity and promote inertia in the healthcare system.

The sample of two to three participants divided into the micro, meso, and macro level for each included country was problematic to find due to contacts at national level, a bureaucratic way of working. Some information got caught in the system, and why data collection was inefficient and ran out of time. Therefore, a variation in participants at different levels (micro, meso, and macro) in different countries occurred. In addition, only 27 out of the 49 European countries were included, therefore, conclusions regarding healthcare system are limited.

Support at the managerial level, together with patient rights supported by European countries' laws, facilitated the diffusion of PCC.

Fragmented health systems divided by separate policy documents or managerial roadmaps hindered local or regional policies and made it difficult to implement innovation as PCC. Therefore, support at the managerial level, together with patient rights supported by European countries' laws, facilitated the diffusion of PCC.

The author′s purpose is to show by reference to Schmoller′s own writings that he can be classified as a social economist. Schmoller rejected the study of economics in isolation, but preferred a holistic approach. He eschewed laissez‐faire and thought little of self‐seeking entrepreneurs who made no contribution to the common good.

This study aims to describe how person-centred care, as a concept, has been adopted into discourse in 23 European countries in relation to their healthcare systems (Beveridge, Bismarck, out of pocket).

A literature review inspired by the SPICE model, using both scientific studies (CINHAL, Medline, Scopus) and grey literature (Google), was conducted. A total of 1,194 documents from CINHAL (n = 139), Medline (n = 245), Scopus (n = 493) and Google (n = 317) were analysed for content and scope of person-centred care in each country. Countries were grouped based on healthcare systems.

Results from descriptive statistics (percentage, range) revealed that person-centred care was most common in the United Kingdom (n = 481, 40.3%), Sweden (n = 231, 19.3%), the Netherlands (n = 80, 6.7%), Northern Ireland (n = 79, 6.6%) and Norway (n = 61, 5.1%) compared with Poland (0.6%), Hungary (0.5%), Greece (0.4%), Latvia (0.4%) and Serbia (0%). Based on healthcare systems, seven out of ten countries with the Beveridge model used person-centred care backed by scientific literature (n = 999), as opposed to the Bismarck model, which was mostly supported by grey literature (n = 190).

Adoption of the concept of person-centred care into discourse requires a systematic approach at the national (politicians), regional (guidelines) and local (specific healthcare settings) levels visualised by decision-making to establish a well-integrated phenomenon in Europe.

Evidence-based knowledge as well as national regulations regarding person-centred care are important tools to motivate the adoption of person-centred care in clinical practice. This could be expressed by decision-making at the macro (law, mission) level, which guides the meso (policies) and micro (routines) levels to adopt the scope and content of person-centred care in clinical practice. However, healthcare systems (Beveridge, Bismarck and out-of-pocket) have different structures and missions owing to ethical approaches. The quality of healthcare supported by evidence-based knowledge enables the establishment of a well-integrated phenomenon in European healthcare.

Our findings clarify those countries using the Beveridge healthcare model rank higher on accepting/adopting the concept of person-centered care in discourse. To adopt the concept of person-centred care in discourse requires a systematic approach at all levels in the organisation—from the national (politicians) and regional (guideline) to the local (specific healthcare settings) levels of healthcare.

Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely, innovative thought structures and attitudes have almost always forced economic institutions and modes of behaviour to adjust. We learn from the history of economic doctrines how a particular theory emerged and whether, and in which environment, it could take root. We can see how a school evolves out of a common methodological perception and similar techniques of analysis, and how it has to establish itself. The interaction between unresolved problems on the one hand, and the search for better solutions or explanations on the other, leads to a change in paradigma and to the formation of new lines of reasoning. As long as the real world is subject to progress and change scientific search for explanation must out of necessity continue.

Focussing on the historical experience, the purpose of this paper is to argue the need for change in the design and implementation of social policies in order to overcome the stalemate of the last two or three decades.

Starting with the social measures taken by Bismarck in the late nineteenth century, the paper shows that modern social policy has ever since been diversely developed in the world, and compares the experiences of the USA and Europe. Under this framework, the paper raises less handled social issues that are decisive for a true reform, and that must be taken into account either theoretically or for practical purposes.

In a competitive environment and in a rapidly changing world economy, it is demonstrated that the paper's topic has a strong theoretical and empirical basis. Owing to its great complexity, however, the search for sound economic foundations of social policies must be continued.

In dealing with the dilemmas faced by social policies more emphasis should be put on the development of new insights, particularly on a global scale and in a more friendly approach to technological modernisation.

The paper explores the deepening of the policy mix between public measures and civil society initiatives as a possible solution to the present difficulties. Furthermore, it stresses the relevance of marginalised issues like the full integration of technological modernisation, and of an international dimension into the social policies, so far basically domestic.

FOUR o'clock! Two hours here, and only about twenty minutes' honest work done. That's the worst of public libraries, they're too entertaining. At ten minutes to two I left my comfortable room, with its demoralising furniture, and by two o'clock I had spread my books and papers over a considerable area of library table, and was feeling pretty efficient and ready to cope with the diplomatic eccentricities of Bismarck. At that moment the place was still almost empty, and, after noting that there was a new assistant librarian, and half‐heartedly making a few impertinent conjectures about her private life, I really settled down to work.

North Dakota has in place a telecommunications infrastructure that is advanced and active, given the state's rural nature and large pockets of low population communities. The state is criss‐crossed by fiber‐optic cables that link the majority of telephone central offices to each other and connect clusters of high schools with interactive video networking. Public television stations are available in most communities of the state. State government is among the leaders in the state in the rapid deployment of frame relay services. The frame relay network represents the newest generation of data communication facilities in North Dakota, replacing a statewide network of dedicated leased data circuits and X.25 packet switches. The frame relay system provides each user group on the network with a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for data communications, which is transparent to other users on the network.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the views of Professor George Arnold Wood, a leading Australian scholar at the University of Sydney, concerning the involvement of the British Empire in the Great War of 1914-1918.

The author has examined all of Professor Wood’s extant commentaries on the Great War which are held in the archives of the University of Sydney as well as the biographical material on Professor Wood by leading Australian scholars. The methodology and approach is purely empirical.

The sources consulted revealed Professor Wood’s deeply held conviction about the importance of Christian values in the formation of political will and his belief that the vocation of politics is a most serious one demanding from statesmen the utmost integrity in striving to ensure justice and freedom, respect for the rights of others and the duty of the strong to protect the weak against unprincipled and ruthless states.

The paper highlights Professor Wood’s values as derived from the core statements of Jesus of Nazareth such as in the Sermon on the Mount. And as these contrasted greatly with the Machiavellian practice of the imperial German Chancellors from Bismarck onwards, and of the Kaiser Wilhelm II. It was necessary for the British Empire to oppose German war aims with all the force at its disposal. The paper illustrates the ideological basis from which Wood derived his values.