The return of religion? : the paradox of faith-based welfare provision in a secular age

For centuries, churches were the main institutional providers of welfare in Europe before the state took over this role in the late 19th century. The influence of modernization theory meant that modern welfare state theorists increasingly regarded religion and its impact on welfare as a relic from the distant past. It was anticipated that modern, differentiated, and industrialized societies would see the decline and inevitable disappearance of religious welfare provision along with religiosity. Surprisingly, however, at the beginning of the 21st century in many modern industrialized societies, religious institutions are increasingly becoming involved in welfare provision again. The religion blind classic welfare state literature offers no explanation for this phenomenon. This present paper argues that the resurgence of faith-based welfare providers is the reversal of a phenomenon that occurred in the late 19th century when modern states started to strip religious providers of their prerogatives in welfare provision. The result was the ascendance of the modern state and the demise of religion in the late 19th century. The return of welfare to religious providers can therefore be interpreted as the beginning of the demise of the modern state.Jahrhundertelang war die Kirche der Hauptwohlfahrtsträger in Europa, bevor der Staat im späten 19. Jahrhundert diese Aufgabe übernahm. Der Einfluss der Modernisierungstheorie bedeutete, dass Theoretiker des modernen Wohlfahrtsstaates Religion und ihre Auswirkung auf Sozialhilfe zunehmend als ein Relikt der Vergangenheit ansahen. Man erwartete, dass in modernen, differenzierten und industrialisierten Gesellschaften der Rückgang und das unausweichliche Verschwinden kirchlicher Wohlfahrtsleistungen mit einem Zerfall an Religiosität einhergingen. Allerdings engagieren sich seit Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts in vielen Industrienationen überraschenderweise wieder kirchliche Einrichtungen vermehrt in der Sozialfürsorge. Die klassische Literatur zum Wohlfahrtsstaat blendet die Kirche aus und liefert daher keinerlei Erklärung für dieses Phänomen. Der vorliegende Beitrag argumentiert, dass das Neuaufleben konfessioneller Wohlfahrtsanbieter das Phänomen des späten 19. Jahrhunderts wieder umkehrt, als moderne Staaten begannen, den kirchlichen Wohlfahrtsträgern die Privilegien der Sozialhilfe zu entziehen. Das Ergebnis war der Aufstieg des modernen Wohlfahrtsstaates und der Niedergang der Religion im späten 19. Jahrhundert. Das Wiedererstarken kirchlicher Wohlfahrtspflege kann daher als der Beginn des Zerfalls des modernen Staates erachtet werden

Managing diversity - what does it mean? : an analysis of different approaches and strategies

An increasingly complex aid landscape makes it urgent to find ways for partner countries to manage the diversity of aid actors and channels. However, it remains unclear what ‘managing diversity’ actually means and how this vague idea should be put into practice. This paper explores potential approaches and strategies. It defines ‘managing diversity’ as the management of different sources of aid by the partner country, aimed at improving the effectiveness of aid in a complex aid landscape. Different approaches to managing diversity are discussed and compared. Drawing on country experiences, the paper also analyses the role that contextual factors play in shaping incentives for the actors involved to implement different aid coordination strategies. Despite the multiplicity of possible strategies and approaches to managing diversity, some elements can be identified that will be crucial for every approach to aid coordination. To enhance their ability to effectively manage multiple actors and sources of development assistance, partner countries should develop clear aid policies and set up strong aid management institutions. Where needed, donors should support partner country leadership and capacity development in the area of effective aid management

Public instruments to leverage private capital for green investments in developing countries

Considerable amounts of capital will be necessary if a green transformation is to be financed in the coming years. This paper gives a short introduction to the challenge of mobilising the required resources, particularly from private and institutional investors. More specifically, it provides an overview of eight public leveraging instruments that can be used to leverage private capital for green investments in developing countries and emerging economies. It discusses the strengths and weaknesses of these instruments and gives an assessment of their potential for a broader use. Additionally, the paper argues that more data transparency and quantitative research are needed to better assess the implications of the use of these instruments. Finally, it points out research gaps and proposes ideas for further research. The paper concludes by giving some policy recommendations

Understanding regime support in new and old democracies : the role of performance and democratic experience

This paper develops a comprehensive theory of support for democracy. Building on instrumental and culturalist approaches, the theory argues that experience with democracy conditions the extent to which economic and political performance inform support. Specifically, it argues that the extent to which economic performance informs support should decline as a democracy grows older, while the opposite should be true about political performance. These arguments are evaluated using multilevel models to analyse cross-national survey data for 21 Latin American countries. The evidence indicates that both economic and political performance inform support for democracy and that the extent to which economic performance informs support declines as a democracy grows older. Although the importance of political performance does not seem to be conditioned by democratic experience, its importance in relation to economic performance does increase as a democracy matures. The evidence also indicates that experience with democracy, and not level of economic development, is what conditions the importance of economic performance. Altogether, these results suggest that support for democracy and a civic culture that values the political goods that democracy can deliver are more likely to be a consequence of, rather than a prerequisite for, the survival and eventual consolidation of democracy