engleski

The role of civil society in welfare mix development in Croatia

The paper is a result of an empirical, longitudinal, action-oriented research about the development of welfare mix in Croatia. Welfare mix is a new concept of social policy in which the government, local authorities, civil society organisations, the profit sector, family (the informal sector), and other stakeholders take action instead of the previously monopolistic state. In such a system, government and public administration recognise civil society organisations and other stakeholders as partners and cooperate with them in drafting, decision making processes and in implementation of social programmes. Recent trends in the development of welfare mix in developed countries reflect the necessity of mobilising all available resources in order to meet the increasing and different social needs. The trends of development of welfare mix depend on the legacy and the types of social regimes. The development of welfare mix is also topical in the countries in transition, and is greatly influenced by inheritance and the EU accession process. Previous empirical research on welfare mix in Croatia raises the issues of understanding the concept and of modest degrees of its development. The research particularly analyses the role of civil society and public administration as key stakeholders in the development of welfare mix. Research results have shown that development paths for welfare mix in Croatia are being made and that there are examples of good practice. The analysed stakeholders are committed by mutual cooperation and they are informed about the concept of welfare mix, they have relevant knowledge and ideas about its development. Civil society organisations are more active than public administration in promoting the idea and initiation of the programmes of welfare mix. National policy and institutional frameworks are important limitations to the modernisation of social policy. Final remarks contain an idea about the necessity of further research that should include a wider circle of stakeholders.

social policy – Croatia; welfare mix – empirical research; public administration; modernisation; europeanisation

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