How many times have we heard that the welfare state has no sustainability? That the State should be a mere regulator? How many times have we said that the State must be reformed? That the weight of the Public Administration has to be reduced? Countless.
And which State and Administration do we want? And as important as what we want, how are we going to sustain this inseparable binomial?
We can say, with complete conviction, that it was with the model of the welfare state that a substantial improvement in the living conditions and levels of well-being of the citizens took place.
The articulation in the economic sphere of capitalism and in the political sphere of democracy allowed a path towards social pacification and equity, together with visible economic growth. The “Golden Years” are a paradigmatic example of this.
Undoubtedly, citizenship rights, encompassing civil, political and social rights, are a fundamental pillar of the “Welfare State”. With social rights playing a fundamental role in institutional dynamics, the structuring of the Weberian professional model, known as bureaucracy, was assumed to be inevitable.
Like all models, the result of time, action and intervention by different actors, distortions and dysfunctions have been evident. The disproportionate growth of administrative structures and their cost and an action, in many cases, counterproductive to the needs of the citizens, increased the level of dislike and distrust towards the Public Administration.
The oil crisis of the 70s, a very adverse economic situation and the contradictions of the bureaucratic model, combined with a consensual thought that management principles should be applied to the public sector, led to a widespread implementation in OECD countries of the “New Public Management” – New Public Management.
“Less State, Better State”, efficiency, effectiveness and economy were the watchwords and action through privatizations, assemblage, and the reinforcement of the autonomy of public bodies did not wait.
Time and reality came to evidence, once again, side effects. The fragmentation of the administrative structure, the increase in "parallel administrations", the partisanship of the system, the erosion of the culture of the public service and an uncontrolled autonomy, generating the weakening of "accountability", was reflected in a disbelieving, distrustful and disaffected citizen. to the performance of the Administration.
And, in this context, is the welfare state doomed? What model do we want for the Administration?
Given the complexity of the problems we face and the constant transformations, we will inevitably have to rethink the model of functioning and organization of the Welfare State, adapting the essential functions that the State must perform to the means to do so, namely financial, not forgetting that the revenue of the taxes is essential, given that the rights of citizenship play a fundamental role in the maintenance of democracies.
In my opinion, the Public School, guarantee of equality, the quality National Health Service and the Social Security system are fundamental to ensure cohesion and a fairer and more equitable model of society.
As for the Administration, we will inevitably have to carry out reforms, which are intended to be more robust than a PRACE (Program for the Restructuring of the State's Central Administration), based on political criteria, rather than technical criteria, pointed out at the time by the team in charge of the study, which a PREMAC (Plan for the Reduction and Improvement of Central Administration), guided almost exclusively by economic criteria, or a reform of the local administration, which involves the extinction of parishes, instead of looking at, evaluating and rethinking the constituencies and framework of attributions and competences of the municipalities.
It is essential for a State that serves citizens, whose performance reinforces the quality of democracy and governance, seeks the public interest, which values citizenship, a governance model that encourages network collaboration, shared leadership, respecting all stakeholders, a quality public service, based on the professionalization and meritocracy of its agents, that practices “accountability”, that thinks strategically, acts democratically, in a transparent and ethical manner and that guarantees good decisions.
"Government shouldn't run like a business, it should be run like democracy."
There is effective political will, consistent administrative action and truly active citizenship!
Author: Inês Morais Pereira is a lawyer and doctoral candidate in Innovation and Territory Management at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Algarve
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