The Czech Welfare State and its Legitimacy

Abstract

Legitimacy of social policy represents a crucial condition for a long-term stability and efficiency of the social policy system. In this paper, the legitimacy of current social policy in the Czech Republic is evaluated. Also the ideas of citizens on necessary changes in the social policy system and factors that affect shaping of citizen's expectations and preferences related to this system are discussed. Four groups of factors were taken into account: first, value orientation together with ideological and political affiliation, second, pre-conceptions of the public on who is entitled to receive social benefits and on the entitlement criteria, third, citizens' opinions on a specific social policy system and its effects, and, fourth, a personal interest in the benefits or services. In general, current Czech social policy appears to enjoy a rather low legitimacy being perceived as unjust, costly and mismanaged, with inadequate benefits. In recent years ideological shifts from liberal to social-democratic opinions took place in the Czech Republic and the public requires more equality nowadays while the system of protection have followed the residual model combined with opportunistic ad hoc solutions. Improvement of the system is requested mainly for the benefits addressed to larger groups of population, which are considered as deserving categories and related to sickness, disability, child caring and child raising. The means-tested benefits which represent the core redistribution tool in the current system are not consistently supported by the public. Neither value preferences, nor political or social group affiliation, nor personal interest in benefits differentiated those requirements. This represents serious problem for the politicians who perceive the social protection system preferably as an issue suitable for shaping political profiles of their parties.