M. Ajzenstadt et Z. Rosenhek, Privatisation and new modes of state intervention: The long-term care programme in Israel, J SOC POL, 29, 2000, pp. 247-262
This article analyses the formulation and implementation of a relatively ne
w statutory programme of care services for dependent elderly people in Isra
el, which has as a basic characteristic the supply of services by nonstate
agencies. The analysis serves as a basis for an exploration of the effects
of privatisation and the emergence of quasi-markets upon the functioning of
the welfare state both as a benefits provider and as a major employer, in
contrast to the perspectives that consider privatisation as leading to the
weakening of the state in the welfare domain, we argue that through the tra
nsfer of services supplied by non-state agencies the state protects itself
from demands and pressures from clients, while maintaining its control and
regulation capabilities. This process decreases the state's accountability
towards its citizens, enhancing in turn its autonomy. Privatisation policie
s do not imply, therefore, the dissolution of the welfare state, but rather
the emergence of a new mode of state intervention.