Chapter 3 | Page 102
The model envisions a proactive policy stance on the part of the State, which
is grounded in the recognition that State intervention and participation are
necessary for the economy and society to function effectively and to ensure
equality and fairness in the distribution of the benefits of economic growth and
development. The approach also pays attention to the key role of government
in maintaining the momentum of growth, creating jobs and investment in social
and physical infrastructure that allow private entrepreneurship to flourish,15
and balancing human rights obligations with those related to the regulation of
the market and conditions of competition. The active engagement of the State
with the market and society helps to extend its policy objectives16 and the
resulting synergy creates the conditions for the realisation of ESC rights. This
role of the State is represented in the model by incorporating various policy
approaches for maximising the mobilisation of resources from different
sources and ensuring that these resources are effectively allocated and
governed.
In addition to the human rights case for States to be more active in addressing
resource mobilisation, allocation and governance from an ESC rights
perspective, key assumptions of this model are based on the notion of the
State as a proactive player in the economy and society17 through active
political involvement of citizens, effective mechanisms of political participation
and dialogue, public policies focused on achieving a healthy society and
economy and effective mechanisms for distributing society’s resources and
addressing human rights requirements. This approach does not oppose
policies of deregulation, privatisation and market solutions to society’s needs.
On the contrary, it encourages the State to be more responsive and creative
in engaging with societal, market and international forces to ensure that its
15
For example, Jonah D Levy, The State After Statism: New State Activities in the Age of
Liberalization (Harvard University Press, 2006).
16
For example, Federico Caprotti, 'Financial crisis, activist states and (missed) opportunities'
(2009) 5(1/2) Critical perspectives on international business 78-84; M Ramesh and Ian
Holliday, 'The Health Care Miracle in East and Southeast Asia: Activist State Provision in
Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore' (2001) 30(04) Journal of Social Policy 637-651.
17
For example see, Arthur Lewis, 'The State of Development Theory' (1984) 5(8) American
Economic Review; Albert O Hirschman, 'Exit, Voice, and the State' (1978) 31(1) World
Politics 90-107.
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