Why the Publicly Funded Solution Is Better Equipped to Provide Democratic Care ‘For All’

Abstract

Scholarly discussions on the political power of care and care ethics have considered democratic notions such as how care recipients can make their voices heard, but recently the problem of democratic care has been expanded to include how care needs can be met in a manner consistent with democratic commitments to justice, equality and freedom for all, which addresses equal access to care. This chapter assesses the possibilities of meeting this second requirement by way of discussing trade-offs in how well equal access to care is met, depending on whether the primary sphere of care provision is in civil society, the market or through publicly funded solutions. The chapter concludes that different spheres meet the ethical care demands differently depending on whether we are interested in, first, particularised versus standardised solutions, in which case civil society is better able to meet ethical care demands. Or whether we are interested in equal access to care for all, in which case the state provides a better alternative than either the civil society or the market.