Conflict, Legitimacy and Government Reform: Equitable Allocation of ...

Panel Discussion
to implement numerous public policies (taxation system, public
expenditure and revamp of several institutions) to prevent exacerbation
of income distribution and raise equality. In some countries, groups of
people that wanted to change for the better got a chance to run a
government or governments were forced to change their policies. This
creates something called ‘political will.’ (Wilkinson and Pickett, 2009)
In Germany, during late 1900s (the reign of King Rama V),
Bismarck adopted a social security system which had been demanded by
labor unions for a long time. It was one of the public policies
implemented to increase support for his government when he desired to
unify Germany.
In United Kingdom, during World War I and II, governments
implemented policies to increase equality among different social classes
in order to gain support from the people who had to endure hardships
from the wars. At the end of World War II, there was a crucial change,
that is, the Labour Party won elections and had opportunities to turn
England into a welfare state for quite a long time.
In other developed countries, progressive groups became
governments after a conservative government faced legitimacy crises. For
example, in 1932 after soldiers shot workers embroiled in a dispute with
the employer in Sweden, the Social Democrat won the general election in
that year. This party formed a government and turned Sweden into a
welfare state. (Wilkinson and Pickett, 2009)
In Asia, presently Japan is an example of a highly equitable society.
Even though prior to World War II the country had considerable social
inequality, after World War II there had been numerous institutional
changes in Japan, allowing income and property equality to become a
reality. Monumental public policies included land reform, abolishment of
the feudal era’s class system, abolishment of the land owner and farm
land tenant system, abolishment of elite class, reform of the political
system that allowed multifarious political parties and interest groups to
participate in politics under a democratic parliamentary system. (Ryoshin
et al, 1999: 58) In addition, there is also a property tax system such as
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