Chapter 7 Beyond Retrenchment: four problems in current welfare state research and one suggestion how to overcome them
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Bruno Palier
Abstract
‘Welfare states in transition’ (Esping-Andersen 1996a)’ ‘Recasting European welfare states’ (Ferrera and Rhodes 2000b)’ ‘Welfare state futures’ (Leibfried 2000), ‘Survival of the European Welfare State’ (Kuhnle 2000a) and ‘The new politics of the welfare state’ (Pierson 2001a) - all of these are among the most important recent publications on the welfare state. Collectively, they indicate that the focus of the academic agenda has moved beyond the crisis of the welfare state and ‘towards an analysis of actual social policy changes which have occurred during the last 20 or 25 years. Probably under Anglo-Saxon influence (Reagan and Thatcher pursued explicit anti-welfare agendas) first analyses of these changes have been phrased in terms of retrenchment (after the ‘golden age’ of growth). They sought to discover how deep and to what extent governments had reduced social expenditure since the late 1970s. After a couple of decades of debates on the crisis of the welfare state, and countless welfare reforms adopted throughout the industrialised world, many commentators agree on the fact that the welfare state is much more solid and robust than what had been assumed and argued in the 1970s. To date, most welfare state analyses have concluded that in the last 25 years there has either been stability, little retrenchment or ‘path dependent’ changes.
Even if expenditure on certain programmes has been partially cut back, recent reforms do not change the nature of post-war welfare states.
The idea of only limited changes is particularly linked to continental ‘conservative corporatist’ welfare states.
Abstract
‘Welfare states in transition’ (Esping-Andersen 1996a)’ ‘Recasting European welfare states’ (Ferrera and Rhodes 2000b)’ ‘Welfare state futures’ (Leibfried 2000), ‘Survival of the European Welfare State’ (Kuhnle 2000a) and ‘The new politics of the welfare state’ (Pierson 2001a) - all of these are among the most important recent publications on the welfare state. Collectively, they indicate that the focus of the academic agenda has moved beyond the crisis of the welfare state and ‘towards an analysis of actual social policy changes which have occurred during the last 20 or 25 years. Probably under Anglo-Saxon influence (Reagan and Thatcher pursued explicit anti-welfare agendas) first analyses of these changes have been phrased in terms of retrenchment (after the ‘golden age’ of growth). They sought to discover how deep and to what extent governments had reduced social expenditure since the late 1970s. After a couple of decades of debates on the crisis of the welfare state, and countless welfare reforms adopted throughout the industrialised world, many commentators agree on the fact that the welfare state is much more solid and robust than what had been assumed and argued in the 1970s. To date, most welfare state analyses have concluded that in the last 25 years there has either been stability, little retrenchment or ‘path dependent’ changes.
Even if expenditure on certain programmes has been partially cut back, recent reforms do not change the nature of post-war welfare states.
The idea of only limited changes is particularly linked to continental ‘conservative corporatist’ welfare states.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of Figures ix
- List of Tables x
- Notes on the Contributors xi
- Social Security in the New Millennium 1
-
Debates
- Rising Tides and Rusty Boats: Economic position of the poor in 1985-1995 15
- Popular Support for Social Security. A sociological perspective’ 33
- Non-Discriminating Social Policy? Policy scenarios for meeting needs without categorisation 53
- Equality, Employment, and State Social Policies: a gendered perspective 69
- Europeanisation and Decentralisation of Welfare ‘Safety Nets’ 88
-
Reforms
-
Reforms in Theoretical Perspective
- Beyond Retrenchment: four problems in current welfare state research and one suggestion how to overcome them 105
- Change without Challenge? Welfare states, social construction of challenge and dynamics of path dependency 121
-
Reforming Pension Systems
- Public Expenditure and Population Ageing: why families of nations are different 141
- Ageing and Public Pension Reforms in Western Europe and North America: patterns and politics 157
- The Redistributional Impact of a World Bank ‘Pension Regime’ 179
-
Activation Reforms
- Activating Welfare States. How social policies can promote employment 197
- Welfare to Work and the Organisation of Opportunity: European and American approaches from a British perspective 211
- Activating the Unemployed: the street-level implementation of UK policy 235
- Bibliography 251
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of Figures ix
- List of Tables x
- Notes on the Contributors xi
- Social Security in the New Millennium 1
-
Debates
- Rising Tides and Rusty Boats: Economic position of the poor in 1985-1995 15
- Popular Support for Social Security. A sociological perspective’ 33
- Non-Discriminating Social Policy? Policy scenarios for meeting needs without categorisation 53
- Equality, Employment, and State Social Policies: a gendered perspective 69
- Europeanisation and Decentralisation of Welfare ‘Safety Nets’ 88
-
Reforms
-
Reforms in Theoretical Perspective
- Beyond Retrenchment: four problems in current welfare state research and one suggestion how to overcome them 105
- Change without Challenge? Welfare states, social construction of challenge and dynamics of path dependency 121
-
Reforming Pension Systems
- Public Expenditure and Population Ageing: why families of nations are different 141
- Ageing and Public Pension Reforms in Western Europe and North America: patterns and politics 157
- The Redistributional Impact of a World Bank ‘Pension Regime’ 179
-
Activation Reforms
- Activating Welfare States. How social policies can promote employment 197
- Welfare to Work and the Organisation of Opportunity: European and American approaches from a British perspective 211
- Activating the Unemployed: the street-level implementation of UK policy 235
- Bibliography 251
