紹介
The welfare states of the affluent democracies now stand at the centre of political discussion and social conflict. In these path-breaking essays, an international team of leading analysts rejects simplistic claims about the impact of economic 'globalization'. Economic, demographic, and social pressures on the welfare state are very real, but many of the most fundamental challenges have little to do with globalization. Nor do the authors detect signs of a convergence of national social policies towards an American-style lowest common denominator. The contemporary politics of the welfare state takes shape against a backdrop of both intense pressures for austerity and enduring popularity. Thus in most of the affluent democracies, the politics of social policy centre on the renegotiation, restructuring, and modernization of the post-war social contract rather than its dismantling. The authors examine a wide range of countries and public policies arenas, including health care, pensions, and labour markets. They demonstrate how different national settings affect whether, and on what terms, centrist efforts to restructure the welfare state can succeed.
目次
I: SOURCES OF PRESSURE ON THE CONTEMPORARY WELFARE STATE
Round Up the Usual Suspects! Globalization, Domestic Politics, and Welfare State Change
The Dynamics of Welfare State Expansion: Trade Openness, De-industrailization and Partisan Politics
Post-Industrial Pressure on Mature Welfare States
II: ADJUSTMENT DYNAMICS: ECONOMIC ACTORS AND SYSTEMS OF INTEREST INTERMEDIATION
Welfare States and production Regimes in an Era of Retrenchment
Comparative Institutional Advantages of Welfare State regimes and New Coalitions in Welfare State Reforms
The Political Economy of Social Pacts: 'Competative Corporatism' and European Welfare Reforms
III: ADJUSTMENT DYNAMICS: PARTIES, ELECTIONS, AND POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
Political Institutions and Welfare State Restructuring
Political Institutions, Veto Points, and the Process of Welfare State Adaptation
IV: COMPARING POLICY DOMAINS
The Comparative Political Economy of Pension Reform
Who Pays for Health care Reform?
Labour Market Regimes Under Threat? Sources of Continuity in Germany, Britain, and Sweden
V. CONCLUSION
Coping with Permanent Austerity: Welfare State Restructuring in Affluent Democracies
