Welfare States Under Pressure

by Peter Taylor-Gooby

• ISBN13: 9780761971986
• ISBN10: 076197198X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-02-05
• Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd

Summary

Exerpt from the Financial Times Comment & Analysis: Europe takes on reform of the welfare state: A new study indicates that while the UK has transformed its social policies, the rest of Europe has been far from idle -'[A] stimulating new book on European welfare states [Welfare States under Pressure] suggests that the view of Britain as the only great welfare state reformer is overstated. And it adds that the game across Europe is about to change'¦.This new study argues that, particularly in the late 1990s, there has been more reform in the rest of Europe than is appreciated in the UK. And that Europe as a whole is on the cusp of much greater changes'¦.Certainly in France and possibly in Germany, the study judges, the traditional power balance between government, employers, unions and welfare providers has shifted such that government may be able to impose much more drastic measures... In the UK, by contrast, the impact of EU institutions may in some areas mean a degree of levelling up - as in healthcare.The most intriguing question is how far reformed welfare states will retain the social cohesion they are designed to produce. So far, even in the UK, they have proved remarkably resilient - adapting to changing needs rather than being "rolled back". This study's verdict on the issue is "don't know". But so much change is on the way, it says, that "the past is unlikely to be a good guide to the future"' - Nicholas Timmins, The Financial TimesWelfare States under Pressure provides a timely and comprehensive review of welfare policy-making in Europe. The text compares the different ways in which welfare states have responded to similar pressures over recent years, and considers how welfare is likely to develop in the future.This work:· provides up to date accounts of welfare development in Finland, Sweden, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the United Kingdom.· explores how similar pressures can lead to different responses due to different policy-making mechanisms in each of the seven different countries· contains chapters written by leading national experts· written accessibly, and tightly edited, with each chapter following the same conceptual structure.This volume takes a fresh approach in its analysis of the future of the welfare state in Europe. It suggests that opportunities for radical change in welfare systems are now opening up, and that there will be little continuity between the future and the past/present of the welfare system in Europe.Welfare States under Pressure is invaluable to undergraduate students in social policy, European studies and politics, and will also be of great use to other social science students interested in Europe and its future development.

Author Biography

Dr Frank Bonker is Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics, European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder) and Research Fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Transformation Studies Dr Giuliano Bonoli is a Lecturer at the Department of Social Work and Social Policy, University of Fribourg Professor Luis Moreno is Senior Research Fellow at the Spanish National Research Council, CSIC, in Madrid Dr Bruno Palier is a member of CEVIPOF in Sciences Po Paris. He organized the comparative programme on social welfare systems in Europe for MIRE in the French Ministry of Social Affairs (1994-1999) and is now a member of COST Programme A15 on 'Reforming Social Protection Systems' Peter Taylor-Gooby is Professor of Social Policy at the University of Kent Virpi Timonen has worked as researcher at the University of Turku, for the Council of Europe and for Lawson Lucas Mendelsohn in London Hellmut Wollmann is Professor of Public Administration at Humboldt-Universitat, Berlin, Germany

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	vi
Notes on the Contributors	vii
Preface	ix
The Politics of Welfare in Europe	1	(28)
Peter Taylor-Gooby
Earning Welfare Citizenship: Welfare State Reform in Finland and Sweden	29	(23)
Virpi Timonen
Reshaping the Social Policy-Making Framework in France	52	(23)
Bruno Palier
Stumbling towards Reform: The German Welfare State in the 1990s	75	(25)
Frank Bonker
Hellmut Wollmann
Spain, a Via Media of Welfare Development	100	(23)
Luis Moreno
Switzerland: Stubborn Institutions in a Changing Society	123	(24)
Giuliano Bonoli
Welfare Reform in the UK: the Construction of a Liberal	147	(24)
Peter Taylor-Gooby
Polity, Policy-Making and Welfare Futures	171	(18)
Peter Taylor-Gooby
Bibliography	189	(15)
Index	204