Transformations of the Welfare State: Small States, Big Lessons - Hardcover

Obinger, Herbert; Starke, Peter; Moser, Julia; Bogedan, Claudia; Gindulis, Edith; Leibfried, Stephan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199296324 ISBN 13: 9780199296323

Verlag: OUP Oxford, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

Book by Obinger Herbert Starke Peter Moser Julia Bogedan C

Über diesen Titel

Críticas

The word restriction of this review does not allow sufficient appreciation of the four country studies. All four are excellent. They are rich in detail, historically informed, well structured and give an excellend overview of teh reform trajectories in the four investigated policy sectors... In sum, the book offers significant lessons on transformation of teh welfare state in small states. It is extremely valuable for teaching, having the potential to become a bible in welfare state courses for the next decade. The book is of interest no only because of the detailed country studies it contains but also because it shows how political factors matter. It makes clear why political science is indispensable in comparative welfare state research. (Christine Trampusch, University of Cologne)

The quality of this book leaves little scope for criticism. It should deal a heavy blow both to those who still believe in the "strong globalisation" thesis and to those who idealise the onward march of free markets. (Martin Rhodes, West European Politics)

Reseña del editor

Transformations of the Welfare State gives a new twist to the longstanding debate on the impact of economic globalization on the welfare state. The authors focus on several small, advanced OECD economies in order to assess whether (and how) the welfare state will be able to compete under conditions of an increasingly integrated world economy.

Small states can be seen as an 'early warning system' for general trends, because of their dependence on world markets and vulnerability to competitive pressures. The book's theoretical part innovatively integrates the literature on the political economy of small states with more recent research on the impact of globalization on social policy to generate a set of ideal-typical policy scenarios. In the main body of the book, the authors systematically test these scenarios against the experience of four countries: Austria, Denmark, New Zealand, and Switzerland.

The comparative, in-depth analysis of reform trajectories since the 1970s in four key policy areas ― pensions, labour market policy, health care, and family policy ― provides, according to the authors, substantial evidence of a new convergence in welfare state patterns. They go on to argue that this amounts to a fundamental transformation of the welfare state from the old Keynesian welfare state positioned 'against the market' to a new set of supply-side policies 'with' and 'for' the market. Yet one of the big lessons to be learned from this timely study is that the transformation does not match the doomsday scenario predicted by neo-classical economists in the 1990s. There is no evidence of a 'race to the bottom' of social expenditure and standards of social protection, nor of a convergence towards a 'liberal' social policy model. Looking to the possible future of the welfare state in an era newly marked by profound uncertainty, the authors sound an optimistic note for states of any size.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: OUP Oxford
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0199296324
• ISBN 13: 9780199296323
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Sprache: Englisch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 336