Showing papers in "Social Policy & Administration in 2006"

Mothers at the Service of the New Poverty Agenda: Progresa/Oportunidades, Mexico's Conditional Transfer Programme

Abstract: This article considers some of the changes and continuities in social protection in Latin America through a focus on the ways in which motherhood is positioned as key to the success of the new anti-poverty programmes that have followed structural reform. It examines a flagship cash transfer programme known as Progresa/Oportunidades (Opportunities) established in Mexico in 1997 and now being widely adopted in the region. Characterized by some commentators as a quintessentially neo-liberal programme, it is argued that Oportunidades represents a novel combination of earlier maternalist social policy approaches with the conditional, co-responsibility models associated with the recent approaches to social welfare and poverty relief endorsed by international policy actors. In the first section, the gendered assumptions that have governed Latin American social policy are described; the second outlines social policy provision in Latin America and identifies the key elements of the new approaches to poverty; and the third critically examines the broader implications of the Mexican programme's selective and gendered construction of social need premised, as it is, on re-traditionalizing gendered roles and responsibilities. © 2006 The Author(s) Journal Compilation © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The Politics of Welfare State Retrenchment: A Literature Review

Abstract: Welfare state retrenchment is widely seen as a highly unpopular endeavour and, therefore, as politically difficult to pursue. This assumption has underpinned most of the political science research on this issue, notably Paul Pierson's seminal contributions about the ‘new politics of the welfare state’. Yet, the question remains why and under what circumstances cutbacks take place in highly developed welfare states despite these formidable political obstacles. This article reviews the literature on the politics of retrenchment, namely on the impact of socio-economic problem pressure, political parties, political institutions, welfare state structures and ideas. Most authors agree that socio-economic problems – particularly domestic problems – contribute to an atmosphere of ‘permanent austerity’ which inspires cutbacks. Moreover, according to most scholars, the extent of retrenchment possible depends on the specific institutional configuration of a political system and the path dependence of existing welfare state structures. The debate on the relevance of political parties and ideas, by contrast, is still far from settled. Further unresolved issues include the nature of the dependent variable in retrenchment studies. Also, the exact motives for cutbacks are theoretically still little understood, as are the political mechanisms through which they are realized. I argue that, because of the nature of these persisting issues, the pluralistic dialogue between different methods and approaches – as well as their combination – remains the most promising way forward in the study of welfare state politics.

Floating Population or Urban Citizens? Status, Social Provision and Circumstances of Rural–Urban Migrants in China

Abstract: This article uses semi-structured in-depth interviews with rural–urban migrants in Tianjin to look at the personal circumstances of such migrants in China. The interviews suggest that, unlike their predecessors in previous years, many rural–urban migrants now come with the intention of settling down. While there have been major policy changes in the last five years, these migrants are still, in many respects, not integrated into urban society. Meeting these challenges would require further changes in urban policies and urban society, taking account of the needs and interests of rural–urban migrants.

Market‐based Governance and the Challenge for Rural Governments: US Trends

Abstract: Privatization and decentralization represent market-based approaches to government. Designed to increase efficiency and responsiveness of government, these approaches also limit the potential for redistribution. A key question is how will rural governments compete in such a market based system? Will they be favored, as their reliance on market provision for public goods is higher due to the smaller number of services provided by government? Or will they be less able to compete due to the costs of sparsity which may make them less attractive to market suppliers? Data from the United States covering the period 1992-2002, show that rural areas are not favored by either of these trends – privatization or decentralization. Managerial weakness does not explain the shortfall. Rural areas are not as attractive to market suppliers and thus are disadvantaged under market based service delivery approaches. Although national policy continues to advance a privatization agenda, policymakers should be concerned about the uneven impacts of such market based approaches.

Access, Choice and Travel: Implications for Health Policy

Abstract: The UK National Health Service is introducing policies offering patients a choice of the hospital where they would like to be treated. ‘Patient choice’ policies form part of a wider debate about the access to health care and the interaction between providers (including information, provision, performance and reputation) and patients (including knowledge, resources and willingness to travel). As the hospital of ‘choice’ might not necessarily be the ‘local’ provider, such policy developments are predicated on an assumption that some patients will be willing to travel further. This will, in turn, affect patients’ access to services. In general, use of services decreases with distance but this is dependent on accessibility to services, the organization of those services, the socio-economic characteristics of the patient, perceptions of the provider and the condition for which they are to be treated. This article reviews the evidence on patients’ willingness to travel in terms of access to health care and assesses the emerging implications of and for current UK policy on patient choice.

Redefining the ‘Rural Question’ : The New ‘Politics of the Rural’ and Social Policy

Abstract: Woods, M. (2006). Redefining the 'rural question': The new 'politics of the rural' and social policy. Social Policy & Administration, 40: 579-595.

Emigration from Zimbabwe: Migrant Perspectives

Abstract: This article explores migration from Zimbabwe to the UK and South Africa and the experiences of the receiving countries from the perspective of the migrants. It provides a critical examination of the impact of structural barriers in both the UK and South Africa on the economic experiences of migrants. The effects of immigration status, due to the exclusion of asylum-seekers in the UK and the presence of undocumented migrants in the UK and South Africa, is explored in relation to employment and remittance activities. The clear evidence of the deskilling taking place among the majority of Zimbabwean migrants – and its impact on remittances and other forms of transnational support – is also examined. The article concludes that any real commitment to alleviating global poverty on the part of the world's migrant receiving countries must include a re-examination of barriers to employment, education and the use of skills, since these barriers not only have a short-term impact on remittances to the sending country and fiscal capacity to contribute in the receiving country, but will also impact on longer-term development should the migrants return to their country of origin.

Left to Market and Family – Again? Ideas and the Development of the Rural Pension Policy in China

Abstract: The rural pension policy in China is characterized by a high degree of instability. In the past 15 years since the introduction of pilot schemes in some regions, the state has been unable to establish a stable institutional framework for rural old-age security. This article seeks to integrate the theoretical insights from a growing body of international literature on the role of ideas in social policy reform in order to shed new light on the study of Chinese rural pension policy. I argue that the rise of the rural pension scheme and its eventual failure to make consistent progress towards a comprehensive system is directly related to conflicting ideas among bureaucrats with respect to what sort of welfare provision the rural elderly actually need. The fluctuations in this policy realm vividly illustrate the predominance of the policy idea that peasants could still rely on their land and family, supplemented by private commercial insurance, in their old age. Given this alleged self-reliance on the part of rural residents, the state is very reluctant to set up a comprehensive rural pension scheme. As a result, the old-age security of the peasants in rural China is standing on very thin ice, and the prospect for more active state involvement in the near future remains dim.

What determines the extent to which employers will comply with their social security obligations? Evidence from Chinese firm-level data

Abstract: This paper aims to extend understanding of employer responses to social protection regulations enacted by government to insure the wellbeing and security of employees. By utilizing firm specific data collected from Shanghai we explore the relationship between firm characteristics, employer behaviour, and the effectiveness of compliance mechanisms that have been adopted to contain contribution evasion on the part of employers. We offer empirical evidence about the impact of the size of the firm, ownership structure, and incidence of risk on employer evasion behaviour in social protection payments. These results should not only enable enforcement agencies to improve compliance levels, but also contribute to the theory-building of the significance of social policies to employers and the impact of social protection on human resource policy.

The Integration of Health and Social Care: The Lessons from Northern Ireland

Abstract: Mechanisms for the integration of social services with health have come to dominate the debate on providing a more seamless provision of health and social care. Working together at the health and social care interface has been strongly promoted and endorsed in government documents since the late 1990s. Moves towards integration have been treated with suspicion and scepticism in the academic literature, with many authors highlighting the many barriers and challenges presented by this method of working. Yet these proposals do not represent a paradigm shift in culture in all parts of the United Kingdom, as Northern Ireland has had an integrated health and social care system for over thirty years. Based on an empirical study of senior health care professionals in Northern Ireland, this study identifies and discusses the key issues associated with integration. It concludes that the experiences in Northern Ireland have to date been overlooked or misrepresented and could prove extremely valuable in gaining an understanding of the challenges and benefits of integrated arrangements.

A Comparative Case Study of Care Systems for Frail Elderly People: Germany, Spain, France, Italy, United Kingdom and Sweden

Abstract: Comparative studies of European social policies towards frail elderly people typically focus on the systems and their implementation. The study presented in this article, conducted in 2001 in six European countries (Germany, Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Sweden) aims at comparing the rights of the individuals within the different care systems. The methodology used is a case study approach, which draws on a series of situations of dependent elderly people. Therefore, the analysis focuses on the public authorities’ responses – the care packages, which determine the type of care required and the financial contribution of the user – in each of the six countries, in relation to the concrete situations of frail elderly people. As local variations are important, in all the countries studied, local authorities have been chosen in each of the countries. This approach gives us interesting concrete elements on the services and financial help which can be given to frail elderly people, but it also enables us to understand precisely the national care systems organized in the different countries and the main difficulties encountered by public authorities in facing this problem of frail elderly people.

The State, Institutional Transition and the Creation of New Urban Poverty in China

Abstract: Since the 1990s, the introduction of a market economy and the process of rapid urbanization have been accompanied by a new urban poverty related to lay-offs and unemployment as well as by large-scale rural-urban migration, which is different from the traditional urban poverty of the 'Three Nos' (no relatives or dependants, no working capacity and no source of income). This article focuses on new urban poverty in China under market transition and discusses the causes of poverty creation. Instead of considering Chinese new urban poverty only as a result of market mechanisms, it argues that the state as the manipulator of institutions and policies does matter in the creation of new urban poverty, and that the cleavages between the old and new institutions further intensify it. Specifically, the following aspects of the creation of new urban poverty are examined in detail: the adjustment of industrial policy, the reform of state-owned enterprises, evolution of the household registration system, and the transformation of the welfare state. © The 2006 Author(s) Journal Compilation © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

When social health insurance goes wrong: lessons from Argentina and Mexico

Abstract: Social health insurance (SHI) has gained popularity in recent years as a health-care funding mechanism for developing countries in Latin America and beyond. This is reflected in a number of high-profile conferences sponsored by international agencies, and a profusion of externally funded reform projects. This article assesses the potential of SHI to provide a sound model of health-care financing, drawing on the experiences of Argentina and Mexico. It uses four criteria to assess the performance of SHI: coverage, equity, effectiveness and sustainability. The article begins by outlining key principles of SHI and comparing it to other models of health-care financing. It then gives a comparative overview of four SHI programmes in Argentina and Mexico, before analysing their performance in greater detail. The article finishes by extracting lessons from this comparative analysis, both for the countries studied and for global debates on SHI.

Poverty reduction: The missing piece of pension reform in Latin America

Abstract: Employment-based pension plans constitute the main form of pension provision in Latin America. Although recent pension reform in the region has focused on strengthening these, old-age poverty remains high in most countries in the region, with older people over-represented among the poor. The article argues that ensuring old-age support for poor and vulnerable groups involves a different set of priorities and options for pension reform, namely a strong focus on tax-financed public cash transfer programmes. Cash transfer programmes focused on poor older people are the missing piece of pension reform in the region. The article examines the experience of the handful of countries with such programmes in place, and draws the lessons for the future of social policy in the region.

Shifting the Pension Mix: Consequences for Dutch and Danish Women

Abstract: All European countries are aiming to reform their pension systems in line with two conceptual ideas: firstly, that systems should combine public, occupational and private pensions; secondly, that entitlements should be individualized. The Dutch and the Danish pension systems already consist of these three different pensions with relatively individualized entitlements and in a way form an ideal type of pension system. However, these systems are far from ideal since they are deeply gender biased. The positive effects of citizenship-based state pensions conceal the negative ones. In addition, recent developments in the combination of the pension schemes counteract the positive effects. Given the male-oriented norm when it comes to full pension entitlements, and given the fact that life courses are still gendered, these countries’ systems and developments have negative effects for women.

Private passions, the public good and public service reform

Abstract: There has been considerable recent discussion of the impact of public service reforms on the work ethics and motivations of public service workers. In this article we draw upon recent research on the ethical dilemmas facing regeneration workers in order to look more closely at the role of values in the working lives of public service professionals. Focusing on the commitment to social justice, we argue that such values find expression in two interlinked ways, as something workers have and as a process of giving value to different goods. Our research reveals that while both aspects of values are rooted in people's life experiences the second dimension is more contingent and relational. While public service reforms appear to have less impact upon workers' pregiven values, they can and do have an impact on the way in which these values find expression in attachment to different goods. To understand the effect of such reform processes on workers' motivations we therefore need a more complex conceptual framework than that provided by either simple public sector ethos/private sector ethos distinctions or by models of economic individualism offered by writers such as Julian Le Grand. © 2006 The Author(s) Journal Compilation © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Social Policy between Plan and Market: Xiagang (Off-duty Employment) and the Policy of the Re-employment Service Centres in China

Abstract: China's gradual transition from a command economy to a market system has been vexed by its ailing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) employing huge numbers of surplus workers. Under the growing challenge of market competition, the survival of SOEs depends critically on the release of unwanted staff. If not handled well, however, massive layoffs could trigger ugly protests, erode social stability and challenge the governing mandate of the Chinese Communist Party. Facing this dilemma, the state's response has been to invent a process of ‘xiagang’ (off-duty employment) whereby redundant state workers can leave the production process without causing social turbulence, and to introduce a national programme of re-employment service centres (RSCs) which offer living allowances, social security, job training and re-employment assistance as a transitional measure. As a distinct form of unemployment, xiagang reflects the special challenge confronting the state and civil society in a critical stage of China's market transition. This article sets out to explore the political and social meanings of xiagang and the RSCs to elucidate how the state uses a specific social policy to balance both group and national interests and to steer the country on to the next stage of market development.

Poverty and Hardship among the Aged in Urban China

Abstract: China's record in reducing poverty over the last three decades has been impressive, yet few studies have examined the incidence of poverty among older people despite the rapid ageing of the population. This article uses a unique national data set to examine patterns of poverty, deprivation and exclusion among the urban aged population (60 years and over) in 2000. The results point to the importance of poverty as an issue for older people, particularly for women and those who live alone. A number of indicators of hardship are developed in four areas – economic insecurity, housing, health, and social isolation – and the incidence of these is examined, separately and in combination, by living arrangement and gender. Women are shown to experience greater levels of hardship and isolation than men, and to be more likely to experience multiple deprivation across two or more areas. Finally, the overlap between poverty and hardship is examined as a way of validating the poverty estimates and giving them greater credibility. The results indicate that there are strong overlaps, although these differ across the different dimensions of hardship. Access to pension income and concern over the cost of necessary visits to see a doctor emerge as strong predictors of poverty and point to areas where policy change is needed.

East Asian Welfare Regimes in Transition: From Confucianism to Globalisation

Abstract: Books reviewed: Alan Walkerand Chack-kie Wong, East Asian Welfare Regimes in Transition: From Confucianism to Globalisation.

The Core Executive's Approach to Regulation: From ‘Better Regulation’ to ‘Risk‐Tolerant Deregulation’

Abstract: This article examines changes in the New Labour core executive’s approach to regulation and its relationship with risk, through analysing documentary, legislative and press sources concerning approaches to regulatory decision-making. It claims that an initial commitment to ‘better regulation’ has gradually been replaced by explicit support for deregulation. A reduction in the scope of regulation was also promoted by the Thatcher and Major governments. The New Labour core executive shares previous (Conservative) administrations’ concern to include business in deregulatory decision-making. However, the article claims that there is one significant difference in the New Labour deregulatory approach: a new toleration of risk. Deregulation is, now, described as a corrective to regulators’ over-reactions to perceived risks, which, it is claimed, are holding back economic and technological progress. However, this new approach excludes competing views concerning how risk should be regulated. In particular, it does not engage with widespread popular views that governments should continue to protect against risk.

Risks and Resources: Social Capital among Social Assistance Recipients in Norway

Abstract: Based on a nationally representative panel study covering the period 1985–2003, a Norwegian cohort is investigated with regard to the risks of receiving social assistance benefits. Traditionally, welfare dependency, poverty and receipt of social assistance have been explained by beneficiaries’ human capital deficits, the structural or institutional design of the welfare system, or the level of welfare benefits. This article investigates the potentially mediating effects of social capital on the risks of receiving social assistance in youth and young adulthood. In addition, the role of the institutional welfare design on the accumulation of social capital itself is examined. The resulting analyses suggest that even if individuals’ social capital is related to the risks of receiving social assistance, it is rather the respondents’ human capital and welfare recipiency in itself that are the driving force behind paths leading individuals into further social assistance recipiency. The article concludes with an analysis suggesting that the institutional design of the Norwegian social assistance benefits reduces social capital for the beneficiaries.

Mainstreaming Equality: Implications of the Provision of Support at Home for Majority and Minority Ethnic Older People

Abstract: This paper explores the potential impact and practical difficulties of mainstreaming equalities in support at home for minority and majority ethnic older people, drawing on two linked empirical research projects. Social care providers have long faced difficulties in catering for diversity of need. Recently, diversity within minority ethnic groups has increased, and there is now a statutory duty to promote equality. Research findings illustrate the complexity of exclusionary processes, with particular reference to the example of health care. There is a gap between the high-level commitment to mainstreaming equality and people's lived experiences. Autonomy and choice are central to community care legislation, policy and practice guidance, but in reality, the research shows that choices are limited for both minority and majority older people. More user-focused approaches and grassroots involvement may offer ways forward, despite some limitations of current models. In conclusion, the potentiality of a broad mainstreaming equality perspective is highlighted, but challenges include a need for a more grounded approach, better engagement with user groups and a need to focus on understanding issues of implementation.

Lone Parents and Informal Childcare: A Tax Credit Childcare Subsidy?

Abstract: The Labour government aims to increase the lone parent employment rate to 70 per cent by 2010. To achieve this aim, it has introduced a state subsidy for childcare in the form of the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit. So far this has been limited to formal childcare despite evidence that lone parents are more likely to use informal childcare. This article investigates the potential of a state subsidy to be extended to support informal childcare. Utilizing evidence from a study of 78 qualitative in-depth interviews with lone parents, it explores preferences for informal care and the way that informal care is negotiated. On the one hand, we found that some lone parents held deeply embedded preferences for informal childcare based on trust, commitment, shared understandings and children's happiness. Thus it can be concluded that it is important for the government to support informal as well as formal care. On the other, we found that the way lone parents actually negotiated informal childcare involved complex notions of obligation, duty and reciprocity, suggesting that a subsidy could potentially intrude upon complex private family relationships. However, the evidence suggests that care was negotiated differently depending on whether it was provided by a grandparent or other family and friends, with lone parents tending to favour paying for childcare provided by other family and friends than grandparents. This has implications for a state subsidy, which needs further investigation.

From Gift Relationships to Quasi-markets: An Odyssey along the Policy Paths of Altruism and Egoism

Abstract: Nearly forty years ago, the publication of ‘The Price of Blood’ (1968) and ‘The Gift Relationship’ (1970) added a new dimension of ideological conflict to the debate about the values, ends and means of social policy. The questions that Richard Titmuss posed in ‘The Gift Relationship’ are still discussed in current debates about the respective merits of unitary and pluralist models of welfare, the egoistic and altruistic motives that underpin them, and the rights and responsibilities intrinsic to the status of citizenship. The ways in which the content and focus of these debates have changed over the past forty years are here reviewed, taking Titmuss's ‘The Gift Relationship’, my own contributions in ‘Social Theory and Social Policy’ (1971) and ‘The Idea of Welfare’ (1979), and Julian Le Grand's ‘Motivation, Agency and Public Policy’ (2003) as the temporal and salient points of reference. A brief introduction describes how the academic debate became sharply polarized in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and how a key decision about the future development of this journal was taken at the same time.

Social Policy in a Cold Climate: Health and Social Welfare in Russia

Abstract: The Russian Federation faces multiple challenges for its health and welfare systems and for the development of social policy responses This article provides a review of some of the key challenges for social policy in Russia and assesses the adequacy of the responses to date The author surveys recent developments in health and social welfare and makes recommendations on priorities for Russia's policy-makers and international funders A range of public health challenges including drug and alcohol misuse, health in prisons and mental health is discussed; HIV/AIDS is singled out for particular attention While Russia is increasingly attracting the attention of social scientists in the West, there is uncertainty about models and concepts suitable for the analysis of this complex society Although empirical trends are largely discussed in this article, it is argued that theoretical development is required and some suggestions are made about concepts of the ‘middle range’ to assist in future analyses Intermediate theories, such as those relating to the management of personal welfare, and development of resilience in a formerly collectivized context, are identified as having explanatory potential for this task

Older People ‘on the Edge’ in the Countrysides of Europe

Abstract: Relatively few comparative studies have focused specifically upon the socio-economic conditions affecting the welfare of older rural Europeans. Such publications as exist are usually confined to single studies. In presenting a European overview of their ‘life-world’ this paper focuses upon the general conditions of older rural Europeans, living in different types of countryside within a centre–periphery framework. These conditions are largely dependent upon the interconnectivity (nexus) between regional urban centres and the older people's types of settlement. The extent of the global socio-economic flows between urban centres and countrysides is critical, especially for those living in less accessible and remote European areas. Older people's positive and negative outcomes are seen to occur within four possible urban–rural parameters. The first consists of two-way socio-economic urban–rural flows that are more likely to be of benefit to significant numbers of older persons, especially in urban fringe and accessible countrysides. The second parameter arises when there is a long-standing impasse, where the lack of communication between the rural locality and urban centre hampers socio-economic urban–rural flows, isolating older people, particularly in less accessible and remote countrysides. The third occurs when regional and local urban centres block or cut back socio-economic flows to the countryside. The fourth takes place when the rural communities resist socio-economic urban flows that they regard as a threat to their rural idyll. Exemplars within each of the four urban–rural alternatives help to show the applicability and workability of this four-way exploratory approach.

Poverty, Social Exclusion and Social Policy in the Czech Republic

Abstract: This article analyses the pattern of poverty and social exclusion in the Czech Republic and the impact of social policy on this pattern. The analysis is mostly based on data from the Czech Survey on Social Conditions of Households (2001; 27,000 respondents); Eurostat data provide a benchmark for making international comparisons. The poverty rate in the Czech Republic is among the lowest in Europe. On the other hand, material deprivation, as well as concentration of poverty within specific population groups, is high, with the unemployed facing the highest risk of poverty. Social policy measures in effect reinforce this pattern: while the benefit system is highly redistributive and effectively eliminates income poverty among households of employed persons and among pensioners, incomes of persons outside paid employment are protected less effectively. Labour market policy measures are insufficient in scope and inadequate in targeting groups which are facing the highest risk of labour market exclusion and poverty. We argue that although this practice is effective at present, it is not sustainable in the long term.

Does Parental Participation in Schools Empower or Strain Civil Society? The Case of Community‐managed Schools in Central America

Abstract: Among the various educational models in Latin America that seek to increase parental participation in schooling, perhaps the most far-reaching is the experiment with self-managed schools. These are publicly funded schools administered by parents. Broad public powers, such as the capacity to decide the budget and make staffing decisions, are given to parents, many of whom have had very limited prior administrative experience. How does this policy innovation impact on civil society? Does parental participation in school administration empower participating citizens or strain civil society? There are various ways of answering these questions. This article looks at some possible ways to conceptualize and assess the relationship between parental participation in self-managed schools and civil society. The article draws from the experience of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, where these reforms have advanced significantly since the 1990s.

Risk and its Management in Post-Financial Crisis Hong Kong

Abstract: In the 1970s and up until the financial crisis occurred in the late 1990s, Hong Kong prospered in a relatively stable social, economic and political context. Since the financial crisis, however, its population has been increasingly exposed to risk: there has been job uncertainty and decreasing capacity for self-reliance, leading to a growing reliance on public welfare and on families at a time when both are under pressure. The old welfare policies, unable to cope with the new risks, have been replaced by neo-liberal reforms, redistributing the roles and responsibilities of the individual and the state, with a greater burden falling on the former. Individuals are required to be prudent to manage risk. While these reforms have relieved some of the burden on the state, both new social risk groups and ‘net taxpayers’ considered themselves to have borne disproportional costs. Society is facing serious problems resulting from ineffective old welfare policies, new social risks due to new policies, and the political upheavals arising from increased social conflicts and weakened social cohesion and solidarity. A further complication is that there is no acceptable platform or agent to negotiate a compromise between the polarized groups. This article argues that reliance on publicly funded risk coping strategies or on neo-liberal risk prevention and mitigation strategies is not a desirable and sustainable policy. A commonly accepted political platform is required to negotiate a compromise which emphasizes shared and balanced roles and responsibilities, and a well-conceived combination of risk prevention, mitigation and coping strategies.

The State and its Welfare State: How do Welfare State Changes Affect the Make‐up of the Nation State?

Abstract: With respect to changes in the welfare states of OECD countries, scholars most of the time are looking for common trends; that is, they look for similar movements in different states, such as welfare state retrenchment, recalibration, etc. As we show in this article, data on welfare state spending and financing do not, however, support such stark tendencies like retrenchment. We therefore suggest looking for corridor effects rather than level effects, i.e. analysing changes in the dispersion of welfare state regimes rather than shifts in the mean values. Our analysis suggests that convergence, i.e. decreasing diversity among states in spending, financing and regulation patterns, may have been the most important pattern of welfare state change in the last three decades – a pattern easily overlooked in past and current research. Convergence of welfare state regimes also affects our views on the modern nation state itself since the varieties of welfare capitalism in the twentieth century are themselves an expression of the sovereignty and autonomy of the nation state. If nation states are forced to surrender national particularities, to mellow their characteristic differences and to move incrementally towards a one-size-fits-all common model via ‘shrinking corridors’, such a blurring of welfare regimes, such a beclouding of difference, should also be regarded as a significant change taking place in the centre of the Western nation state's make-up.