From Liberal Statism to Statist Liberalism: The Transformation of Unemployment Policies in Europe

Clegg, Daniel O.

doi:10.1057/9780230227392_9

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As the Dutch case shows particularly well, though, the development of activation policies carries logics that potentially push against the continuing involvement of social actors in the administrative machinery of the welfare state (Clegg, 2008), as the self-administration that characterized social insurance arrangements in many countries is challenged by the twin pressures of increased public oversight and control, and enhanced competition in service delivery. To the extent that these pressures are determined by the issues prioritized in institutional and policy reform, the constructive engagement of trade unions in the reconfiguration of the welfare state depends not just on the strategic behaviour of the unions themselves, but also on the choices and strategies of governments and other policy actors.…”

Section: Discussion: Welfare Institutions and The Mobilization Of Consentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Welfare institutions and the mobilization of consent: Union responses to labour market activation policies in France and the Netherlands

Clegg¹,

Wijnbergen

2011

European Journal of Industrial Relations

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Trade union responses to labour market activation policies are central to any assessment of their attitudes and strategies in the face of contemporary welfare state restructuring. Yet this issue has to date been the object of only limited theorization and minimal empirical investigation. We attempt to remedy this. Drawing on existing literatures in different disciplines, we first outline the theoretical grounds for predicting union opposition to or support for labour market activation measures. We then explore these competing arguments through a reconstruction and comparison of the development of union positions on labour market activation over time in two countries, France and the Netherlands. The case studies suggest that union stances on these policies are not straightforwardly determined by the structure of labour market institutions; considerations regarding the impact of activation initiatives on the role of unions in the institutions of the welfare state play a major role in mobilizing their consent or dissent.

show abstract

Section: Discussion: Welfare Institutions and The Mobilization Of Consentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Welfare institutions and the mobilization of consent: Union responses to labour market activation policies in France and the Netherlands

Clegg¹,

Wijnbergen

2011

European Journal of Industrial Relations

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The state was a central actor in advancing these reforms, which ranged from the institution of organizational changes in public employment services to programmatic changes in the instruments of social policy. These reforms have been conceptualized as a shift from passive to active labour market policy, which entails a transformation of the role of the state from ‘liberal statism to statist liberalism’ in the area of labour market and social policies (Clegg : 149).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Active labour market (ALM) reforms are potential sources of political unrest, as they openly challenge historically entrenched institutions that developed in capitalist societies: first, collective commitment to unemployment compensation, which is embedded in policy programmes and entitlements, and second, governance arrangements that administer such policies, in which the state often delegated or shared authority and responsibility with social partners, trade unions in particular (Clegg ; Ebbinghaus ). The involvement of trade unions in the governance of labour market policy institutions in several European welfare states became an institutional power resource, causing the unions to be heavily invested in maintaining the status quo (Davidson and Emmenegger ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unravelling the Politics of Activation Reforms: Exploring the Unusual Israeli Trajectory

Maron

Helman

2015

Soc Policy Adm

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Contemporary active labour market (ALM) reforms are pivotal in the reorganization of the welfare state as they challenge and threaten some of the fundamental achievements of labour in capitalist societies: social programmes and entitlements that compensate for unemployment, and governance arrangements in which the social partners share authority and responsibility with the state. Consequently, ALM reforms may give raise to social unrest and political struggle that involves the state (the main proponent of ALM reforms), trade unions and political parties. These conflicts are important in the politicization of reforms, i.e. raising public awareness of and engagement with controversies of welfare state change.In this article, we use a non-European perspective to ask more generally how distinct historical institutions create separate 'politicization trajectories' of ALM reforms, which in turn produce different policy designs and outcomes. Centring on the case of Israel, in which historically 'abnormal' class politics fostered indifference to the reform in both trade unions and political parties, we maintain that the preliminary de-politicization made it possible for bureaucrats to control the reform, leading to an intra-state conflict between competing agencies over its design and implementation.

show abstract

“…social security literature, most characteristics can be grouped into four main dimensions: "mode of access" (a), "benefit structure" (b), "financing" (c), and "governance" (d) (cf. Titmuss, 1971;Reman, 1992;von Maydell, 1993;Ferrera, 1996;Schulte, 1998;Dixon, 1999;Clegg, 2008). In this chapter, particular focus is devoted to those dimensions which affect most directly the adequacy of minimum income protection: the mode of access and the benefit structure, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minimum Income Protection for Europeâs Elderly

GoedemÃ¹

Minimum Income Protection in Flux

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In Europe, the elderly stand out for their heavy reliance on welfare state arrangements for securing their living standard. In spite of relatively high elderly poverty rates in many EU member states, the past two decades have witnessed a tendency to re-strengthen the link between past contributions and pension benefits, and to rely more strongly on private pensions. At the same time, public pension replacement rates are projected to decrease in a large number of EU member states. In this context, minimum income protection for Europe"s elderly is likely to become even more important for alleviating elderly poverty than is the case today. Yet, minimum income protection schemes targeted at the elderly have remained largely undocumented in the international literature. Therefore, this chapter reviews existing minimum income policies for the elderly in Europe and develops a typology based on entitlement and eligibility criteria. Building on data from a project involving national experts from 25 EU member states, it is shown that in the 2000s welfare erosion of elderly persons" minimum income guarantees has been limited Moreover, a substantial number of countries has pursued a deliberate policy of increases in minimum income benefits for the elderly. Nonetheless, only in a few countries benefits are adequate for lifting elderly persons above the poverty line. At the same time, differences between EU member states in terms of mode of access and benefit levels remain large.

show abstract

From Liberal Statism to Statist Liberalism: The Transformation of Unemployment Policies in Europe

Cited by 4 publications

References 12 publications

Welfare institutions and the mobilization of consent: Union responses to labour market activation policies in France and the Netherlands

Welfare institutions and the mobilization of consent: Union responses to labour market activation policies in France and the Netherlands

Unravelling the Politics of Activation Reforms: Exploring the Unusual Israeli Trajectory

Minimum Income Protection for Europeâs Elderly

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

From Liberal Statism to Statist Liberalism: The Transformation of Unemployment Policies in Europe

Cited by 4 publications

References 12 publications

Welfare institutions and the mobilization of consent: Union responses to labour market activation policies in France and the Netherlands

Welfare institutions and the mobilization of consent: Union responses to labour market activation policies in France and the Netherlands

Unravelling the Politics of Activation Reforms: Exploring the Unusual Israeli Trajectory

Minimum Income Protection for Europeâs Elderly

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Minimum Income Protection for Europeâs Elderly