Welfare-State Retrenchment Revisited: Entitlement Cuts, Public Sector Restructuring, and Inegalitarian Trends in Advanced Capitalist Societies

Clayton, Richard; Pontusson, Jonas

doi:10.1017/s0043887100007796

Cited by 475 publications

(172 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…This formulation has proven particularly central to analyses of welfare state reform produced by those who come to the topic from previous work on industrial relations. For these scholars, the shifting balance of power between employers and unions stands at the centre of political analysis (Clayton and Pontusson 1998;Swenson 19916).…”

Section: Re-commodificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Esping-Andersen (1990, 1996a identifies this as the predominant line of cleavage in social democratic countries. This view has been elaborated in several analyses by scholars working from a perspective shaped by the investigation of collective bargaining systems (Swenson 19916;Clayton and Pontusson 1998;Iversen 1998a). In this volume, Schwartz offers a nuanced version of this sectoral argument, stressing the fact that both workers and employers in the traded sector may continue to support significant aspects of social provision.…”

Section: Coping With Permanent Austerity 441mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coping with Permanent Austerity: Welfare State Restructuring in Affluent Democracies

Pierson¹

2002

Revue Française de Sociologie

313

275

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THE welfare states of the affluent democracies now stand at the centre of political discussion and social conflict. Analysts frequently portray these conflicts as fundamental struggles between supporters and opponents of the basic principles of the post-war social contract. They often emphasize that the politics of social policy are played out against the backdrop of a transformed global economy that has undercut the social and economic foundations of the welfare state. While containing elements of truth, such portrayals distort crucial characteristics of the contemporary politics of the welfare state. Changes in the global economy are important, but it is primarily social and economic transformations occurring within affluent democracies that produce pressures on mature welfare states. At the same time, support for the welfare state remains widespread almost everywhere. In most countries, there is little sign that the basic commitments to a mixed economy of welfare face a fundamental political challenge. Nor is there much evidence of convergence towards some neoliberal orthodoxy.Yet the chapters in this volume have also stressed that welfare states are undergoing quite significant changes. In this conclusion, I argue that the contemporary politics of the welfare state take shape against a backdrop of both intense pressures for austerity and enduring popularity. In this context, even strong supporters of the welfare state may come to acknowledge the need for adjustment, and even severe critics may need to accept the political realities of continuing popular enthusiasm for social provision. Thus, in most of the affluent democracies, the politics of social policy centre on the renegotiation, restructuring, and modernization of the terms of the postwar social contract rather than its dismantling. The crucial issue is whether particular national settings facilitate the emergence of such a centrist reform effort, and if so, on what terms.Thanks to Andrew Karch and Effi Tomaras for research assistance. I have benefited from many conversations with participants in the New Politics project and the European Forum at the EUI. I owe special thanks to John Myles and Ann Orloff, although I suppose it would be unfair to hold them responsible for the end result.

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Section: Re-commodificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Coping With Permanent Austerity 441mentioning

confidence: 99%

Coping with Permanent Austerity: Welfare State Restructuring in Affluent Democracies

Pierson¹

2002

Revue Française de Sociologie

313

275

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“…How to accommodate principles of the 'European Research Area' and requirements of the Bologna Process to local conditions of those new EU countries where the private sector has recently grown surprisingly strong? Unfortunately, the Bologna Process in general remains indifferent to these developments even though their appearance may prefigure some future options which governments of western European countries may face, should the dismantling of the welfare state be as radical as some sociologists and political scientists present it (Clayton & Pontusson, 1998;Pierson, 1996Pierson, , 2001a.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Emergent European Educational Policies under Scrutiny: The Bologna Process from a Central European Perspective

Kwiek¹

2004

European Educational Research Journal

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In this article, the Bologna Process and the European Research Area are viewed as the two sides of the same coin: that of the redefinition of the missions of the institution of the university. The Bologna Process is viewed as relatively closed to global developments: as largely inward-looking, focused on European regional problems (and European regional solutions), in the absence of references to global changes and huge globalization-related political and economic transformations underlying them. Higher education in central and eastern Europe has been in a state of permanent crisis since the fall of communism and there has not been enough general reflection on its transformations. The author's concern about Bologna is that it is not trying to rise to the conceptual level that would be required to assist higher education systems in central and eastern Europe with their integration with western European systems. Bologna could be a useful policy agenda; it could provide clear recommendations on what to do and how, presenting a comprehensive package of reforms. But it is not. In this respect, it does not meet expectations of the academic community in the region; it is unclear in its visions, and consequently in its recommendations for actions. In conclusion, the author states that while it may be quite successful in promoting its agenda in western Europe, it may fail in the transition countries, especially because of the combination of old and new challenges and because of chronic underfunding of national higher education systems. While western European institutions currently seem to be afraid of losing their autonomy, for educational institutions in most transition countries the Bologna Process could be a coherent reform agenda.

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“…Another term, often used in EU documents, is modernisation, which gives a positive ring to processes aiming at making the provision of services less bureaucratic, more efficient and innovative (Newman, 2001;Cochrane, 2004;Newman et al, 2008). More normatively charged is the concept of retrenchment (Pierson, 1994;Clayton and Pontusson, 1998;Starke, 2006), which implies a reduction in the support provided by the state to certain social policies and services. Then, of course, there are more clear-cut terms -which also specifically apply to public social service -such as privatisation, which refers to the growing (re-)involvement of private providers, be they the family, the market or the community (Leibetseider et al, in this volume), and marketisation, which implies a shift towards a market logic and market providers Anttonen and Meagher, 2013;Anttonen and Karsio, in this volume).…”

Section: Unpacking the Restructuring Of Social Services: Main Trends mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social services, welfare states and places: an overview

Martinelli¹

2017

Social Services Disrupted

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Welfare-State Retrenchment Revisited: Entitlement Cuts, Public Sector Restructuring, and Inegalitarian Trends in Advanced Capitalist Societies

Cited by 475 publications

References 8 publications

Coping with Permanent Austerity: Welfare State Restructuring in Affluent Democracies

Coping with Permanent Austerity: Welfare State Restructuring in Affluent Democracies

The Emergent European Educational Policies under Scrutiny: The Bologna Process from a Central European Perspective

Social services, welfare states and places: an overview

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