Comparative Welfare State Politics Development, Opportunities, and Reform

Welfare state reform occurs in all advanced capitalist democracies, but it does not occur in identical ways, to the same degree or with similar consequences. In Comparative Welfare State Politics, Kees van Kersbergen and Barbara Vis explain the political opportunities and constraints of welfare state reform by asking 'big' questions. Why did we need a welfare state in the first place? How did we get it? Why did we get different worlds of welfare and do we still have them? What does the welfare state actually do? Why do we need to reform the welfare state? Why is reform so difficult, but why does it nevertheless happen? Can and will the welfare state survive the Great Recession? This book informs the reader comprehensively about the welfare state, while contributing to the ongoing debate on the politics of welfare state reform.

Introduction. The political opportunities and constraints of welfare state reform; 1. The welfare state: dynamic development, crisis, resilience, and change; 2. The logics of the welfare state: why did we need a welfare state in the first place and how did we get it?; 3. Welfare state regimes: why did we get different worlds of welfare and do we still have them?; 4. What do welfare states actually do? How welfare states protect against social risks and fight poverty and inequality; 5. Toward an open functional approach to welfare state reform; 6. Why do we need to reform the welfare state?: Part I. Globalization as a functional pressure coming from the outside; 7. Why do we need to reform the welfare state: Part II. Post-industrial society and the functional pressures to reform coming from within; 8. Why do politicians and governments pursue risky reforms?; 9. Can and will the welfare state survive the great recession?

Kees van Kersbergen is Professor of Comparative Politics in the Department of Political Science and Government at Aarhus University in Denmark.
Barbara Vis is Professor of Political Decision-Making in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at VU University Amsterdam.