Description
Book SynopsisIn Europe and around the world, social policies and welfare services have faced increasing pressure in recent years as a result of political, economic, and social changes. Just as Europe was a leader in the development of the welfare state and the supportive structures of corporatist politics from the 1920s onward, Europe in particular has experienced stresses from globalization and striking innovation in welfare policies. While debates in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France often attract wide international attention, smaller European countriesBelgium, Denmark, Austria, or Finlandare often overlooked. This volume seeks to correct this unfortunate oversight as these smaller countries serve as models for reform, undertaking experiments that only later gain the attention of stymied reformers in the larger countries.
Trade ReviewThis is an interesting and welcome volume - [whose] contribution - is to bring together a set of chapters chronicling the reform or sclerosis of welfare states in many of Europe's smaller countries - [arguing] that there is important variation among the small states, and that both failed and successful reforms can only be understood by understanding how old coalitions could reorganize around certain ideas of change.A" * Pepper Culpepper, European University Institute - a rich book for anyone interested in the broad theme of change in European social policy, not least because it takes up a number of areas and countries which are not often covered in the literature.A" * Christoffer Green-Pedersen, Aarhus University
Table of Contents List of Tables and Figures
Preface
Introduction: Social Policy in the Smaller EU States
Gary B. Cohen, Ben W. Ansell, Robert Henry Cox, and Jane Gingrich
SECTION I: THE SOCIAL INVESTMENT AGENDA: FROM IDEAS TO POLICY?
Chapter 1. How Globalization and the European Union are Changing European Welfare States
Robert Henry Cox
Chaper 2. Family Policies, Education, and Female Labor Market Participation in Advanced Capitalist Democracies
Robin Stryker, Scott R. Eliason, Eric Tranby, and William Hamilton
Chapter 3. Double Transformation: How to Adjust to Institutional Social Policy?
Juho Saari
Chapter 4. The Social Investment State: A New Trend in Social Expenditure or Merely a Popular Political Discourse?
Jorma Sipilä
SECTION II: INTEREST COALITIONS, IDEAS, AND SOCIAL REFORM
Chapter 5. Multiple Market Prespcriptions: The Diverse Models of Health Care Reform in Sweden
Jane Gingrich
Chapter 6. Austrian Social Policy Reform in the Era of Integration and Rising Populism
Reinhard Heinisch
Chapter 7. Of Firms and Flexibility : The Dynamics of Collective Bargainning Reform in Spain and Portugal
Sara Watson
SECTION III: DIVERGING INSTITUTIONAL LEGACIES, IDEAS, AND SOCIAL REFORM
Chapter 8. Social Policy Change "Under the Radar Screen": Health Care Reforms in Seven Small Countries
Kieke G. H. Okma, Luca Crivelli, Toni Ashton, Iva Bolgani, Tsung-Me Cheng, David Chinitz, Meng-Kin Lim, Hans Maarse, Rachel Meislin, and Tim Tenbensel
Chapter 9. Humboldt Humbled? The Germanic University System in Comparative Perspective
Ben W. Ansell
Chapter 10. Beyond the Welfare State: Consumer Protection and Risk Perceptions in the European Union and Austria
Paulette Kurzer
Conclusion: Ideas and Social Reform
Robert Henry Cox
Notes on Contributors
Index
