Surveying the welfare state: challenges, policy development and causes of resilience

Arbeitspapier

This paper takes a closer look at the supposed mechanisms behind German welfare state resilience, which are given in mainstream institutionalist theories. I focus on reform hurdles associated with the make-up of the German welfare state, both at the macro-level (principles) as well as at the meso-level (programmes), exposing systematically mechanisms of path-dependence and other sources of policy stickiness. In addition, I zoom in on the political- institutional sources of resilience. This survey of institutional reform obstacles is complemented by a review of reform pressures and policy developments in the main social policy areas, old age pensions, health care, and unemployment policy between 1975 and 2004. The main conclusion is that despite numerous sources of pressure for far-reaching welfare state reform, the various mechanisms of resilience have made for a pattern of incremental reform, although a number of structural reforms have occurred fairly recently.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: ZeS-Arbeitspapier ; No. 01/2007

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Politik
• Thema: Sozialstaat ; Sozialreform ; Policy-Ansatz ; Hysteresis ; Deutschland

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Stiller, Sabina
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Universität Bremen, Zentrum für Sozialpolitik (ZeS)
• (wo): Bremen
• (wann): 2007

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/27139
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ