Corporatism and the Danish Welfare State

1978 ◽  
Vol 21 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 73-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Finn Valentin

The starting point is the three structure concepts of societal distribution, interest formation and organization formation. Corporatism is defined as a combination of all three, where (a) the primary distribution structure is still capitalist; (b) interest and organization formation do not take place in relation to the primary oppositions of capitalism, but instead are blocked and transformed to concern other divisions; the primary effect is a disorganization of the classes. The article examines whether such corporatist disorganization was produced by Danish state interventions in the 1960s and 1970s within health and social policy, policies for the redistribution of incomes and the labour market policy. The corporative effects of the interventions are discussed on the basis of the Danish class structure with weight on its interest and strength position.

2011 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 795-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOCHEN CLASEN ◽  
ALEXANDER GOERNE

AbstractBetween 2003 and 2005, German labour market policy was subjected to the most far-reaching reform since the 1960s. Some commentators have interpreted the changes introduced as signalling a departure from the traditional ‘Bismarckian’ paradigm in German social policy. For others, the new legislation has contributed and consolidated an ever-more pervasive trend of dualisation within the German welfare state. In this article, we contest both interpretations. First, we demonstrate that traditional social insurance principles remain a dominant element within unemployment protection. Second, we show that German labour market policy is less rather than more segmented today than it was a decade ago.


2010 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen J. Roth

AbstractThe interdependence between labour market policy and social policy can be interpreted in different ways. The dualistic approach sees social policy as a counterpart to labour market policy, especially if the latter is exclusively interpreted as the means for achieving an efficient design of factor markets. By contrast, constitutional economics introduces the concept of a “social policy for the market” by emphasizing the mutual gains that can be reaped if the interdependence between social and labour market policies is properly taken into account. Achieving an efficient design of markets thus requires a corresponding social policy framework. This article reminds of a third perspective: The efficient design of markets is never an end in itself. Overcoming social hardship, however, is a respectable goal. The author first develops a concept of social policy that draws on market-based processes to achieve its goals before applying this concept to the problem of structural long-term unemployment.


1999 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anton Hemerijck ◽  
Jelle Visser

While the progressive European politicians are on the lookout for a new model of ‘third way’ capitalism with a human face, after the (temporary?) defeat of the Swedish, Dutch welfare state reform occupies a prominent place in many commentaries.Although it attracted only international attention in the mid- 1990s, the ‘Dutch miracle’ has its basis in policy changes in the early 1980s. For a full explanation of the Dutch experience we must go back at least fifteen years, and study the combination of problem loads, power shifts, institutions, politics and ideas, in three ‘tightly coupled’ policy domains of the Dutch welfare state: industrial relations, social security, and labour market policy. The return to wage moderation took place in the early followed by a series of reforms in the systems of social security in the late 1980s and early 1990s. From the mid-1990s, finally, the adoption of an active labour market policy stance, in order to enhance overall efficiency and create a new domestic balance between wages and social benefits, gained political currency. In this article we present a stylised narrative of these policy changes—what happened, how it happened and what it meant. We demonstrate that these three policy shifts, although embedded in different corporate actors, were interrelated; they created the conditions and the demand for one another, and neither of these policies could have been successful on its own.


2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOCHEN CLASEN ◽  
DANIEL CLEGG ◽  
ALEXANDER GOERNE

AbstractIn the past decade, active labour market policy (ALMP) has become a major topic in comparative social policy analysis, with scholars exploiting cross-national variation to seek to identify the determinants of policy development in this central area of the ‘new welfare state’. In this paper, we argue that better integration of this policy field into social policy scholarship requires rather more critical engagement with considerable methodological, conceptual and theoretical challenges in order to analyse these policies comparatively. Most fundamentally, rather more reflection is needed on what the substantially relevant dimensions of variation in ALMP from a social policy perspective actually are, as well as enhanced efforts to ensure that it is those that are being analysed and compared.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-564
Author(s):  
Marcela Kantová ◽  
Markéta Arltová

Sweden has adopted an Active Labour Market Policy as a means of transitioning out of the economic crisis created by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The approach is to a significant extent reminiscent of that adopted following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC). The article examines the effectiveness of active labour market policy in Sweden over the period 2007–2012. By analysing these earlier policy outcomes, the aim is to assess the success of active labour market policy more broadly. The hypothesis that greater labour market flexibility allows the labour market policy to be more efficient is evaluated. With a focus on the labour supply, possible reasons for the reduced efficiency of state interventions are outlined using regression models. Conclusions derived from the models point to the failure of earlier Swedish active labour market policy towards the vulnerable groups of the unemployed, unemployed women and men aged 15–19 years and the long-term unemployed. JEL Codes: J08, J21, J64


1994 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-266
Author(s):  
Theodor Strohm

Abstract Besides the economical criteria of convergence, which have been precisely laid down in the EC-treaties, especially in the treaties of Maastricht, the integration of labour markets is an explicit aim of the European Union. Considering that approx. 19 million employees within the EC are not gainfully employed, a common and well-aimed labour market policy seems to be one of the major responsibilities of European economical and social policy. The instruments of job creation and preservation in Germany are being compared with the aims of the EC-comission, also experiences of other countries are being involved. The Christian Churches in Europe are committed to get involved in tackling unemployment and its human-destructing effects. The Social Chamber of the EKD has made continuous proposals. At present, it is working on continuing its previous memorandums on unemployment. With this, also the memorandum ))Responsibility for a Social Europe« (1992) is being continued and put into concrete terms.


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