Allochthons, Colonizers, and Scroungers: Exclusionary Populism in Belgium

2006 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bambi Ceuppens
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Democratic Tradition ◽  
Western European ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
European Welfare States ◽  
The Welfare State

Abstract:This article analyzes the growth of autochthony in Belgium as an example of the increasing popularity of autochthony discourses in Western Europe. Autochthony discourses, which try to reserve the benefits of the welfare state to those who are said to really belong, tend to thrive in prosperous Western European welfare states with a strong Social-Democratic tradition that refuse to accept that they have become immigrant countries. In federalized Belgium, however, autochthony has a much stronger appeal in Flanders, which historically was dominated by Christian-Democratic parties, than in Wallonia, which remains a Social-Democratic bulwark. Analyzing Western European autochthony in terms of welfare chauvinism helps explain the ways in which prosperous Flemings, unlike impoverished Walloons, can afford to buy into the neoliberal rhetoric of choice and thus create themselves as autochthons.

The decline of Western European social democracy: Exploring the transformed link between welfare state generosity and the electoral strength of social democratic parties, 1975–2014

2019 ◽  
pp. 135406881986133
Author(s):  
Karl Loxbo ◽  
Jonas Hinnfors ◽  
Magnus Hagevi ◽  
Sofie Blombäck ◽  
Marie Demker
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Success Factor ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Western European ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Party Family ◽  
Social Democratic Parties

Social democratic parties are crumbling at the polls. Surprisingly, however, the causes of this demise remain largely unexplored. This article contributes to filling this gap in the research by studying the long-term impact of welfare state generosity on the vote share of social democratic parties in 16 Western European democracies. If the welfare state indeed was a key factor behind social democratic growth in the past, we ask whether the recent plight of these parties is down to a reversal of their previously dominant success factor? The article makes three principal findings. First, we show that social democratic parties primarily benefited electorally from expansive reforms at lower levels of welfare state generosity. Second, we find that this dynamic of diminishing returns also helps explain the demise of the Social Democratic party family in the whole of Western Europe. Lastly, our results reveal that programmatic turns to the right predict electoral losses in the least generous welfare states, whereas such shifts either pass unnoticed or predict vote gains in the most generous ones. We conclude by arguing that the structure of welfare state institutions is one important explanation for variations in the demise of the once powerful Social Democratic party family.

The Politics of Mothers' Employment: France in Comparative Perspective

2003 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly J. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Day Care ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Democratic Parties

Contemporary theories and typologies of welfare states in Western Europe assume that social democratic parties are the engine behind progressive policies on gender roles and on the participation of women in the labor force. The French case challenges these assumptions—this conservative welfare state, surprisingly, provides an extensive system of public day care along with other forms of support that facilitate mothers' employment. This article explains the existence of the French system through a comparative historical analysis of child care policy in France and other European welfare states. The mainfindingsconcern the role of organized religion in shaping contemporary public day care policies. In contrast to most conservative welfare regimes, the French welfare state has been shaped not by clericalism and Christian democracy but by secularism and republican nationalism—forces that influenced some of the earliest public policies for the education of young children in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and that later affected the founding of the contemporary day care system in the 1970s. In that latter period of propitious economic circumstances, pragmatic policy elites eschewed moralizing critiques of mothers' employment and established a system of financing that has enabled the long-term expansion of public day care. These findings have implications for our understanding of gender politics and welfare regimes in Western Europe. The secularization of political life—not social democratic power—best explains why public policies in France and in many Scandinavian countries have promoted the demise of the traditional family model.

The Historical and Political Foundations of the Welfare State: A Lost Opportunity for the Left?

1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas E. Ashford
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Critical Junctures ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
National Welfare ◽  
Political Foundations ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Policies And Programs ◽  
The Welfare State

The recent flood of books on the failures of the European social democratic parties in the 1980s suggests that since the turn of the century the democratic left failed to see political opportunities provided by the growth of the welfare state. Two factors make the apparent political oversight of particular interest. First, the historical sequence of enlarging benefits and programs was remarkably similar across countries. Second, early in their development the social democratic left developed fairly detailed policy initiatives for the economy but had much less detailed proposals for social policies and programs. Broadly speaking, the left usually perceived social programs and policies as marginally important instruments for macrosocial change in income redistribution and transfer of wealth but of little political importance. These tendencies are most apparent in the postwar construction of national welfare states but are visible at various critical junctures in political decisionmaking since 1900.

What's Globalization Got to Do with It? Economic Interdependence and the Future of European Welfare States

2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Hay
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Models ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Usa ◽  
State Regime ◽  
European Welfare States ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractThe appeal to globalization as a non-negotiable external economic constraint plays an increasingly significant role in the linked politics of expectation suppression and welfare reform in contemporary Europe. Yet, although it threatens to become something of a self- fulfilling prophecy, the thesis that globalization entails welfare retrenchment and convergence is empirically suspect. In this paper it is argued that there is little evidence of convergence amongst European social models and that, although common trajectories can be identified, these have tended to be implemented more or less enthusiastically and at different paces to produce, to date, divergent outcomes. Second, I suggest that it is difficult to see globalization as the principal agent determining the path on which European social models are embarked since the empirical evidence points if anything to de-globalization rather than globalization. The implications of this for the future of the welfare state in Europe and for the USA as a model welfare state regime are explored.

5. Varieties

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Garland
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Welfare Regime ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Developed Country ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Government Involvement ◽  
Welfare State Regimes ◽  
The Welfare State

Every developed country has a distinctive welfare state of its own. Welfare states generally rely on the same basic institutions, but these institutions can operate in different ways. Welfare state programmes are government programmes, but while public authority is necessary to establish, fund, and regulate these programmes, the nature of government involvement varies. Three worlds of welfare have been identified: social democratic; conservative; and liberal. ‘Varieties’ describes the welfare state regimes that developed in Sweden, Germany, and the USA, each of which exemplifies one of these ‘worlds’ of welfare. It goes on to consider briefly the welfare regimes beyond the ‘three worlds’ and how Britain’s welfare regime has changed over time.

The Critics of Welfare

2021 ◽  
pp. 52-70
Author(s):  
Gerda Hooijer ◽  
Desmond King
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Political Right ◽  
The Welfare State

This chapter explores how the welfare state’s critics, from the political right and the left, have contributed to institutional change through their ideas and advocacy. It discusses the neoliberal, conservative, social democratic, and right-wing populist critiques on the welfare state. These ideas are important to understand changes to the welfare state because they create the momentum for institutional disturbance. The chapter’s focus on the critics emphasizes the endogenous undercurrents disrupting welfare states, as well as the path-shaping capacity of new ideas. It shows that political reforms of the welfare state are not only driven by functional needs, vested interests, institutional habits, and public opinion, but also by ideas and their political advocates.

scholarly journals THE WELFARE STATE: GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS, OBSTACLES AND CHALLENGES IN LATIN AMERICA.

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 141-172
Author(s):  
Mauricio Godinho Delgado ◽  
◽  
Lorena Vasconcelos Porto
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
The Many ◽  
Second World ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
The Welfare State

This paper provides an analysis of the organizational model of the political and the civil societies which became prevalent in Western Europe after the Second World War: the Welfare State. It also provides a discussion on the reasons why this model of organization has never been effectively implemented in any Latin American country. To this end, firstly, the text highlights the many and most important characteristics of the Welfare State, with attention to the peculiarities it assumes in specific European countries. Secondly, based on these comparative elements, a typological synthesis of the Welfare States is drawn, considering the range from the most sophisticated examples to those which only meet the minimum relevant criteria of this model of State and social organization. Finally, the reality of Latin American countries is analyzed and it is indicated to what extent they have (or have not) structured something that could be effectively considered a Welfare State. In this framework, it is concluded that, although there are a few Latin American countries showing progress in terms of achieving these characteristics in comparison with the great majority of countries in the region, the obstacles and challenges for the full structuring of a real Welfare State in this region of the globe are still persistent.

scholarly journals The main factors of the recent development of European welfare states: Swedish case

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksei Chekmazov ◽  
Vladyslav Butenko
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Main Role ◽  
Swedish Model ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
The Impact ◽  
European Welfare States ◽  
The Welfare State

This analytical essay is devoted to identifying the features of the formation and development of the Swedish model of the welfare state. The authors study the factors that played the main role in the development of the Swedish model. The authors also assess the impact of the 2008 economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic on the Swedish welfare state.

scholarly journals The Illusion of Class in Welfare State Politics?

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTHONY KEVINS ◽  
ALEXANDER HORN ◽  
CARSTEN JENSEN ◽  
KEES VAN KERSBERGEN
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Original Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Class Identity ◽  
Electoral Outcomes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractSocial class, with its potentially pivotal influence on both policy-making and electoral outcomes tied to the welfare state, is a frequent fixture in academic and political discussions about social policy. Yet these discussions presuppose that class identity is in fact tied up with distinct attitudes toward the welfare state. Using original data from ten surveys fielded in the United States and Western Europe, we investigate the relationship between class and general stances toward the welfare state as a whole, with the goal of determining whether class affects how individuals understand and relate to the welfare state. Our findings suggest that, although class markers are tied to objective and subjective positional considerations about one's place in the society, they nevertheless do not seem to shape stances toward the welfare state. What is more, this is equally true across the various welfare state types, as we find no evidence that so-called ‘middle-class welfare states’ engender more positive middle-class attitudes than other regimes. Based on our analysis, we propose that researchers would do better to focus on household income rather than class; while income may not be a perfect predictor of attitudes toward the welfare state, it is a markedly better one than class.

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