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Author Häusermann, Silja

Title The politics of welfare state reform in continental Europe : modernization in hard times / Silja Häusermann
Published Cambridge [England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2010
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Description 1 online resource (xvii, 276 pages) : illustrations
Series Cambridge studies in comparative politics
Cambridge studies in comparative politics.
Contents "Eppur si muove" : welfare state change despite institutional inertia -- Modernization in hard times : the post-industrial politics of continental welfare state reform -- A new reform agenda : old age security in the post-industrial era -- Changing alliances : conflict lines and actor configurations -- Reform outputs : strategies of coalitional engineering -- France : trade union fragmentation as an opportunity for reform -- Germany : institutional obstacles to multidimensional reform politics -- Switzerland : recalibration as an enabling mechanism of pension compromises -- Conclusion : reform outputs and political implications
Summary "This book challenges existing theories of welfare state change by analyzing pension reforms in France, Germany, and Switzerland between 1970 and 2004. It explains why all three countries were able to adopt far-reaching reforms, adapting their pension regimes to both financial austerity and new social risks. In a radical departure from the neo-institutionalist emphasis on policy stability, the book argues that socio-structural change has led to a multidimensional pension reform agenda. A variety of cross-cutting lines of political conflict, emerging from the transition to a post-industrial economy, allowed governments to engage in strategies of political exchange and coalition-building, fostering broad cross-class coalitions in support of major reform packages. Methodologically, the book proposes a novel strategy to analyze lines of conflict, configurations of political actors, and coalitional dynamics over time. This strategy combines quantitative analyses of actor configurations based on coded policy positions with in-depth case studies"--Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Pensions -- Government policy -- France
Pensions -- Government policy -- Germany
Pensions -- Government policy -- Switzerland
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Personal Finance -- Retirement Planning.
Etat providence.
Politique sociale.
Plans de retraite.
Sécurité sociale.
Réformes sociales.
Analyse comparative.
Pensions -- Government policy
Altersversorgung
Reform
Rentenpolitik
Rentenreform
France.
Allemagne RF.
Suisse.
France
Germany
Switzerland
Europa
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780511749841
0511749848
9780511750588
0511750587