201 research outputs found
Contentious Institutions: An Augmented Rational-Actor Analysis of the Origins and Path Dependency of Welfare State Institutions in the Western Countries
Welfare states in the Western countries have had very similar goals, yet the choice of institutions to approach these shared goals has generated protracted power struggles among major interest groups and great cross-country variation in institutional structures. Relating recent debates on new institutionalism to earlier debates on power, this paper outlines an augmented rational-actor approach to the explanation of the origins of welfare state institutions and of variations in their degree of path dependence. With a differentiated concept of power costs and the degree of power asymmetry among actors as a central variable, this augmented model partly combines some salient characteristics of the rational-choice, historical, and sociological versions of new institutionalism. The augmented rational-actor approach proves fruitful in understanding conflicts characterizing the emergence and change of major social insurance institutions in 18 rich Western countries since the late nineteenth century and up to the present. It complements rational-choice institutionalism focused on voluntary cooperation, contracts and conventions.rationality; new institutionalism; welfare states; power; institutional change
Welfare State Regress in Western Europe: Politics, Institutions, Globalization and Europeanization
In interdisciplinary research on welfare state regress in Western Europe, interest has focused on the causes and extent of retrenchment. Causal debates have concerned the role of globalization, post-industrialism, European integration, and partisan politics. The "new politics" perspective views pressures towards retrenchment as basically generated by post-industrial changes causing government budget deficits and permanent austerity, developments pressing all governments to attempt to cut welfare state programs. These attempts are resisted by powerful interest groups consisting of welfare state benefit recipients, and therefore retrenchment is likely to be a limited phenomenon. Such recipient-based interest groups generated by welfare states are seen as largely replacing left parties and unions once driving welfare state expansion, thus marginalizing the role of class-related politics in the retrenchment process. Conclusions pointing to only limited retrenchment and a minor role for partisan politics have been criticized because of the non-theoretical definition of the welfare state and because of the concentration on social expenditures. The power resources approach, focusing on the role of distributive conflicts between major interest groups for welfare states development, widens the theoretical definition of the welfare state to include full employment as well as social transfers and expenditures. In Western Europe full employment was one of the cornerstones of the postwar "Keynesian welfare state," entailing a social contract which markedly differed from the one in the United States. The return of mass unemployment in Europe since the mid-1970s constitutes a major welfare state regress, and at the same time generates government budget deficits and austerity. Analyses based on citizenship rights in social insurance programs indicate major retrenchment in some West European countries, with political parties and welfare state institutions in significant roles. In this perspective the return of mass unemployment and cuts in social rights appear as a reworking of the European post-war social contract. The widening of the scope of welfare state indicates that trans-nationalization may have differing effect on its different aspects.welfare state retrenchment; globalization; European Union; partisan politics; unemployment.
Women's Opportunities under Different Constellations of Family Policies in Western Countries: Inequality Tradeoffs Re-examined
Womenâs rising labor force participation since the 1960âs was long seen as heralding decreasing gender inequalities. According to influential social science writings this view has now to be revised; âwomen friendlyâ policies bringing women into the workforce are held to create major inequality tradeoffs between quantity and quality in womenâs jobs. Unintendedly, such policies increase employer statistical discrimination and create glass ceilings impeding womenâs access to influential positions and high wages. This paper re-examines theoretical and empirical bases in analysis of family policy effects on gender inequalities. Including capabilities as well as earnings in definitions of gender inequality, we improve possibilities for causal analyses by mapping institutional constellations of separate dimensions of family policies in Western countries. Reflecting conflicting political forces as well as religion, contrary to accepted assumptions of uni-dimensionality, family policies are multi-dimensional, with main distinctions favoring traditional families, motherâs employment, or market reliance. Using multilevel analyses and broad sets of outcome variables, we show that methodological mistakes largely invalidate earlier causal interpretations of major tradeoffs between quantity and quality in womenâs labor force participation. Positive policy effects facilitate work-family reconciliation and combine womenâs increased labor force participation with relatively high fertility. While major negative policy effects for women with tertiary education are difficult to find, family policies clearly differ in the extent to which they improve opportunities for women without university degrees.-
WELFARE STATE DEVELOPMENT IN EUROPE SINCE 1930: IRELAND IN A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE. TWENTY THIRD GEARY LECTURE, 1992
The development of the modern welfare state is one of
the major social and political changes in the Western countries
during the past century. Together with a group of colleagues at
the Swedish [nstitt|te for Social Research, Stockbolm University, l
have for some time been involved in a comparative study of tbis
change in 18 OECD countries. The purpose of this comparative
researcb programme is to describe welfare state development in
the Western countries, to attempt to explain tbis development,
and also to look at some of the consequences of welfare state
development.I To use the vocabulary of T. H. Marshall (1950)
one coutd say that we are studying the development of social
rights and the emergence of social citizensbip in the Western
countries
Optical BVI Imaging and HI Synthesis Observations of the Dwarf Irregular Galaxy ESO 364-G 029
As part of an effort to enlarge the number of well-studied Magellanic-type
galaxies, we obtained broadband optical imaging and neutral hydrogen radio
synthesis observations of the dwarf irregular galaxy ESO 364-G 029. The optical
morphology characteristically shows a bar-like main body with a one-sided
spiral arm, an approximately exponential light distribution, and offset
photometric and kinematic centers. The HI distribution is mildly asymmetric
and, although slightly offset from the photometric center, roughly follows the
optical brightness distribution, extending to over 1.2 Holmberg radii (where
mu_B = 26.5 mag/arcsec^2). In particular, the highest HI column densities
closely follow the bar, one-arm spiral, and a third optical extension. The
rotation is solid-body in the inner parts but flattens outside of the optical
extent. The total HI flux F_HI = 23.1 pm 1.2 Jy km/s, yielding a total HI mass
M_HI= (6.4 pm 1.7) x 10^8 Msun (for a distance D = 10.8 pm 1.4 Mpc) and a total
HI mass-to-blue-luminosity ratio M_HI/L_B = (0.96 pm 0.14) Msun / Lsun,B
(distance independent). The HI data suggest a very complex small-scale HI
structure, with evidence of large shells and/or holes, but deeper observations
are required for a detailed study. Follow-up observations are also desirable
for a proper comparison with the Large Magellanic Cloud, where despite an
optical morphology very similar to ESO 364-G 029 the HI bears little
resemblance to the optical.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, accepted by A&
Control of star formation by supersonic turbulence
Understanding the formation of stars in galaxies is central to much of modern
astrophysics. For several decades it has been thought that stellar birth is
primarily controlled by the interplay between gravity and magnetostatic
support, modulated by ambipolar diffusion. Recently, however, both
observational and numerical work has begun to suggest that support by
supersonic turbulence rather than magnetic fields controls star formation. In
this review we outline a new theory of star formation relying on the control by
turbulence. We demonstrate that although supersonic turbulence can provide
global support, it nevertheless produces density enhancements that allow local
collapse. Inefficient, isolated star formation is a hallmark of turbulent
support, while efficient, clustered star formation occurs in its absence. The
consequences of this theory are then explored for both local star formation and
galactic scale star formation. (ABSTRACT ABBREVIATED)Comment: Invited review for "Reviews of Modern Physics", 87 pages including 28
figures, in pres
The Politics of Public Debt: Neoliberalism, Capitalist Development, and the Restructuring of the State
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