Explaining Welfare State Developments: Towards a Comparative Research Agenda

The aim of this paper is to provide a first sketch of an analytical framework which could be used for the comparative analysis of wel-fare state developments, under the form of emergence, consolidation, expansion and reform. We shall do so inspired by Flora and Hei-denheimer’s (1981) seminal work on the development of the welfare state, and more specifically we shall depart from the ‘sequencing’ which is provided at the end of the book in the contribution by Hugh Heclo (“Towards a New Welfare State?”) which differentiates the ‘stages of welfarism’ in four phases: experimentation, consolidation, expansion, reformulation based on the analysis of political and eco-nomic events (Heclo, 1981: 386-387). Furthermore, we will also use Flora’s ‘macro-constellation’ of factors in proposing an analytical framework which will be used also for comparative purposes. The article is organised as follows: section 2 traces the main similarities and differences with respect to welfare state developments in Western Eu-rope and Latin America; section 3 critically discusses the most relevant theories of welfare state developments used for the analysis of welfare state developments in the two continents; section 4 discusses the results of our review and presents the analytical framework which should allow us to better understand – from a theoretical perspective – the evolution of welfare states in the two continents under scrutiny, and beyond

Back to the Future in EU Social Policy? Endogenous Critical Junctures and the Case of the European Pillar of Social Rights

AbstractThe launch of the European Pillar of Social Rights occurred at a phase of endogenous critical juncture for Social Europe. By analyzing the Pillar's formulation and adoption process, we investigate to what extent the European Commission used the involvement of civil society and policy responsiveness to foster change in the modes of governance and legitimize stronger intervention in the social sphere, by re‐launching the methods of coordination introduced in the 1990s. Methodologically, we rely on a content analysis of EU policy documents before and after the public consultations, a content analysis of over 60 position papers and on interviews with policy actors. We find that despite increased openness and responsiveness, the Pillar initiative did not allow to alter the predominance of 'soft law' routes and patterns of intergovernmentalism characterizing the governance of EU social policy, a result that further qualifies the conditions that lead (endogenous) critical junctures to generate change

The democratic anchorage of governance networks in smart cities: an empirical assessment

The paper addresses the problem of democratic legitimacy of smart cities as a system of governance networks. Using data collected during a 2-year research project, such as the qualitative analysis of reports and documents and semi-structured interviews with key informants, the paper elaborates an Index of Democratic Smart Governance and applies it to four European smart cities: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Turin, and Vienna. Results show that smart cities are anchored in principles of democratic representation, but the link between political institutions and the general public is not entirely developed due to the lack of mechanisms truly fostering citizens\u2019 participation and voicing

The social impact of EU cohesion policy

The chapter provides an overview of the social impact of cohesion policy over the period 1999-2019 and the challenges and opportunities ahead

Usages et européanisation:De l’influence multiforme de l’Union européenne sur les réformes des systèmes nationaux de protection sociale

La littérature récente sur les transformations des systèmes de protection sociale a montré que l’Union européenne est une variable importante à prendre en compte afin de comprendre les réformes nationales dans ce domaine. Notre objectif ici est d’analyser et de préciser les mécanismes politiques par lesquels l’UE joue un rôle dans les changements de politique sociale de ses États membres. Nous affirmons dans cet article qu’afin de comprendre comment l’UE influence les réformes nationales, il faut se pencher sur la façon dont les acteurs nationaux font usage des ressources et des contraintes européennes et sur la façon dont ils transforment ces dernières en opportunités politiques. De ces processus, il ressort que l’Europe contribue à changer les systèmes nationaux d’État-providence dans un sens qui rend ces systèmes plus « favorables à l’emploi ». Ce changement n’est cependant pas le résultat d’une imposition ou d’une contrainte directe sur les gouvernements nationaux, mais plutôt de la mise à disposition de différentes ressources que des acteurs nationaux peuvent (ou non) mobiliser afin de poursuivre leurs intérêts et objectifs. En utilisant ces ressources, y compris de façon négative, ces acteurs participent à l’incorporation au sein des débats et des processus politiques nationaux d’idées et d’orientations définies au niveau européen, contribuant ainsi à l’européanisation des réformes nationales de protection sociale.Recent literature on the transformation of national welfare systems shows that the European Union is an important variable to take into account in order to understand domestic reforms. Our aim is to analyze in detail the political mechanisms thanks to which the EU plays a part in social policy changes of its Member States. We argue that in order to understand how the EU influences social policy reforms at the domestic level, it is necessary to look at the use made of European resources and constraints by national actors and to focus on how they turn these into political opportunities. We show that Europe contributes to change in national welfare systems, making them more employment-friendly. However, this change does not result from direct pressure on national governments but rather from the availability of various resources national actors can use in order to pursue their interest and attain their aims. By using (or not using), they participate in the incorporation of ideas and norms defined at EU level in the national debate and policy process, thus contributing to the Europeanization of domestic welfare reforms