WP 75 - Welfare reform in the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland Change within the limits of path dependence

Abstract

In this article, we ask whether the principles of welfare redistribution have been altered in the era of ‘permanent austerity’; when pressures to dismantle (or at least cut down the costs) of social welfare institutions due to unfavourable economic and demographic developments have been strong. The primary finding from a systematic analysis of disability benefit reform in the UK, the Netherlands and Finland between 1980 and 2006 is that, regardless of the ‘irresistible forces’ (Pierson 1998) urging for reforms, the core principles of European social security provision have been preserved. Our findings speak for path dependence of institutions, but also call into question the deterministic views on path dependence. It is argued in the article that path dependence does not predict that policy-makers are unable to alter the systems, rather we claim that it delimits the number of options available for the policy makers. Key words: comparative research, institutions, path dependence, policy change, welfare state