Presents recent research on the recasting of European welfare states resulting from the European Forum on Welfare States held at the European University Institute in Florence during 1998-99. Offers comparative analysis of topical issues, and in-depth studies of changes in the major European countries. Analyzes the impact of retrenchment and reform, and adds to ongoing debates about policy convergence, trade-offs of innovation, cost savings, and equity. Ferrera teaches public policy and administration at the University of Pavia and directs the Center for Comparative Political Research at Bocconi University, Italy. Rhodes teaches European public policy at the European University Institute, Italy. Distributed by ISBS. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

Presents recent research on the recasting of European welfare states resulting from the European Forum on Welfare States held at the European University Institute in Florence during 1998-99. Offers comparative analysis of topical issues, and in-depth studies of changes in the major European countries. Analyzes the impact of retrenchment and reform, and adds to ongoing debates about policy convergence, trade-offs of innovation, cost savings, and equity. Ferrera teaches public policy and administration at the University of Pavia and directs the Center for Comparative Political Research at Bocconi University, Italy. Rhodes teaches European public policy at the European University Institute, Italy. Distributed by ISBS. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

A comparative analysis of the political attitudes, values, aspirations, and identities of citizens in advanced industrial societies, this book focusses on the different ways in which social policies and national politics affect personal opinions on justice, political responsibility, and the overall trustworthiness of politicians.

In Recasting Welfare Capitalism, Mark Vail employs a sophisticated and original theoretical approach to compare welfare states and political-economic adjustment in Germany and France. He examines how and why institutional change takes place and what factors characterize economic evolution when moving from times of prosperity to more austere periods and back again. Covering the 1970s to the present, Vail analyzes social and economic reforms, including labor policy, social-insurance, and anti-poverty programs. He focuses on the tactics and actions of key political players, and demolishes the stagnation argument that suggests that France and Germany have largely frozen political economies, incapable of reform. Vail finds that these respective evolutions involve interrelated changes in social and economic policies and are characterized by political relationships that are continuously renegotiated—often in unpredictable ways. In the process, he presents a compelling reconceptualization of change in both the welfare state and the broader political economy during an age of globalization.

Includes 20 selections, reflecting the thinking and research in welfare state studies, these readings are organized around a series of debates - on welfare regimes, globalization, Europeanization, demographic change and political challenges.

This book arises out of a specially commissioned issue of West European Politics marking the journal's 30th anniversary. It examines the profound changes in the European political landscape over the last three decades, including the fall of Communism; progressive European integration; territorial restructuring; public sector reforms at European, national, regional and local levels; changes in democratic participation, protest, elections, political communication, political parties and party competition; and challenges to the welfare state. The book also discusses how political science has responded to these changes in terms of its substantive focus, concepts, methods and theories. Many of the 17 contributions included identify important challenges for the future, including those stemming from EU integration, the reduced electoral accountability of politicians, the problematic legitimation of party government and the sharpening of the edges of the state. Contributors include K. A. Anderson, F. C. Castles, C. Crouch, M. Egeberg. M. Ferrera, H. Goetz, L. Hooghe, E. M. Immergut, R. F. Inglehart, M. Keating, H.-D. Klingemann H. Kriesi, M. Lodge, J. Lovenduski, P. Mair, G. Marks, Y. Mény, L. Morlino, H. Obinger, V. A. Schmidt, P. C. Schmitter, and G. Smith. This book was published as a special issue of West European Politics.

In recent years there has been much debate surrounding the future of the welfare state in Europe, the complex factors influencing reform, and the extent to which responses to pressures on welfare could lead to irreversible systemic changes in social policy. By providing an in-depth analysis of social policy developments in Greece, this work furthers understanding of welfare reform trajectories in Europe. The authors thoroughly examine aspects of structural change, challenges and responses in major policy areas of employment, social security, family and gender, health and social care, and migration. Research issues central to the debate on 'recasting European welfare states', such as structural adjustments with regard to the production, organization and delivery of welfare, significant changes in the financial side of social protection, the role of political parties, the social partners and other major social actors in influencing (or resisting) policy reform, are at the forefront of the contributions to this volume. The scope and intensity of pressures on the Greek welfare state emanating from the supranational level and the challenges linked to European integration and economic and monetary union are also of crucial importance in the analyses undertaken.