66710 - Political Economy of Welfare Systems

Learning outcomes

The course has three objectives: a broader theoretical knowledge of the political and economic processes that explain the origins of welfare states; analysis of similarities and differences in the consolidation of contemporary welfare states; understanding of the main political and economic theories applied to the crisis and restructuring of the welfare state. At the end of the course students will be able to interpret the origins, the consolidation and the restructuring of welfare states; students will possess analytical and critical skills to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of welfare state political economy models.

Course contents

Political economy of welfare states

Textbooks

C. Pierson, F. Castles and I.K.Naumann eds., The welfare state reader, Polity Press, 2014 (and some chapters in 1st edition 2000)

Castles, F., Leibfried, S., Lewis, J., Obinger,H., Pierson,C. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State, Oxford University Press, 2010 (e-book).

1.27-28 September

Historical foundations of the welfare state

Briggs, A. Welfare State in Historical Perspective, in Reader, 2014.

Caroli, D. (2003) Bolshevism, Stalinism, and Social Welfare (1917-1936), International Review of Social History, vol. 48, n.1, pp. 27-54.

2. 4-5 October

Comparing welfare states: METHODS

Sartori, G. (1994) Compare Why and How. Comparing, miscomparing and the comparative method, in Dogan,M. K e Kazancigil, A. (eds.) Comparing nations: concepts, strategies and substance, Oxford, Basil Blackwell.

Atkinson, A. The economic consequences of rolling back the welfare state, MIT Press, 2000, chps.1,2.

3.  11-12  October

Comparing welfare states models I

Esping-Andersen, G. Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, in Reader, 2014.

4.18-19 October

 The Nordic countries, Kautto, M. in OHWS, chp 40

Continental Western Europe, Palier, B. in OHWS, chp 41

The South European Countries, Ferrera, M. in OHWS, chp. 42.

Mulé, R. (2016) The South European Welfare State in the New Millennium. Challenges, constraints and prospects for Europeanization, in World Economy and International Relations, 7, pp. 25-36.

The English Speaking Countries, Castles, F. in OHWS, chp. 43.

5. 25-26 October Comparing welfare states models II

Eastern Europe and Russia, Cook, L. in OHWS, chp. 46.

East Asia, I.Peng and J. Wong, in OHWS, chp.45.

6. 2 November

Gender and the welfare state

Orloff, A.S. Gender, in OHWS, chp. 17.

Teplova, T. (2007) Welfare state transformation, childcare and work in Russia, Social Politics, v. 14, n. 3.

Avdeyeva, O. (2011) Policy experiment in Russia: Cash-for-Babies and Fertility Change, Social Politics, v. 18, n. 3.

7. 8-9 November REVISION AND MID-TERM EXAM

8. 15-16 November

Welfare state in Europe

Jon Kvist and Juho Saari, The Europeanization of Social Protection: Domestic Impacts and National Responses, in Reader 2014.

Scharpf, F. Negative Integration: States and the Loss of Boundary Control, in Reader 2000.

 9-10. 22-23 November and  29-30 November

Political, social and economic challenges to the welfare state

Castles, S. and Schierup, C-U., Migration, minorities and the welfare state, in Reader, 2014.

Bonoli, G. (2007) Time Matters: Postindustrialisation, New Social Risks, and Welfare State Adaptation in Advanced Industrial Democracies’, Comparative Political Studies, V. 40, n.5, pp. 495-520.

Swank, D. Globalization, the welfare state and inequality, in Reader, 2014.

Armingeon, K. Breaking with the Past? Why the Global Financial crisis led to Austerity Policies but not to Modernization of the Welfare State. In Reader, 2014.

Vis, B., van Kersbergen, K. and Hylands, T. (2011) To What Extend Did the Financial Crisis Intensify the Pressure to Reform the Welfare State?, Social Policy & Administration, v.45, n.4,pp. 338-353.

Readings/Bibliography

Each week students should read at least one of the following readings:

Political economy of welfare states

Textbooks

C. Pierson, F. Castles and I.K.Naumann eds., The welfare state reader, Polity Press, 2014 (and some chapters in 1st edition 2000)

Castles, F., Leibfried, S., Lewis, J., Obinger,H., Pierson,C. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State, Oxford University Press, 2010 (e-book).

1.27-28 September

Historical foundations of the welfare state

Briggs, A. Welfare State in Historical Perspective, in Reader, 2014.

Caroli, D. (2003) Bolshevism, Stalinism, and Social Welfare (1917-1936), International Review of Social History, vol. 48, n.1, pp. 27-54.

Inglot, T. (2008) Welfare States in East Central Europe, 1919-2004, New York: Cambridge University Press. Chp 2. Institutional Legacies: State Building, Regime Change, and the Development of National Welfare States in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary, 1919-1989, pp. 54-62 & 109-118.

2. 4-5 October

Comparing welfare states: METHODS

Sartori, G. (1994) Compare Why and How. Comparing, miscomparing and the comparative method, in Dogan,M. K e Kazancigil, A. (eds.) Comparing nations: concepts, strategies and substance, Oxford, Basil Blackwell.

Atkinson, A. The economic consequences of rolling back the welfare state, MIT Press, 2000, chps.1,2.

3. 11-12 October

Comparing welfare states models I

Esping-Andersen, G. Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, in Reader, 2014.

4.18-19 October

The Nordic countries, Kautto, M. in OHWS, chp 40

Continental Western Europe, Palier, B. in OHWS, chp 41

The South European Countries, Ferrera, M. in OHWS, chp. 42.

Mulé, R. (2016) The South European Welfare State in the New Millennium. Challenges, constraints and prospects for Europeanization, in World Economy and International Relations, 7, pp. 25-36.

The English Speaking Countries, Castles, F. in OHWS, chp. 43.

5. 25-26 October Comparing welfare states models II

Eastern Europe and Russia, Cook, L. in OHWS, chp. 46.

East Asia, I.Peng and J. Wong, in OHWS, chp.45.

6. 2 November

Gender and the welfare state

Orloff, A.S. Gender, in OHWS, chp. 17.

Teplova, T. (2007) Welfare state transformation, childcare and work in Russia, Social Politics, v. 14, n. 3.

Avdeyeva, O. (2011) Policy experiment in Russia: Cash-for-Babies and Fertility Change, Social Politics, v. 18, n. 3.

7. 8-9 November REVISION AND MID-TERM EXAM

8. 15-16 November

Welfare state in Europe

Jon Kvist and Juho Saari, The Europeanization of Social Protection: Domestic Impacts and National Responses, in Reader 2014.

Scharpf, F. Negative Integration: States and the Loss of Boundary Control, in Reader 2000.

9-10. 22-23 November and 29-30 November

Political, social and economic challenges to the welfare state

Castles, S. and Schierup, C-U., Migration, minorities and the welfare state, in Reader, 2014.

Bonoli, G. (2007) Time Matters: Postindustrialisation, New Social Risks, and Welfare State Adaptation in Advanced Industrial Democracies’, Comparative Political Studies, V. 40, n.5, pp. 495-520.

Swank, D. Globalization, the welfare state and inequality, in Reader, 2014.

Armingeon, K. Breaking with the Past? Why the Global Financial crisis led to Austerity Policies but not to Modernization of the Welfare State. In Reader, 2014.

Vis, B., van Kersbergen, K. and Hylands, T. (2011) To What Extend Did the Financial Crisis Intensify the Pressure to Reform the Welfare State?, Social Policy & Administration, v.45, n.4,pp. 338-353.

Teaching methods

Lectures are interactive. Students are expected to participate in the discussions and in the question-answer sessions. Each week students should prepare 1/2 questions for discussion.

Students present papers previously agreed with the lecturer.

Assessment methods

Class participation: 15% grade

One mid-term exam: 40% grade

Final oral exam : 45%

Teaching tools

Each week students are informed about specific readings that will be discussed during the lecture.

Office hours

See the website of Rosa Mulè