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. Historical foundations of the welfare state

Required reading

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

Further reading

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

Ravallion, M. 2015. The Idea of Antipoverty Policy, in A.B.Atkinson and F.Bourguignon, eds. Handbook of Income Distribution, Vol. 2B, chapter 22.

2. Comparing welfare states: METHODS

Required reading

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

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

3. Comparing welfare states models I

Required reading

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

Arts, W. and Gelissen, J. 2010. Models of the Welfare State. In Castles, F.G. et al. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State. Oxford University Press, 569-583.

Obinger, H. and Schmitt, C. 2011. Guns and butter? Regime Competition and the Welfare State during the Cold War. World Politics, 63, 246-270.

4. Comparing welfare states models II

Required reading

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.

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

Further reading

Alesina, A. Glaeser, E. and B. Sacerdote, 2001. Why Doesn’t the United States Have a European Style Welfare State?, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2,187-277.

Bartels, L. 2005. Homer Gets a Tax Cut: Inequality and Public Policy in the American Mind, Perspectives on Politics, 3,15-31.

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, 25-36.

5. Comparing welfare states models III

Required reading

Deacon, B. and Standing, G. (1993), Social Policy in Central and Eastern Europe. Journal of European Social Policy, 3, 3, pp. 159-161.

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

Adascalitei, D. 2017. From Austerity to Austerity: The Political Economy of Public Pension Reforms in Romania and Bulgaria. Social Policy & Administration, 51, 464– 487.

Naczyk, M. and Domonkos, S. 2016. The Financial Crisis and Varieties of Pension Privatization Reversals in Eastern Europe. Governance, 29, 167–184.

Further reading

Deacon, B. 2000. Eastern European welfare states: the impact of the politics of globalization, Journal of European Social Policy, 10, 146-161.

Sotiropoulos D., Neamtu I., Stoyanova M. 2003. The Trajectory of Post-communist Welfare State Development: The Cases of Bulgaria and Romania, Social Policy and Administration, 37.

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

6. Gender and the welfare state

Required reading

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

Further reading

Sainsbury, D. (ed). 1999. Gender and welfare state regimes, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

7. Welfare state in Europe

Required reading

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.

Troshkov, D. 2007, Transposition of EU social policy in the new member states. Journal of European Social Policy, 17, 335–348.

Further reading

Leiber, S. 2007. Transposition of EU social policy in Poland: are there different ‘worlds of compliance’ in East and West? Journal of European Social Policy, 17, 349–360.

Scharpf,F. 2010.The Asymmetry of European Integration, or why the EU cannot be a ‘social market economy’. Socio-Economic Review, 8, 211-250.

Lendvai, N. and Stubbs, P. 2015. Europeanization, Welfare and Variegated Austerity Capitalisms – Hungary and Croatia. Social Policy & Administration, 49, 445–465.

8-10. Political, social and economic challenges to the welfare state

Migration

Required reading

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

Further reading

Diane, S. 2012. Welfare states and immigrant rights: the politics of inclusion and exclusion, Oxford, Oxford University Press (ebook).

New Social Risks

Required reading

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

Globalization, financial crisis and welfare state sustainability

Required reading

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 and Administration,45, 338-353.

Szikra, D. 2014. Democracy and welfare in hard times: The social policy of the Orbán Government in Hungary between 2010 and 2014. Journal of European Social Policy, 24(5), 486 –500.

Further reading

Sacchi, S. and J. Roh, 2016. Conditionality, austerity and welfare: Financial crisis and its impact on welfare in Italy and Korea. Journal of European Social Policy, 26, 358-373.

Bacchetta, M. and M. Jansen (eds.) 2011. Making globalization socially sustainable. International labour Office- World Trade Organization. (available online).

Welfare state and terrorism

Required reading

Krieger. T., Meierrieks, D. 2010. Terrorism in the worlds of welfare capitalism. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 54, 902-939.

Further reading

Burgoon, B. 2006. On welfare and terror: Social welfare policies and political-economic roots of terrorism. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 50, 176-203.

Mulé. R. 2016. The political economy of violence and terrorism. Why less income inequality matters, paper presented at the conference What Peace Which World Order, GIPRI, Geneva, 7 November.

Readings/Bibliography

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

Each student should read the 'required readings' for each class. In some classes ‘further reading’ is intended to provide background introduction to the main readings. Every week students’ group should hand in two questions for discussion.

class participation 10% grade

students’ presentation 25% grade

written paper 65% grade. Deadline for written paper 22 December 2017

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