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Welfare State Reforms Seen from Below

Comparing Public Attitudes and Organized Interests in Britain and Germany

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Analyses public opinion in Britain and Germany towards welfare state reform

  • Provides insight into organized interests’ positioning on reform issues

  • Explores welfare state reforms in Britain and Germany to provide a long-term and European perspective

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Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
  2. Back Matter

    Pages 289-297

About this book

Studying the political economy of welfare state reform, this edited collection focuses on the role of public opinion and organized interests in respect to policy change. It highlights that welfare states are hard pressed to reform in order to cope with ongoing socio-economic and demographic challenges. While public opinion is commonly seen to oppose welfare cuts and organized interests such as trade unions have tended to defend acquired social rights, this book shows that there have been emergent tendencies in favour of reform.

Welfare State Reforms Seen from Below
analyses a wide range of social policies affecting healthcare, pensions and the labour market to demonstrate how social groups and interest organizations differ and interact in their approaches to reform. Comparing Britain and Germany, with its two very different welfare states, it provides a European perspective on the changing approaches to welfare.

This book will be of interest to those wanting to learn more about the politics of the welfare state and of relevance to students and academics in the fields of political economy and comparative social policy.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

    Bernhard Ebbinghaus

  • SFB 884 “Political Economy of Reforms”, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

    Elias Naumann

About the editors

Bernhard Ebbinghaus is Professor of Social Policy at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention and Senior Fellow at the Green Templeton College at University of Oxford, UK. Previously, he was Professor of Sociology at the University of Mannheim. His research focuses on welfare reform processes, particularly in the areas of pension and labour market policies.

Elias Naumann is Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Collaborative Research Center SFB 884 “Political Economy of Reforms” at the University of Mannheim, Germany. His research interests include comparative welfare state research, public opinion and experimental methods in the social sciences.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Welfare State Reforms Seen from Below

  • Book Subtitle: Comparing Public Attitudes and Organized Interests in Britain and Germany

  • Editors: Bernhard Ebbinghaus, Elias Naumann

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63652-8

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-63651-1Published: 17 January 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-87605-4Published: 04 June 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-63652-8Published: 24 November 2017

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVI, 297

  • Number of Illustrations: 18 b/w illustrations, 3 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Politics of the Welfare State, Comparative Social Policy, International Political Economy

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access