2009
One Welfare State Emerging? Convergence versus divergence in 16 western countries
Publication
Publication
Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy , Volume 25 - Issue 3 p. 189- 201
In this article we try to investigate the empirical validity of the convergence thesis, which assumes that welfare states are increasingly similar because more generous universal welfare states are adopting policies of retrenchment and neo-liberalization. Using data on the popularity of neo-liberal ideology, welfare state expenditures and the generosity of this spending for 16 western countries, we find that there is no general trend towards neo-liberalization and retrenchment. However, we do find that there is a trend towards convergence. More generous, universal welfare states are becoming more liberalized, and liberal welfare states are expanding, which causes convergence in the middle. At the end of the article we attempt to explain why welfare states are converging. We find that although they do not converge on neo-liberalization as is often thought, two common explanations used to support the neo-liberal convergence arguments, globalization and Europeanization, can explain the ‘‘middle-of-the-road’’ convergence found here.
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doi.org/10.1080/17486830903189931, hdl.handle.net/1765/17639 | |
Centre for Rotterdam Cultural Sociology (CROCUS) | |
Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy | |
Organisation | Department of Sociology |
Achterberg, P., & Yerkes, M. (2009). One Welfare State Emerging? Convergence versus divergence in 16 western countries. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 25(3), 189–201. doi:10.1080/17486830903189931 |