Welfare State Change in Leading OECD Countries / ebs-Forschung, Schriftenreihe der EUROPEAN BUSINESS SCHOOL Schloß Reichartshausen Bd.74 (PDF)

5 Post-Industrial Challenges of the Contemporary Capitalist Welfare State (S. 45-46)

As briefly outlined in the introduction to Part II, nation states are not only confronted with challenges arising from increasing international economic integration, but also have to face severe strains in the domestic realm. Reviewing prior classifications of the driving forces of welfare state change (for example, Brady et al., 2005, pp. 922-925, Brady et al., 2007, pp. 318-320, Ellison, 2006, pp. 48-59, Genschel, 2004, Hicks, 1999, pp. 157-168, Chapter 7, Koster, 2008, pp. 2-3), the author identifies a school of thought, which takes a critical stance toward welfare state-globalization nexus oriented views (see Chapter 6.3).

Precisely, this theoretical perspective downplays the role of global economic forces, suggesting instead that domestic factors are by far more important drivers of contemporary welfare state development (for example, Castles, 2001, Iversen, 2001, Iversen & Cusack, 2000, Pierson, 2001a, Pierson, 1996, Pierson, 1994/ 1997). As a consequence, they have been looking at so-called “post-industrial pressures” (Pierson, 2001a, p. 80) evolving within advanced capitalist welfare states in order to identify possible determinants of public social spending.

Among the various factors, Pierson (2001a) considers processes of deindustrialization, population ageing, changing household structures, and welfare state maturation to be the most severe post-industrial challenges for contemporary welfare states (pp. 82-83, see Buti et al., 1998, pp. 17-22, Esping-Andersen, 2005). Following Pierson’s (2001a) analysis, the author will shed light on each of these domestic welfare state pressures. Finally, the chapter will also focus on the potential implications these post-industrial developments are likely to have for the political decision-making process.

5.1 The Phenomenon of Deindustrialization

During the last four decades OECD

Dr. Ingmar J. Schustereder earned his doctoral degree from the European Business School under Prof. Dr. Joachim Ahrens' supervision. He lives in Vienna and works for an international management consultancy.