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Real but Unequal Representation in Welfare State Reform

Author

Listed:
  • Wouter Schakel

    (Leiden University and University of Amsterdam)

  • Brian Burgoon
  • Armen Hakhverdian

    (University of Amsterdam)

Abstract

Scholars have long debated whether welfare policymaking in industrialized democracies is responsive to citizen preferences and whether such policymaking is more responsive to rich than to poor citizens. Debate has been hampered, however, by difficulties in matching data on attitudes toward particular policies to data on changes in the generosity of actual policies. This article uses better, more targeted measures of policy change that allow more valid exploration of responsiveness for a significant range of democracies. It does so by linking multicountry and multiwave survey data on attitudes toward health, pension, and unemployment policies and data on actual policy generosity, not just spending, in these domains. The analysis reveals that attitudes correlate strongly with subsequent changes in welfare generosity in the three policy areas and that such responsiveness is much stronger for richer than for poorer citizens. Representation is likely real but also vastly unequal in the welfare politics of industrialized democracies.

Suggested Citation

  • Wouter Schakel & Brian Burgoon & Armen Hakhverdian, 2020. "Real but Unequal Representation in Welfare State Reform," Politics & Society, , vol. 48(1), pages 131-163, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:polsoc:v:48:y:2020:i:1:p:131-163
    DOI: 10.1177/0032329219897984
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Eick, Gianna Maria, 2023. "Welfare Euroscepticism and Socioeconomic Status," SocArXiv cvzh5, Center for Open Science.
    2. Baccaro, Lucio & Bremer, Björn & Neimanns, Erik, 2023. "What growth strategies do citizens want? Evidence from a new survey," MPIfG Discussion Paper 23/4, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.

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