IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v24y2006i2p279-295.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Devolution and the Welfare State: Lessons from Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in Wales

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Wincott

    (Department of Political Science and International Studies, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, England)

Abstract

The author analyses the scope and limits of the policy autonomy devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG). He engages with James Mitchell's application of Ted Lowi's seminal analysis of ‘policy types’ to Scottish devolution. These concepts are used to frame a case study of Welsh early childhood education and care (ECEC), demonstrating extensive innovation in Wales concerning the form of ECEC and its impact on compulsory schooling. However, there is some evidence that innovation in the form of ECEC has not been matched by sufficient increases in spending. Although echoing Mitchell's account of the fiscal limits to devolution, the author suggests a greater scope for policy innovation than Mitchell detects. The discrepancy suggests that there is room for refinement of the ‘policy-types’ framework, to draw attention to ‘regulatory’ aspects of public service provision; it may also hint that, although formally weaker, the WAG has more potential for policy innovation than the Scottish Executive.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Wincott, 2006. "Devolution and the Welfare State: Lessons from Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in Wales," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 24(2), pages 279-295, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:24:y:2006:i:2:p:279-295
    DOI: 10.1068/c48m
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/c48m
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/c48m?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Crepaz, Markus M. L., 2002. "Duane Swank, Global Capital, Political Institutions, and Policy Change in Developed Welfare States. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(01), pages 101-106, January.
    2. Swank,Duane, 2002. "Global Capital, Political Institutions, and Policy Change in Developed Welfare States," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521001441.
    3. Swank,Duane, 2002. "Global Capital, Political Institutions, and Policy Change in Developed Welfare States," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521806688.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Molinder, Jakob & Karlsson, Tobias & Enflo, Kerstin, 2022. "Social democracy and the decline of strikes," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    2. Niamh Hardiman, 2007. "Governing the Economy," Working Papers 200739, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    3. Georgieva, Daniela & Georgieva, Teodora, 2020. "A study of social policies based on the example of the Bulgarian hotels on the Black Sea coast," MPRA Paper 105291, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2020.
    4. Thibault Darcillon, 2013. "What Causes Labor-Market Volatility? The Role of Finance and Welfare State Institutions," Post-Print halshs-00881198, HAL.
    5. Francois Nielsen & David Bradley & John D. Stephens & Evelyne Huber & Stephanie Moller, 2001. "The Welfare State and Gender Equality," LIS Working papers 279, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    6. Enflo, Kerstin & Molinder, Jakob & Karlsson, Tobias, 2018. "The Power Resource Theory Revisited: What Explains the Decline in Industrial Conflicts in Sweden?," CEPR Discussion Papers 13130, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Alber, Jens, 2010. "What - if anything - is undermining the European Social Model?," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Inequality and Social Integration SP I 2010-202, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    8. Rixen, Thomas, 2008. "Politicization and institutional (non-) change in international taxation [Politisierung und institutioneller (Nicht-)Wandel des internationalen Steuerregimes]," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2008-306, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    9. Ewald Engelen, 2007. "‘Amsterdamned’? The Uncertain Future of a Financial Centre," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(6), pages 1306-1324, June.
    10. Jon Olaskoaga-Larrauri & Ricardo Aláez-Aller & Pablo Díaz-de-Basurto, 2010. "Retrenchment or Resilience? New Evidence on Relative Social Expenditure Trends," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 28(5), pages 923-942, October.
    11. Duane Swank, 2015. "The Political Foundations of Redistribution in Post-industrial Democracies," LIS Working papers 653, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    12. Molana, Hassan & Montagna, Catia, 2006. "Aggregate scale economies, market integration, and optimal welfare state policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 321-340, July.
    13. Pierre Mandon, 2014. "Evaluating Treatment Effect and Causal Effect of Fiscal Rules on Procyclicality," Working Papers hal-01015439, HAL.
    14. Xiao Tan, 2017. "Explaining provincial government health expenditures in China: evidence from panel data 2007–2013," China Finance and Economic Review, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-21, December.
    15. Özlem Onaran & Valerie Boesch, 2014. "The Effect of Globalization on the Distribution of Taxes and Social Expenditures in Europe: Do Welfare State Regimes Matter?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(2), pages 373-397, February.
    16. Robert J. Franzese Jr. & Jude C. Hays, 2006. "Strategic Interaction among EU Governments in Active Labor Market Policy-making," European Union Politics, , vol. 7(2), pages 167-189, June.
    17. Hallerberg, Mark & Scartascini, Carlos, 2017. "Explaining changes in tax burdens in Latin America: Do politics trump economics?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 162-179.
    18. Wang, Jinxian & Van Vliet, Olaf & Goudswaard, Kees, 2015. "Social assistance benefits and European coordination," MPRA Paper 66147, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Guerguil, Martine & Mandon, Pierre & Tapsoba, René, 2017. "Flexible fiscal rules and countercyclical fiscal policy," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 189-220.
    20. Pasquale Tridico, 2014. "Welfare models, inequality and economic performance during globalisation," Departmental Working Papers of Economics - University 'Roma Tre' 0191, Department of Economics - University Roma Tre.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:24:y:2006:i:2:p:279-295. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.