Summary Lecture & Literature - Political Economy in International Perspective.
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Course
Political Economy In International Perspective
Institution
Universiteit Leiden (UL)
This document contains a summary of all the articles that are mandatory in the course of Political Economy (master Public Administration). It also contains the most important parts of the lectures given by prof. O. van Vliet. With this summary, I got a 8 for my exam.
Week 1: Introduction
Arts & Gelissen – 3 worlds of Welfare capitalism or more?
- Shortcomings EA typology
1. Misspecification of mediterranean WS as immature continental ones
Ø Little state intervention, but institutions want a minimum level of social protection
2. Labels Antipodean WS as belonging to liberal regime type
Ø Antipodean (Australia, New Zealand) more inclusive approach to social protection than
liberalism —> redistribution through wage control + employment security instead of social
programms.
3. Neglect gender dimension in social policy
Ø Ignores how women are treated in labor market + doesn’t look at effect of family.
- Real welfare states no ideal type —> hybrid forms = conclusion
- EA doesn’t add the new typologies, because they are not wholly different logic.
- Need better formulation of power resources theory; then predictions will logically follow from
theory.
- WS differ because: different class coalitions —> history & politics differ + have different
developmental trajectories.
- Regime change difficult, because: historical inheritance of institutions + path dependency
- WS are sometimes similar due to:
1. Challenge response hypothesis: same challenges = same response
2. Learning effects in policymaking: solutions to problems learned form other WS
- Ideal types: good to use if field is still developing (WS is still developing)
Ø EA welfare state incrementally emerges. It Is not sum of social policies, it’s complex of legal
+ organizational features that are systematically interwoven.
Ø 3 ideal types (holistic: bird’s eye view, simplified, emphasise essential features)
1. Liberal (Anglo-Saxon): decommodification low + stratification medium. US, UK, Ireland
— Individualism primacy of market, little redistribution, division in population (small
group of low-income). Women service sector.
2. Conservative (continental): decommodification medium + stratification high. DE, Fr,
Swiss
— Insurance to preserve social rights according to status + family important before
state
3. Social-democratic (Scandinavian): decommodification high + low stratification. Finland,
Norway, Sweden
— Universal entitlements to preserve equality
- 2 dimensions of welfare states
1. Decommodification: degree to which social service is seen as a right and degree to which
person can maintain livelihood without reliance on market.
2. Stratification: placing society in layers.
Green-Pedersen: dependent variable problem
- Problem: different conceptualization and operationalization of retrenchment —> solution: be
clear about theoretical perspective: which os the 2 conceptualizations is being used.
- Two conceptualizations of retrenchment
1. Retrenchment as cutbacks (cut in benefit level, strict eligibility, shorter duration)
Ø Loses imposed on small group
Ø Use this concept to analyze lame avoidance by politicians or how unpopular policies get
implemented.
Ø Problems expenditure data
1. Time-lag: retrenchment have gradual effect instead of immediate. So many
retrenchments not visible in expenditure data.
1
, 2. Expenditure can rise/decrease without any changes in legislation (more unemployed
people)
3. Doesn’t look at power of bureaucrats
Ø Measure by micro-data: look at individual change sin social security schemes —> minimizes
time-lag
2. Retrenchment as institutional change (privatization)
Ø Need theoretical arguments for why certain institutional changes should be considered
retrenchment
- The 2 are connected (institutional change indirect way of achieving cut backs), but better to use
seperately
- WS policy definition —> benefits provided by state in case of sickness, old-age and
unemployment.
Plumper, Troeger & Manow – Panel data analysis
- Use new method to find:
1. Partisan effect important, but party preferences’ influence on government spending not
stable over time.
2. Unemployment + ageing —> upward pressure on governmental spending, while growth
reduces governments share of economy.
3. International economic openness no important effect on government spending.
Starke – politics of WS retrenchment
- Problem pressure is force for retrenchment
- Pierson: new politics of welfare states
Ø Old politics (such as power resources) fail to account for developments.
Ø New factors (specific institutional configurations) powerful in explaining reform
Ø Pierson resilience based on
1. Path dependency: change only incremental and in existing structural frameworks
2. Retrenchment unpopular among voters + previous expansion established strong
interest groups that want to keep the status quo therefore they will mobilize against
retrenchment.
Ø Politicians: office seekers and voters react strong to loses. —> how can we then explain
retrenchment? —> Pierson: “politics of blame avoidance” —> 3 strategies to avoid blames:
compensation, obfuscation and division.
- Neofunctionalism: process of global economic integration requires change in role of state —>
reduced role: decreasing expenditures.
- Conflict theories: social policy is result of political struggle about distributive decisions. Positive
impact of. Left wing parties. Pierson: “new politics show power resources faded”.
- Institutionalism: systems with fragmented power —> retrenchment less likely. Concentration of
political power means more reform. Also policy feedback is important —> existing WS
institutions have effect on future developments.
- Role of ideas: ability to frame policy program in politically desirable + culturally acceptable way
—> can help explain why policy alternatives triumph.
Week 2: Retrenchment
Allan & Scruggs – WS retrenchment
- Testing 2 claims of Pierson: WS resilient + partisan politics no effect.
- Findings: retrenchment is happening + partisanship has effect. Use replacement rate data.
- Problems with expenditure data
1. Doesn’t look at whom or how money is spent. Impact on individuals’ life ignored. Spending
level not equal to protection offered.
2
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