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"Ein Vergleich der materiellen Versorgung in den EU-Mitgliedstaaten für die Jahre 2003 und 2007 zeigt, dass es in der Mehrzahl der Länder zu Verbesserungen gekommen ist und dass die neuen Mitgliedstaaten den Abstand zu den westlichen Mitgliedstaaten verringern konnten. Es gibt aber immer noch große und meistens sogar wachsende Unterschiede zwischen Wohlhabenden und Armen innerhalb der Nationalstaaten. Die Spanne der Ungleichheit ist in den reicheren Ländern in der Regel geringer, in den neuen Mitgliedsländern meist größer. In Deutschland ist die Ungleichheit für westeuropäische Verhältnisse verhältnismäßig groß und entspricht derjenigen in Bulgarien, Ungarn und Zypern."[Autorenreferat]

"The notion of a European social model assumes that European societies have certain features in common which distinguish them positively from the United States, among them most notably the social partnership in labour relations, redistributive welfare state schemes, and cohesive societies with a low degree of social inequality. The paper examines to what extent the social reality in the EU conforms to this normative image and what challenges imperil the sustainability of the European social model. Special attention is drawn to the influence of supranational decision-making in the European Union and to the role of the European Court of Justice. It is shown that Court rulings imperil the viability of national social programs, because they open the schemes to transnational access even though they continue to be nationally financed. This is also in tension with the solidarity concepts of European citizens which continue to be framed in terms of national citizenship. As a possible solution to these tensions, the strengthening of the participation rights of national parliaments and governments on the European level is advocated." (author's abstract)

"This paper examines to what extent the classification of the American welfare state as 'residual' squares with the empirical facts. Section I describes key features of American social policy developments. The U.S. system is clearly dominated by public provisions for welfare among which social insurance programs, especially Social Security and Medicare, represent the lion's share, and public pensions are more universal, redistributive, and generous than in some European countries. Noteworthy differences remain with respect to the stronger reliance on private provisions in pensions and health, the emphasis on work-conditioned benefits and a greater importance of selective schemes. The terms 'work-conditioned welfare' or "corporate citizenship" adequately capture these key features by highlighting that employers are gatekeepers of social entitlements. Section II examines if key features of the American welfare state have recently become more prominent in Europe. A slight approximation to the American model is found with respect to a growing importance of private expenditure for pensions and health, but not with respect to a greater selectivity of benefits. On the level of policy discourse, the idée directrice of European social policies is changing from social protection to activation, as three traditionally American elements have come to prominence: an emphasis on individual responsibility, on the private supply of services and more consumer choice, and on the activation of people at working age. Yet there is no general convergence towards the American model, because the United States is approximating Europe with respect to health insurance while public attitudes are shifting in favour of extended state responsibilities. Hence there is a complex pattern of specific policy learning rather than convergence towards one model of social policy. In sum, similarities between social policies in Europe and America are found to be more noteworthy than the term 'residual welfare state' for the U.S. suggests." (author's abstract)

"Electoral turnout is shown to be higher and less socially skewed in member states of the enlarged European Union than in the United States. The differences in the levels of turnout can partly be related to differences in election procedures, but since the procedural rules provide similar incentives or disincentives to all social groups they cannot explain the much higher inequality of electoral participation in America. There is some evidence to sustain the notion that the higher inclusiveness of the West European welfare state fosters political integration and the equality of electoral participation. In line with this notion differences between Europe and America diminish considerably when the analysis is confined to the pensioner generation whose integration into welfare state schemes is largely similar on both sides of the Atlantic." (author's abstract)

The German Hartz reforms, introduced by the Red-Green coalition government in the years 2003 to 2005, form part of a broader pattern of European activation policies which have become known as new labour policies. The idea of these reforms was to reduce welfare dependency and to boost activity rates by making work pay, and by transforming the welfare state from a passive instrument of social protection to an enabling social investment that fosters universal labour force participation as the ultimate form of social inclusion. The German variety of these policies abolished earnings-related benefits to the long-term unemployed, partly fused the unemployment compensation scheme with the minimum income social assistance scheme and increased activating pressures on ablebodied people at working age by combining new sanctions with an extension of placement services. Based on a description of the relevant institutional changes, we show that means-tested benefits have become the major form of social transfer payments to the unemployed. The reforms also entailed a massive growth in German employment and especially in low-wage employment. As non-standard forms of employment proliferated, growing proportions of economically active people joined the ranks of the working poor by combining earnings from work with means-tested in-work benefits. Based on survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), we show that the working poor enjoy higher life satisfaction, social integration and civic engagement than the nonworking poor. However, these individual and social benefits of employment critically depend on pay levels and overall job quality, as our own analyses confirm for the case of men's life satisfaction. The welfare gains achieved by Germany's recent reforms may therefore be smaller than suggested by employment rates alone, because people near the poverty line are now more willing to make concessions and to accept job offers even if the jobs they get are of minor quality. (author's abstract)

"Der Beitrag fasst zentrale Ergebnisse eines von der Fritz Thyssen Stiftung finanzierten Pilotprojekts über die Auszeichnung sozialwissenschaftlicher deutschsprachiger Zeitschriftenartikel mit dem Fritz Thyssen Preis im Zeitraum 1981 bis 2006 zusammen. Vorrangig geht es um die Klärung von vier Grundfragen: (1) Welches sind die Merkmale prämierter Aufsätze und welche Merkmalverschiebungen ergeben sich im Zeitraum der letzten 25 Jahre? (2) Inwieweit korreliert das Distinktionsmerkmal 'Thyssen-Preis' mit anderen Merkmalen der Distinktion von Autoren, die in der Evaluationsforschung Verwendung finden? (3) In welchem Maße konzentriert sich preisgekrönte Forschung auf einige wenige Standorte? (4) Welche Zeitschriften und welche Formen der Sozialwissenschaft schneiden besonders gut ab? Die Analyse konzentriert sich damit auf vier Ebenen, nämlich die Autoren und ihre institutionellen Standorte, die inhaltliche Ausrichtung der prämierten Artikel sowie die Ebene der am Wettbewerb teilnehmenden Zeitschriften. Zu den zentralen Ergebnissen zählt, dass verschiedene Distinktionsmerkmale in den Sozialwissenschaften nur sehr schwach korreliert sind und dass auch preisgekrönte deutsche Sozialforschung international nur schwach sichtbar ist." (Autorenreferat)