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Since the publication of Gosta Esping-Andersen's The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism (Esping-Andersen 1990), which built its typologies on a rich database of detailed programme characteristics, it has been generally accepted that measures of social expenditure are an inferior, and even a misleading, source of information concerning the character of welfare state development. The problem is, however, that the kinds of detailed programme data Esping-Andersen used are not routinely available, while the quality of social expenditure data has been improving rapidly, culminating in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) now regularly updated and highly disaggregated Social Expenditure Database (SOCX). This article explores the possibility of using SOCX to devise measures of the extent, structure and trajectory of welfare state change and reform in 21 OECD countries over the period 1984 to 1997. On the basis of these measures, it suggests that there has been almost no sign of systematic welfare retrenchment in recent years and only limited evidence of major structural transformation or programmatic reorientation. (European Journal of Political Research / FUB)

The origins & current status of the field of comparative public policy analysis are examined. It is asserted that three factors are largely responsible for the emergence of comparative public policy studies, eg, the accretion of new responsibilities by post-WWII governments. An analysis of early comparative studies of public policy is performed, revealing that such research focused on the US & the predominance of sociological orthodox & "politics-does-matter" perspectives. The framework established for democratic governments that illustrates the different paths to public policy formation is then discussed. Four popular arguments that assert that policy making in democratic governments is still constrained by social & economic interests or previous policy decisions are considered. Additional attention is dedicated to illustrating how various interests, partisan politics, & government institutions affect public policy. It is concluded that comparative public policy analysis should concentrate on illustrating the complex nature of public policy formation. 1 Figure. J. W. Parker

This paper starts from a major contradiction in the literature on recent public sector development. On the one hand, globalization theory is read as implying major tendencies towards the retrenchment of the public sector and a 'race to the bottom' in social spending. On the other hand, comparative studies are largely unanimous in arguing that such tendencies have not occurred. To gain greater purchase on the realities of recent public sector trends, we disaggregate data for public expenditure change in 19 OECD countries over the period 1984 to 1997. We then develop a series of models of the factors determining expenditure trends over this period. The findings presented here provide no evidence that exposure to international trade leads governments to down-size their public sectors and suggest that the main influences on contemporary expenditure patterns have been unemployment, economic growth and catch-up from prior expenditure level.

This article uses the opportunity that arises with the publication of Goodin et al's The Real Worlds of Welfare Capitalism to discuss proper & improper ways of constructing welfare state typologies. I argue that Esping-Andersen's original conceptualization of The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism represented a major advance in our understanding of the varieties of welfare state activity in modern society, because it was based on a systematic analysis of data from a wide range of countries &, therefore, permitted the further cumulation of knowledge through subsequent attempts at empirical refutation & extension. In principle, Goodin et al's use of socioeconomic panel data to establish how far Esping-Andersen's types correspond to real welfare outcomes is one such extension. However, although The Real World of Welfare Capitalism demonstrates the value of using panel data to get closer to real outcomes, & although it tells us much of interest about the Dutch, German, & American cases it analyzes, its conclusion that these three countries are properly representative of different worlds of welfare is seriously flawed. I argue that this is a consequence of the study's failure to comprehend important methodological requirements of type construction & of comparative research more generally. 41 References. Adapted from the source document.

In recent years, there has been a strong tendency for the politicians of Western nations to make issues of economic policy making their first priority. Emerging evidence from the economics discipline, which shows a close association between subjective well-being and other macroeconomic variables such as unemployment and inflation, suggests that this priority ordering of politicians may well be one which is functional from an electoral viewpoint. However, recent research by Ronald Inglehart on the development of 'postmaterialist' values challenges the continuing electoral relevance of an economics-first approach to policy making by suggesting that, in advanced societies, mass publics are exercised more by quality of life concerns than by issues of economic affluence. Here we use Eurobarometer data for 12 EU nations to explore the nature of the linkage between economic policy outcomes and levels of popular satisfaction in both economically advanced and less advanced societies. Our findings suggest that affluence is not the only economic determinant of subjective well-being in these countries and that, contrary to Inglehart's thesis, the growth of the economy impacts on subjective well-being in rich and poor nations alike.

In recent years, there has been a strong tendency for the politicians of Western nations to make issues of economic policy making their first priority. Emerging evidence from the economics discipline, which shows a close association between subjective well-being & other macroeconomic variables such as unemployment & inflation, suggests that this priority ordering of politicians may well be one that is functional from an electoral viewpoint. However, recent research by Ronald Inglehart on the development of "postmaterialist" values challenges the continuing electoral relevance of an economics-first approach to policy making by suggesting that, in advanced societies, mass publics are exercised more by quality of life concerns than by issues of economic affluence. Here, we use Eurobarometer data for 12 EU nations to explore the nature of the linkage between economic policy outcomes & levels of popular satisfaction in both economically advanced & less advanced societies. Our findings suggest that affluence is not the only economic determinant of subjective well-being in these countries & that, contrary to Inglehart's thesis, the growth of the economy impacts on subjective well-being in rich & poor nations alike. 4 Tables. Adapted from the source document.

This paper uses cross-national data for 21 OECD nations to examine whether there is evidence of a connection between measures of political and fiscal decentralization and the major, long-term, performance parameters of the post-war political economy. Findings of what is necessarily an exploratory analysis of a wide range of policy outcomes suggest that federalism and the proliferation of constitutional veto-points have inhibited the expansion of the socially protective state and that a low level of fiscal centralization appears to have restrained post-war inflationary pressures and gone along with higher rates of post-war economic growth. No evidence is found to connect either political or fiscal measures with postwar labour market performance. (European Journal of Political Research / FUB)

Abstract This paper uses cross–national data for 21 OECD nations to examine whether there is evidence of a connection between measures of political and fiscal decentralization and the major, long–term, performance parameters of the post–war political economy. Findings of what is necessarily an exploratory analysis of a wide range of policy outcomes suggest that federalism and the proliferation of constitutional veto–points have inhibited the expansion of the socially protective state and that a low level of fiscal centralization appears to have restrained post–war inflationary pressures and gone along with higher rates of post–war economic growth. No evidence is found to connect either political or fiscal measures with postwar labour market performance.

This article seeks to demonstrate the way in which labor market choices are shaped by institutional arrangements devised by the state. Since these arrangements differ markedly from country to country, much that is distinctive about national labor market outcomes is a function of diverse encounters with the state. This argument is illustrated by an account that explains why Australia, a country which apparently devotes little in the way of public resources to the old, manifests an exceptionally high level of early retirement. This account shows that, in contrast to the standard European welfare state strategy of public pensions, the Australian state has over many decades tackled the need for provision for the old by encouraging retirement strategies that are not subsidized directly from the public purse. These strategies include the encouragement of widely dispersed home ownership and occupational pensions. Read broadly, the article suggests that the extremity of contrasts frequently made between the advanced welfare states of Western Europe and the miserable social policy outcomes in the democracies of the New World have been far too extreme. The article experiments with novel presentational techniques designed to focus attention on individual choices and on policy outcomes for the individual rather than policy outputs by governments.