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Advanced welfare countries have faced a mix of policy constraints regarding employment growth, income equality, and budget discipline in managing the challenges of deindustrialization, often dubbed as the trilemma of the service economy. Yet, puzzlingly enough, there are some welfare countries that could choose policy options outside of these policy constraints in their responses to deindustrialization. This article argues that the source of this derestricting capacity can be found in the size of electoral district and the level of development in dynamic service sectors. Using the Service Economy Trilemma Index (STI), the author propounds that the expansion of dynamic services in the economy has differential effects on the combined performance in employment, income equality, and budget discipline conditional on the district magnitude. The findings of this article show that countries with large electoral districts and well-developed dynamic service sectors are better able to derestrict policy constraints in the age of deindustrialization.

AbstractExisting studies of welfare regime generally consider that Christian democratic countries would face severe challenges in the transition to service economy due to its conservative cling to social insurance, breadwinner‐oriented employment, and familialism. In this article, I explain how Christian democratic countries overcame these challenges by focusing on the concept of policy responsiveness. I argue that Christian democratic parties could shift from labor shedding to employment‐friendly policies in transition by implementing a series of policies targeting the preference of unemployed workers. The historical root as the cross‐class coalition party makes it politically feasible and less costly for Christian democratic parties to focus on unemployed workers' interests at the possible expense of labor market insider's interests. To substantiate my argument, I investigate the policy trajectory in the Netherlands, a country that achieved the most prominent employment expansion in Christian Democratic regime.Related ArticlesDekker, Fabian. 2010. "Self‐Employed without Employees: Managing Risks in Modern Capitalism." Politics & Policy 38 (4): 765‐788. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2010.00257.xFlavin, Patrick, Alexander C. Pacek, and Benjamin Radcliff. 2011. "State Intervention and Subjective Well‐Being in Advanced Industrial Democracies." Politics & Policy 29 (2): 251‐269. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00290.xWagle, Udaya R. 2014. "The Heterogeneity Politics of the Welfare State: Changing Population Heterogeneity and Welfare State Policies in High‐Income OECD Countries, 1980‐2005." Politics & Policy 41 (6): 947‐984. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12053

AbstractThis paper aims to elucidate the variations in wage inequality within the service industry across different nations. Scholars have emphasised the pivotal role of policies designed to balance flexibility and job security in the service sector, crucial for fostering its growth while mitigating wage disparities. We argue that the balance between flexibility and security of service sector employment is most likely to emerge under centre party governments in high-magnitude electoral systems. Centre parties, owing to their political detachment from organised labour and industry, encounter fewer obstacles in representing the unorganised interests of service sector workers. Furthermore, high-district magnitude systems incentivise centre parties to build comprehensive coalitions that address the diverse concerns of service sector workers. Our empirical analysis, spanning 14 OECD countries from 1995 to 2007, demonstrates that service sector wage inequality diminishes as district magnitude and the cabinet share of centre parties increase.

What are the determinants of Japan's regional policies? This article argues that Japan's regional policy is the result of the government's strategic choice made through processes of domestic and international bargaining. Based on liberal intergovernmentalism, this article focuses on the level of domestic preferences for East Asia and the threat of China. In the first stage, the preference of the Prime Minister and political winning-coalition groups matter. In the second stage, the level of the threat of China is a pivotal variable. In combining these two variables, the article proposes the following four types of ideal regional policies for Japan: (1) pro-East Asia policy; (2) expanded-Asia policy; (3) interactive policy; and (4) reactive policy. To substantiate this idea, the article traces Japan's regional policy trajectory from the Yoshida Cabinet to the Hatoyama Cabinet. An in-depth case study shows that Japanese cabinets vary in their regional policies in the way this article expected from each ideal type based on liberal intergovernmentalism.