Abstract
The welfare state influences policies and politics. While many have studied welfare states in terms of their determinants or policy outcomes, a rapidly growing subfield of comparative politics is focusing increasingly on the ways in which welfare state institutions affect individual attitudes and behaviors. This chapter examines how the welfare state shapes attitudes and behaviors. Starting with new institutionalist perspectives and touching on theoretical accounts of the role of the state, the interconnectedness of rights is discussed with regard to the ways in which the welfare state can hinder or encourage political engagement. Drawing on insights from the policy feedback approach, the chapter concludes with a more targeted account of how the welfare state can shape democratic citizenship.
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Notes
- 1.
The contemporary social sciences generally differentiate between three new institutionalisms: rational choice, sociological, and historical institutionalism (Hall and Taylor 1996). Referring specifically to historical institutionalism, although the same can be said of its other institutionalist counterparts, Steinmo (2008, 118) remarks that it is “neither a particular theory nor a specific method. It is best understood as an approach to studying politics.”
- 2.
The term secondary institution should not be confused with Wilensky and Lebeaux’ (1958) conception of the term: their description of the welfare state as a secondary institution refers to its role relative to the family and market.
- 3.
Stated very simply, John Rawls’ theory of justice (2003 [1971]) conceives of justice as fairness. In order for individual liberty and equality to be preserved, equal opportunities for all are necessary.
- 4.
Rawls’ view has come under quite a bit of criticism, mainly by Amartya Sen (1982), who argues that even in a state dedicated to the provision of equal opportunities (i.e., justice), inequality (injustice) may still persist. An equal distribution of goods does not necessarily lead to equal opportunities, for there are some who are initially more disadvantaged than others and therefore require more in order to pursue his or her life project. Sen thus argues that the state must consider one’s basic capabilities as the basis for the provision of opportunities.
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Shore, J. (2019). Why Context Matters: The Role of Public Policy. In: The Welfare State and the Democratic Citizen. Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93961-2_3
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