Post-Industrial Challenges of the Contemporary Capitalist Welfare State

Abstract

As briefly outlined in the introduction to Part II, nation states are not only confronted with challenges arising from increasing international economic integration, but also have to face severe strains in the domestic realm. Reviewing prior classifications of the driving forces of welfare state change (for example, Brady et al., 2005, pp. 922-925; Brady et al., 2007, pp. 318-320; Ellison, 2006, pp. 48-59; Genschel, 2004; Hicks, 1999, pp. 157-168, Chapter 7; Koster, 2008, pp. 2-3), the author identifies a school of thought, which takes a critical stance toward welfare state-globalization nexus oriented views (see Chapter 6.3). Precisely, this theoretical perspective downplays the role of global economic forces, suggesting instead that domestic factors are by far more important drivers of contemporary welfare state development (for example, Castles, 2001; Iversen, 2001; Iversen & Cusack, 2000; Pierson, 2001a; Pierson, 1996; Pierson, 1994/ 1997). As a consequence, they have been looking at so-called “post-industrial pressures” (Pierson, 2001a, p. 80) evolving within advanced capitalist welfare states in order to identify possible determinants of public social spending.