The causes of the expansion and cross-national variation in the provision of welfare state goods and services are examined. Social democratic governance is by far the most important determinant of the public delivery of services and is one of the most important determinants of the public funding of the provision of welfare state goods and services. Christian democratic governance is an important determinant of public funding of services, but is not related to public delivery. State structure is also an important determinant. Women's labor force participation is an important determinant of the expansion of public social welfare services net of other social, political, and historical factors. The analysis also shows an interactive effect of women's labor force participation and social democratic governance on public delivery of welfare state services. We conclude that public delivery of a wide range of welfare state services is the most distinctive feature of the social democratic welfare state and that this feature is a product of the direct and interactive effects of social democracy and women's mobilization.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndersenKristi. 1999. “The Gender Gap and Experiences with the Welfare State.”PS: Political Science and Politics32(1):17–19.
2.
BarroRobert J.1991. “Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries.”Quarterly Journal of Economics106:407–43.
3.
BeckNathaniel and KatzJonathan N.. 1995. “What to Do (and Not to Do) with Time-Series-Cross-Section Data in Comparative Politics.”American Political Science Review89: 634–47.
4.
BeckNathaniel and KatzJonathan N.. 1996“Nuisance vs. Substance: Specifying and Esimating Time-Serice-Cross-Section Models.”Political Analysis8.
5.
BeckNathaniel, KatzJonathan N., Michael AlvarezR., GarrettGoeffrey, and LangePeter. 1993. “Government Partisanship, Labor Organization, and Macroeconomic Performance: A Corregendum.”American Political Science Review87:945–48.
6.
BoixCarles. 1998. Political Parties, Growth and Equality: Conservative and Social Democratic Economic Strategies in the World Economy.Cambridge, England, New York, Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.
7.
BussemakerJet and Van KersbergenKees. 1996. “Gender Inequality and the Conservative Welfare State: A Four-Nation Comparison.” Paper presented at the 1996 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, September, San Francisco, CA.
8.
CameronDavid. 1978. “The Expansion of the Public Economy.”American Political Science Review72:1243–61.
9.
CarrollEero. 1999. Emergence and Structuring of Social Insurance Institutions: Comparative Studies on Social Policy and Unemployment Insurance.Stockholm, Sweden: Swedish Institute for Social Research.
10.
CastlesFrancis. 1982. “The Impact of Parties on Public Expenditure.” pp. 21–96 in The Impact of Parties, edited by CastleF.. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
11.
CastlesFrancis and MitchellDeborah. 1991. “Identifying Welfare State Regimes.”Governance5(1):1–26.
12.
CusackThomas R.1991. “The Changing Contours of Government.” Forschungsgruppe Internationale Beziehungen Paper No. 91–304, Wissenschaftszentrum, Berlin, Germany;.
13.
CusackThomas R. and GarrettGeoffrey. 1994. “International Economic Change and the Politics of Government Spending, 1962–1988.”Department of Political Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA. Unpublished manuscript.
14.
CusackThomas R., NotermansTon, and ReinMartin. 1989. “Political-Economic Aspects of Public Employment.”European Journal of Political Research17:471–500.
15.
CusackThomas R. and ReinMartin. 1991. “Social Policy and Service Employment.”Wissenschaftszentrum, Berlin, Germany. Unpublished manuscript.
16.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/UNESCO). 1992. Education and Knowledge: Basic Pillars of Changing Production Patterns with Social Equality.Santiago, Chile: United Nations.
17.
Esping-AndersenGøsta. 1990. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
18.
Esping-AndersenGøsta. 1996. “Welfare States at the End of the Century: The Impact of Labor Market, Family, and Demographic Change.” Paper prepared for delivery at the OECD conference, “Toward 2000: The New Social Policy Agenda,” November, Paris, France.
19.
Esping-AndersenGøsta and KolbergJon Eivind. 1992. “Welfare States and Employment Regimes.” pp. 3–36 in The Study of Welfare State Regimes, edited by KolbergJ. E.. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
20.
European Trade Union Institute (ETUI). 1987. Women and Trade Unions in Western Europe.Brussels, Belgium: European Trade Union Institute.
21.
GarrettGeoffrey. 1998. Partisan Politics in the Global Economy.Cambridge, England, New York, Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.
22.
GarrettGeoffrey and LangePeter. 1991. “Political Responses to Interdependence: What's Left for the Left.”International Organization45:539–64.
23.
GarrettGeoffrey and LangePeter. 1996. “Internationalization, Institutions, and Political Change.” pp. 48–75 in Internationalization and Domestic Change, edited by KeohaneR. and MilnerH.. New York: Cambridge University Press.
24.
GoldenMiriam, WallersteinMichael, and LangePeter. 1999. “Trade Union Organization and Industrial Relations in the Postwar Era in 12 Countries.” pp. 194–230 in Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism, edited by KitscheltH., LangeP., MarksG., and StephensJ. D.. New York: Cambridge University Press.
25.
HecloHugh. 1974. Modern Social Politics in Britain and Sweden.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
26.
HemesHelga Maria. 1987. Welfare State and Woman Power: Essays in State Feminism.Oslo, Norway: Norwegian University Press.
27.
HicksAlexander. 1994. “Introduction to Pooling.” pp. 169–88 in The Comparative Political Economy of the Welfare State, edited by HicksA. and JanoskiT.. New York: Cambridge University Press.
28.
HicksAlexander and MisraJoya. 1993. “Political Resources and the Growth of Welfare in Affluent Capitalist Democracies, 1960–1982.”American Journal of Sociology99:668–710.
29.
HicksAlexander and SwankDuane. 1984. “On the Political Economy of Welfare Expansion: A Comparative Analysis of 18 Advanced Capitalist Democracies, 1960–1971.”Comparative Political Studies17:81–118.
30.
HicksAlexander and SwankDuane. 1992. “Politics, Institutions, and Welfare Spending in Industrialized Democracies, 1960–1982.”American Political Science Review86(3):658–74.
31.
HillDana Carol Davis and TiggesLeann M.. 1995. “Gendering the Welfare State: A Cross-National Study of Women's Public Pension Quality.”Gender and Society9(1):99–119.
32.
HobsonBarbara. 1994. “Welfare Policy Regimes, Solo Mothers, and the Logics of Gender.” pp. 170–87 in Gendering Welfare States, edited by SainsburyD.. London, England: Sage.
33.
HobsonBarbara and LindholmMarika. 1997. “Collective Identities, Women's Power Resources, and the Construction of Citizenship Rights in Welfare States.”Theory and Society26:475–508.
34.
HuberEvelyne, RaginCharles, and StephensJohn D.. 1993. “Social Democracy, Christian Democracy, Constitutional Structure and the Welfare State.”American Journal of Sociology99:711–49.
35.
HuberEvelyne, RaginCharles, and StephensJohn D.. 1997. Comparative Welfare States Data Set [MRDF]. Northwestern University and University of North Carolina [distributor]. (http://lissy.ceps.lu/compwsp.htm).
36.
HuberEvelyne and StephensJohn D.. 1993. “Political Parties and Public Pensions: A Quantitative Analysis.”Acta Sociologica36: 309–25.
37.
HuberEvelyne and StephensJohn D.. 1998. “Internationalization and the Social Democratic Model.”Comparative Political Studies31:353–97.
38.
HuberEvelyne and StephensJohn D.. Forthcoming. Political Choice in Global Markets: Development and Crisis of Advanced Welfare States.Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
39.
ImmergutEllen. 1992. The Political Construction of Interests: National Health Insurance Politics in Switzerland, France and Sweden, 1930–1970.New York: Cambridge University Press.
40.
International Labor Organization (ILO).1987. World Labor Report.Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
41.
JanoskiThomas. 1990. The Political Economy of Unemployment: Active Labor Market Policy in West Germany and the United States.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
42.
JensonJane. 1986. “Gender and Reproduction: Or, Babies and the State.”Studies in Political Economy20:9–46.
43.
JensonJane and MahonRianne. 1993. “Representing Solidarity: Class, Gender, and the Crisis in Social-Democratic Sweden.”New Left Review201:76–100.
44.
KangasOlli. 1991. The Politics of Social Rights: Studies on the Dimensions of Sickness Insurance in OECD Countries.Stockholm, Sweden: Swedish Institute for Social Research.
45.
KatzensteinPeter. 1985. Small States in World Markets: Industrial Policy in Europe.Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
46.
KingDesmond. 1994. Actively Seeking Work?Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
47.
KingGary, KeohaneRobert O., and VerbaSidney. 1994. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
48.
KlausenJytte. 1999. “The Declining Significance of Male Workers: Trade Union Responses to Changing Labor Markets, 1970–1990.” pp. 261–290 in Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism, edited by KitscheltH., LangeP., MarksG., and StephensJ. D.. New York: Cambridge University Press.
49.
KorpiWalter. 1983. The Democratic Class Struggle.London, England: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
50.
KorpiWalter. 1989. “Power, Politics, and State Autonomy in the Development of Social Citizenship: Social Rights during Sickness in Eighteen OECD Countries Since 1930.”American Sociological Review54:309–29.
51.
KovenS. and MichelSonia, eds. 1993. Mothers of the New World: Maternalist Politics and the Origins of the Welfare State.New York: Routledge.
52.
LeiraArnlaug. 1992. Welfare States and Working Mothers: The Scandinavian Experience.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
53.
LewisJane. 1992. “Gender and the Development of Welfare Regimes.”Journal of European Social Policy2(3): 159–73.
54.
LewisJane and GertrudeÅström. 1992. “Equality, Difference, and State Welfare: Labor Market and Family Policies in Sweden.”Feminist Studies18(1):59–87.
55.
LovenduskiJoni. 1986. Women and European Politics: Comtemporary Feminism and Public Policy.Brighton, England: Harvester.
56.
MaioniAntonia. 1998. Explaining Differences in Welfare State Development: A Comparative Study of Health Insurance in Canada and the United States.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
57.
MylesJohn. 1984. Old Age and the Welfare State: The Political Economy of Public Pensions.Boston, MA: Little Brown.
58.
NorrisPippa. 1987. Politics and Sexual Equality: The Comparative Position of Women in Western Democracies.Boulder, CO: Rienner and Wheatsheaf.
59.
O'ConnorJulia S.1996. “From Women in the Welfare State to Gendering Welfare State Regimes.”Current Sociology44(2):1–124.
60.
O'ConnorJulia S. and BrymRobert S.. 1988. “Public Welfare Expenditure in OECD Countries: Toward a Reconciliation of Inconsistent Findings.”British Journal of Sociology39:47–68.
61.
O'ConnorJulia S., OrloffAnn Shola, and ShaverSheila. 1999. States, Markets, Families: Gender, Liberalism and Social Policy in Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the United States.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
62.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).1994. New Orientations for Social Policy.Paris, France: OECD.
63.
OrloffAnn. 1993a. The Poltics of Pensions: A Comparative Analysis of Britain, Canada, and the United States, 1880–1940.Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
64.
OrloffAnn. 1993b. “Gender and the Social Rights of Citizenship: The Comparative Analysis of Gender Relations and Welfare States.”American Sociological Review58:303–28.
65.
OrloffAnn. 1997. “Motherhood, Work and Welfare in the United States, Britain, Canada, and Australia.” Paper presented at the conference “Welfare States at the Crossroads,” January, Sigtuna, Sweden.
66.
OskarsonMaria. 1992. “Sweden.” pp. 339–61 in Electoral Change, edited by FranklinM.. New York: Cambridge University Press.
67.
PalmeJoakim. 1990. Pension Rights in Welfare Capitalism: The Development of Old-Age Pensions in 18 OECD Countries 1930 to 1985.Stockholm, Sweden: Swedish Institute for Social Research.
68.
PampelFred C. and WilliamsonJohn B.. 1989. Age, Class, Politics, and the Welfare State.New York: Cambridge University Press.
69.
PedersenSusan. 1993. Family, Dependence, and the Origins of the Welfare State: Britain and France, 1914–1945.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
70.
RuggieMary. 1984. The State and Working Women: A Comparative Study of Britain and Sweden.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
SainsburyDiane, ed. 1996. “Gender Inequality and the Social Democratic Welfare State Regime.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, September, San Franciso, CA.
73.
SaundersPeter. 1991. “Noncash Income and Relative Poverty in Comparative Perspective: Evidence for the Luxembourg Income Study.” Paper presented at the conference on “Comparative Studies of Welfare State Development,” August 29–September 1, Helsinki, Finland.
74.
SchmidtManfred. 1993. Erwerbsbeteiligung von Frauen und Männern im Industrieländervergleich (Labor force participation of women and men in a comparison of industrial countries)Opladen, Germany: Leske and Budrich.
75.
SkocpolTheda. 1992. Protecting Mothers and Soldiers.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
76.
SkocpolTheda, HowardChristopher, LehmannSusan, and Abend-WeinMarjorie. 1993. “Women's Associations and the Enactment of Mothers' Pensions in the United States.”American Political Science Review87:686–702.
77.
SörensenKerstin. 1999. “Gender and the Social Democratic Regime Type.” M.A. Thesis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
78.
StephensJohn D.1976. “The Consequences of Social Structural Change for the Development of Socialism in Sweden.” Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Sociology, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
79.
StephensJohn D.1979. The Transition from Capitalism to Socialism.Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
80.
StetsonDorothy and MazurAmy G., eds. 1995. Comparative State Feminism.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
81.
SvalforssStefan. 1992. “Den Stabila Välfärdsopinionen: Attyder till Svensk Välfärdspolitik 1986–92.” (The stability of opinions on welfare: Attitudes toward Swedish welfare policy, 1986–92). Sociologiska Institutionen, Umeå Universitet, Umea, Sweden. Unpublished manuscript.
82.
SwankDuane. 1988. “The Political Economy of Governmental Domestic Expenditure in Affluent Democracies, 1960–1980.”American Journal of Poltical Science32:121–50.
83.
SwankDuane. 1998. “Globalization, Democracy, and the Welfare State: Why Institutions Are So Significant in Shaping the Domestic Response to Internationalization.” Political Economy of European Integration Working Paper, Center for German and European Studies, University of California, Berkeley, CA.
84.
SwankDuane. N.d. Diminished Democracy: Global Capital, Political Institutions, the Welfare State in Advanced Economies.Department of Political Science, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI. Unpublished manuscript.
85.
ValenHenry. 1992. “Norway.” pp. 307–26 in Electoral Change, edited by FranklinM.. New York: Cambridge University Press.
86.
Van KersbergenKees. 1995. Social Capitalism: A Study of Christian Democracy and the Welfare State.London, England: Routledge.
87.
WeirMargaret, OrloffAnn Shola, and SkocpolTheda. 1988. “introduction: Understanding American Social Politics.” pp. 1–37 in The Politics of Social Policy in the United States, edited by WeirM., OrloffA. S., and SkocpolT.. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
88.
WennemoIrene. 1994. Sharing the Costs of Children.Stockholm, Sweden: Swedish Institute for Social Research.
89.
WesternBruce. 1991. “A Comparative Study of Corporatist Development.”American Sociological Review56:283–94.
90.
WhiteKenneth J.1997. Shazam: The Econometrics Computer Program. Version 8.0. New York: McGraw-Hill.
91.
WilenskyHarold. 1975. The Welfare State and Equality.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
92.
WilenskyHarold. 1981. “Leftism, Catholicism, and Democratic Corporatism: The Role of Political Parties in Recent Welfare State Development.” pp. 345–82 in The Development of Welfare States in Europe and America, edited by FloraP. and HeidenheimerA.. Princeton, NJ: Transaction Books.
93.
WilenskyHarold. 1990. “Common Problems, Divergent Patterns: An 18–Nation Study of Family Policy.”Public Affairs Report31(3):1–3.
