The Politics of Welfare Reform in 21st-Century Western Europe

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Which social policies are the right ones to address the social and economic challenges that Western European societies are facing in the twenty-first century? How many resources should be spent on correcting unequal market outcomes? Should the welfare state shield citizens from the risks of the emerging globalized knowledge economy or help them adapt to these new realities? This book studies political conflict over these questions, identifying structural and coalitional opportunities for reform across policy fields and regional contexts. The book shows that both voters and parties debate whether to expand the boundaries of welfare programmes to address new social risks and to prioritize future economic opportunities—inclusion—or whether to target expenditure in ways that prioritize the current community and its income security—segmentation. To study politicization and reform opportunities in these different fields, the book draws on large amounts of novel, newly and specifically collected data regarding the social policy positions and priorities of citizens and political parties in eight Western European countries. The findings show that the question of inclusion versus segmentation has become a deeply divisive partisan conflict line in European welfare politics, with the potential to internally divide both the political Right and Left. It is the first book to systematically assess the implications of mass electoral realignment—including the rise of Green and Radical Right parties—for the politics and reform opportunities of European welfare states.</jats:p>