Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T04:13:18.306Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Convergence in Policy Outcomes: Social Security Systems in Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Einar Overbye
Einar Overbye
Affiliation:
Political Scientist, Institute of Applied Social Research, Oslo
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A central question in the welfare state debate has been whether or not social policies in industrialized countries converge. Originally linked to the logic of industrialism perspective, this idea has been criticized by researchers focusing on differences in timing and differences in the institutional set up of social security schemes across countries. Nonetheless, I argue that social security arrangements in European as well as Anglo-American countries may gradually become more similar. Using pension politics as the primary example, the article locates similar social and political mechanisms at work in different countries, pushing toward convergence in policy outcomes, despite persistent variation in institutional arrangements. In the final section of the article, I extract a model from the analysis, aimed at explaining political change while maintaining a connection between the micro and macro level of analysis.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Public Policy , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , April 1994 , pp. 147 - 174
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Alber, J. 1987. Germany. in Flora, P. (ed.), Growth to Limits. The Western European Welfare States since World War II. Berlin: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Baldwin, P. 1990. The Politics of Social Solidarity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, D. 1967. Notes on the Post-Industrial Society (II), The Public Interest, 7, 102–118.Google Scholar
Browning, E. K. 1975. Why The Social Insurance Budget Is Too Large in a Democracy, Economic Inquiry, XIII, 373–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryden, K. 1974. Old Age Pensions and Policy-Making in Canada. London and Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Clark, T. N. and Lipset, S. M. 1991. Are Social Classes Dying? International Sociology, 4, 397–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, J. 1972. The Positions of Political Parties in Elections. In Niemi, R. G. and Weisberg, H. F. (eds.), Probability Models of Collective Decision Making. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Dahrendorf, R. 1972. Changes in the Class Structure of Industrial Societies. In Béteille, André (ed.), Social Inequality. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.Google Scholar
Davidson, A. 1989. Two Models of Welfare. Stockholm: Almquist & Wicksell International.Google ScholarPubMed
Elster, J. 1979. Ulysses and the Sirens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Elster, J. 1989. Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Encel, D. 1990. Supeannuation. In Diary of Social Legislation and Policy, 12–27, Australia: National Institute of Econmic and Industry Research.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. 1985. Politics Against Markets. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. 1990. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Flora, P. and Heidenheimer, A. (eds.) 1981. The Development of Welfare States in Europe and America. London: Transition Books.Google Scholar
Fukuyama, F. 1992. The End of History and the Last Man. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
George, V. 1991. Social Security in the USSR, International Social Security Review, 4.Google Scholar
Goodin, R. E. and Grand, J. Le (eds.) 1987. Not Only The Poor. London: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Graebner, W. 1980. A History of Retirement. New Haven and London, Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Gordon, M. S. 1988. Social Security Policies in Industrial Countries. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gruen, F. and Grattan, M.. 1993. Managing Government: Labour's Achievements and Failures. Melbourne: Longman Chesire.Google Scholar
Hatland, A. 1986. The Future of Norwegian Social Insurance. Research report, Oslo: Institute of Applied Social Research.Google Scholar
Hatland, A., Overbye, E. and Vigran, A.. 1993. Minimum Income Protection During Old Age in Member States of the Council of Europe. Strasbourg: Report to the Council of Europe.Google Scholar
Inkeles, A. 1981. Convergence and Divergence in Industrial Societies. In Mustafa, O. Attir (ed.), Directions of Change: Modernization Theory, Research and Realities. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.Google Scholar
ISSR. 1991. Social Security Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe. International Social Security Review, 44, 4, 65–88.Google Scholar
Kangas, O. 1988. Politik och Ekonomi i Pensionsforsakringen. Del Finska Pensionssjfstement i ett Jamforande Pcrspektiv. Meddelande 5, Stockholm: Institute for Social Research.Google Scholar
Kangas, O. and Palme, J.. 1989. Public and Private Pensions. The Scandinavian Countries in a Comparative Perspective. Meddelande 3, Stockholm: Institute for Social Research.Google Scholar
Kocka, J. 1986. White-Collar Employees and Industrial Society in Imperial Germany. In Iggers, G. (ed.): The Social History of Politics. Critical Perspectives in West German Historical Writing since 1945. New York: St Martins Press.Google Scholar
Korpi, W. 1983. The Democratic Class Struggle. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Kuhn, T. S. 1970. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
Maguire, M. 1986. Ireland. In Flora, P. (ed.), Growth to Limits: The Western European Welfare States Since World War II. Berlin: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Moore, B. 1966. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World. Beacon Press, Boston.Google Scholar
McGlone, F. 1990. Away From The Dependency Culture? In Savage, S. and Roberts, L. (eds.), Public Policy Under Thatcher. Basingstoke: MacMillan 1990.Google Scholar
Mueller, D. 1989. Public Choice II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
NOSOSKO. 1992. Sosial Trygghet i de Nordiske Land. Statistical Reports of the Nordic Countries No. 58, Copenhagen: Nordic Ministry Council.Google Scholar
Nowak, S. 1989. Comparative Studies and Social Theory. In Kohn, Melvin L. (ed.), Cross-National Research in Sociology. London: Sage.Google Scholar
O'connor, J. 1973. The Fiscal Crisis of the State. New York: St Martin's Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olsen, G. 1991. The Public/Private Mix in Canada: A Comparative Political Economy of Pension Systems. Paper presented at ‘The Political Economy of Occupational Welfare’, Oslo, September 1991Google Scholar
Olsson, S. E. 1990. Social Policy and Welfare State in Sweden. Lund: Arkiv förlag.Google Scholar
Overbye, E. 1991. Offentlige og Private Pensjoner i Norden. Report No. 10, Oslo: Institute of Applied Social Research/Nordic Ministry Council.Google Scholar
Overbye, E. 1993. Public and Private Pensions in the Nordic Countries. Paper presented at ‘Nordic Social Security Seminar’, Hafjell, Norway September 19–24.Google Scholar
Overbye, E. 1994. Comparative Review of Social Insurance and Social Assistance Schemes in Europe. Working paper no. 2, Oslo: Institute of Applied Social Research.Google Scholar
Palme, J. 1990. Pension Rights in Welfare Capitalism. Report No. 14, Stockholm: Institute for Social Research.Google Scholar
Parsons, T. 1964. Evolutionary Universals in Society. American Sociological Review 29: 339–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parsons, T. 1971. The System of Modem Societies. London: Prentice-Hall International, Inc.Google Scholar
Petersen, J. 1990. The Danish 1889 Act on Old Age Relief: A Response to Agrarian Demand and Pressure. Journal of Social Policy 19: 69–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Popper, K. 1974. Prediction and Prophecy in the Social Sciences. In Popper, K.: Conjectures and Refutations. London: Rutledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Quadagno, J. 1988. From Old-Age Assistance to Supplementary Security Income: The Political Economy of Relief in the South, 1935–1972. In Weir, M., Orloff, A. S. and Skocpol, T. (eds.), The Politics of Social Policy in the United States. Princeton.Google Scholar
Rasmussen, E. 1985. Arbeiderbevegelsen og Pensionssyslem i Sverige 1913 till 1983. Institute of Sociology: University of Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Rimlinger, G. V. 1971. Welfare Policy and Industrialization in Europe, America and Russia. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Google Scholar
Rizzo, I. 1990. The ‘Hidden’ Debt. Dordrecht/Boston/London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, R. 1986. Common Goals but Different Roles: The State's Contribution to the Welfare Mix. In Rose, R. and Shiratori, R. (eds.), The Welfare State East and West. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Royal Commission of Inquiry. 1972. Social Security in New Zealand. Wellington: New Zealand.Google Scholar
Salminen, K. 1993. Pension Schemes In The Making. A Comparative Study Of The Scandinavian Countries. Report No. 2, Helsinki: The Central Pension Research Institute.Google Scholar
Schumpeter, J. A. 1942. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. New York, Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Smith, A. 1987. The Wealth of Nations Books I-III. London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Stinchcombe, A. L. 1968. Constructing Social Theories. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Tilly, C. 1975. Western State-Making and Theories of Political Transformation. In Tilly, C. (ed.): The Formation of National States in Western Europe. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Tullock, G. 1983. Economics of income redistribution. Boston: Kluwer Nijhoff Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
US Department of Health and Human Services. 1991. Social Security Programs Throughout the World. Washington: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Verbon, H. A. A. 1987. The Rise and Evolution of Public Pension Systems. Public Choice, 52: 75–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilensky, H. 1975. The Welfare State and Equality. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar