Book Review: Choice – Challenges and Perspectives for the European Welfare States
| Author | Judith Niehues |
| Published date | 01 June 2011 |
| Date | 01 June 2011 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/138826271101300207 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book Reviews
288 Intersentia
C, J., D, J.C. and V, I. (2001) Trends in Immigration and Economic
Consequences, OECD Economic Department Working Papers No. 284, Pa ris.
M, P. and A, T.M. (eds.) (2002) Alternativ i välfärdspolitiken,
Stockholm, SNS Förlag.
R, D. (2010) ‘ e Ideology of Apoc alyptic Ageing’, Regionale Trender 2010, 1.
R, D. and K, P. (2008) e Regional Welfare Burden in the Nordic
Countries, Nordregio Working Paper, 6.
R, D., R, R., R, J., F , P. and Ö, S. (2008) e
Demographic Challenge to the Nordic Countrie s, Nordregio Working Paper, 1.
Daniel Rauhut
Royal Institute of Technology
Stockholm
Bent Greve (ed.) Choice – Challenges and Perspective s for the European Welfare
States, Chichester, Wiley-Blackwell, 146 pp., 2010, ISBN 978–1–4443–3331–2
Since the early 1990s, t here has been an ongoing process of marketisation in welfare
provision in European welfa re states, implying i ncreasing choice for citizens.
Accordingly, there is a growing socia l policy literatu re on the implementation and
consequences of greater market-orientation and competition in t he delivery of
welfare services. e book under review is the thirteent h contribution to the series
‘Broadening the Perspectives on Social Policy’ and it investigates t he impact of choice
in European welfa re states. It assembles contributions from a number of authors who
have published widely about di erent aspects of choice in welfare marke ts.
e introduction and the rst chapter by Bent Greve set the scene by concluding
that ‘empirical analysis – sector by sector, provision by provision – is necessary i n
order to ascertain t he precise impact on equalit y, e ciency and cost related to free
choice’ (p. 2). What follows are several country-speci c and comparative studies
which thoroughly exa mine where and why institutional frameworks have intro duced
elements of choice, whether they are actually used, a nd, if so, by whom, and what
may be th e cons equenc es of s peci c choice arrangements. Given the severa l European
welfare states under ana lysis and the number of welfare sectors, the book indeed
provides a comprehensive overview of the cur rent state of choice in European welfare
states. In particular, the chapters elaborate interesti ng insights about the di erent
mechanisms behi nd the question of how choice actually works.
A common theme throughout a ll chapters is a rat her critica l view on the int roduction
of choice. e authors particu larly elab orate on possible negative outcomes of more
ch oic e , s uc h a s i nc re as in g s eg re ga ti on an d g en de r i ne qu al i ty or le ss so ci al co he si on an d
solidarity. us, t he book may well be seen as a critical reply to Jul ian Le Grand’s work
from 2007, which Robert Goodin (2008: 258) describ es as a ‘spirited defence of the role
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