Book Review: A Long Goodbye to Bismarck? The Politics of Welfare Reform in Continental Europe
| Published date | 01 September 2010 |
| DOI | 10.1177/138826271001200306 |
| Author | Eberhard Eichenhofer |
| Date | 01 September 2010 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book Reviews
264 Intersentia
Bruno Palier (ed.), A Long Goodbye to Bismarc k? e Politics of Welfare Reform in
Continental Europe, Amsterdam University Pres s, Amsterdam, 2010, 456 pp., ISBN
978-90-8 964-234-9
Driven by G østa Espi ng-Anderson’s t ypology of the European welfare states, and
introduced by a substantial preface by him, this book assembles 13 contributions from
political scientists and well-known welfa re state an alysts. e well written chapters
are devoted to the subst antial cha nges which the ‘Bisma rckian’ approach to soci al
security as social policy in general has undergone during the last 30 years. e concept
of a ‘Bismarckian’ welfare state is conceived of quite broadly. It includes not only those
of Germany and severa l of the post-Habsburg countries: Austria, t he Czech Republic
and Slovakia, Hungary and Pola nd; but also the Netherlands , Belgium, France,
Italy, Spain and Swit zerland. is broad understa nding demonst rates t hat wit hin
the ‘Bismarck ian’ approach, substantia l dierences i n welfare inst itutions can ex ist.
Adopting this position, t he southern welfare state type can be thought of an example
of t he continental European welfare state, as it is based upon the same principles.
us, the book conrms E sping-Anderson’s original ty pology of welfare states.
e dierences mentioned above are obser ved not on ly in the divergent
institutional sett ings of dierent countries, but also in the degree, direction and speed
of reforms which have taken place during t he last three decades. It shows that neither
a complete dismantling nor the coherent conservation of structures can be observed.
To summarise, a combination of reforms is visible, with ambiguous results. ey have
strengthened, to a certain extent, the minimum protective elements provided on a
means-tested basis, and, at the same time, they have strengt hened universal elements.
Some elements that were at t he margins in the orig inal Bismarckia n approach have
gained a new importa nce.
e disti nguished authors – a ll of whom are experts in t he analysis of European
welfare states – present a clear picture of the dierent phases and layers of reform. e
various national reform agendas dier, as they were neither determined, nor directed,
in the same way in the dierent countr ies. Some of the countries were cautious and
reluctant in their reforms, while others turne d out to be extremely creative and
innovative. Prog ressive governments were inclined to restructure the existing social
security systems to a greater deg ree tha n conser vative governments. e analysis
gives a clear picture of the sequence of reform: at the beginning of the reform process,
countries followed the inherent logic of t heir systems – by ra ising contributions and
shedding work. However, in t he last two decades, t hese countries have become more
and more aware of the labour market distortions c aused by generous social security
systems, which result from the high tax burden on those in paid work. Since then,
it can be seen that many Bismarckian cou ntries have impose d new lim its on socia l
spending in order to keep on making work pay, and have introduced new initiatives to
rebalance the relationship between soc ial benets and paid work. Activation and self-
help approaches have ourished and gained ground. e traditional family orientation
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