This book traces how individuals fare over time in each of the three principal types of welfare state.

Few discussions in modern social science have occupied as much attention as the changing nature of welfare states in western societies. Gosta Esping-Andersen, one of the most distinguished contributors to current debates on this issue, here provides a new analysis of the character and role of welfare states in the functioning of contemporary advanced western societies. Esping-Andersen distinguishes several major types of welfare state, connecting these with variations in the historical development of different western countries. Current economic processes, the author argues, such as those moving towards a post-industrial order, are not shaped by autonomous market forces but by the nature of states and state differences. Fully informed by comparative materials, this book will have great appeal to everyone working on issues of economic development and post-industrialism. Its audience will include students and academics in sociology, economics and politics.

The Real Worlds of Welfare Capitalism traces how individuals fare over time in each of the three principal types of welfare state. Through a unique analysis of panel data from Germany, the Netherlands and the US, tracking individuals' socio-economic fate over fully ten years, Goodin, Headey, Muffels and Dirven explore issues of economic growth and efficiency, of poverty and inequality, of social integration and social autonomy. It is common to talk of the inevitability of tradeoffs between these goals. But in this book the authors contend that the social democratic welfare regime, represented here by the Netherlands, equals or exceeds the performance of the corporatist German regime and the liberal US regime across all these social and economic objectives. They thus argue that, whatever one's priorities, the social democratic welfare regime is uniquely well-suited to realizing them.

This book challenges the popular thesis of a downward trend in the viability of welfare states in competitive market economies. With approaches ranging from historical case studies to cross-national analyses, the contributors explore various aspects of the relationships between welfare states, industrial relations, financial government and production systems. Building upon and combining comparative studies of both the varieties of capitalism and the worlds of welfare state regimes, the book considers issues such as: *the role of employers and unions in social policy *the interdependencies between financial markets and pension systems * the current welfare reform process. It sheds new light on the tenuous relationship between social policies and market economies and provides thought-provoking reading for students and scholars of Comparative Politics, Public Policy, the Welfare State and Political Economy.

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Sociology - Politics, Majorities, Minorities, grade: 2, University of Tubingen, course: Comparative Research, language: English, abstract: In this paper Esping-Andersen’s “The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism” will be illustrated followed by an discussion which is concerned with an empirical critique that refers to the number of welfare-state regimes Esping-Andersen suggests. Since the end of the 20th century, welfare states emerged in every industrialized society to protect its citizens against certain risks and disadvantages. The national differences of these social protection systems are admittedly considerable. This diversity has been ever since an issue for historical and social science and poses challenging questions: What are the differences of the different nation systems? Where do they come from – do they exist due to political, cultural or economic reasons? In 1990 Gøsta Esping-Andersen published “The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism” which became a milestone concerning the field of comparative welfare state research. Since the The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism was published, it is extremely difficult to find even one article on welfare states in which Esping-Andersen’s approach is not at least mentioned. Reams of reviews, articles, critiques and additions were composed. An issue that is discussed ever since and which is still a topic of controversial debates is the number of regime types which should be distinguished. As the title already shows, Esping-Andersen suggests three distinctive welfare-types, but his empirical argumentation in particular caused a debate concerning the actual number of types.

This 'Very Short Introduction' discusses the necessity of welfare states in modern capitalist societies. Situating social policy in an historical, sociological, and comparative perspective, David Garland brings a new understanding to familiar debates, policies, and institutions.