The politics of justification: party competition and welfare-state retrenchment in Denmark and the Netherlands from 1982 to 1998

209 Pages·2002·2.409 MB·English

by  Green-Pedersen, Christoffer

Christoffer Green-Pedersen
The Politics
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of Justification
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The Politics of Justification is an investigation of welfare e
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retrenchment in Denmark and the Netherlands from 1982 -P Party Competition and Welfare-State
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to 1998. Welfare retrenchment is politically highly contro- d
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versial, but still governments do retrench. This book argues r Retrenchment in Denmark and
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that governments can implement retrenchment if they can e
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achieve a party political consensus allowing them to frame the Netherlands from 1982 to 1998
retrenchment in a way that makes it seem justified to the
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electorate.
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In the Netherlands, such a consensus emerged in the mid e

1980s due to the power of the CDA. It has allowed Dutch P
governments to implement a number of welfare retrench- o
ments. In Denmark, a consensus did not emerge until the l
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Social Democratic Party re-entered government in 1993
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explaining why the Danish welfare state has seen less
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retrenchment than the Dutch one. With its focus on the
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strategies of the political parties, the book differs from many f

other studies of the subject focusing on the role of political J
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institutions.
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Christoffer Green-Pedersen is assistant professor at the
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Department of Political Science,University of Aarhus,Denmark.
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ISBN 90 5356 590 6
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www.aup.nl
Amsterdam University Press
9 789053 565902
A m s t e r d a m U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s
The politics of justification 22-08-2002 15:44 Pagina 1
The Politics of Justification
The politics of justification 22-08-2002 15:44 Pagina 2
The politics of justification 22-08-2002 15:44 Pagina 3
The Politics of Justification
Party Competition and Welfare-State Retrenchment
in Denmark and the Netherlands from 1982 to 1998
Christoffer Green-Pedersen
AmsterdamUniversityPress
The politics of justification 22-08-2002 15:44 Pagina 4
For the memory of my father
Cover illustration: Jozef Israëls, Working-class family at a meal, 1882
Cover design: Jaak Crasborn bno, Valkenburg a/d Geul
Lay-out: Adriaan de Jonge, Amsterdam
isbn9053565906
nur754
© Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, 2002
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both
the copyright owner and the author of the book.
The politics of justification 22-08-2002 15:44 Pagina 5
Acknowledgments
This book is a significantly revised version of my Ph.D.-dissertation enti-
tled: ‘How Politics Still Matters. Retrenchment of old-age pensions, unem-
ployment benefits, and disability pensions/early-retirement benefits in Den-
mark and in the Netherlands from 1982 to 1998.’ Some of the ideas and
data in the book have also appeared as ‘The Puzzle of Dutch Welfare State
Retrenchment’, West European Politics, 24, 3, pp. 135-150 and ‘Welfare
State Retrenchment in Denmark and the Netherlands, 1982-1998. The
Role of Party Competition and Party Consensus’, Comparative Political
Studies, 34, 9, pp. 963-985.
The Department of Political Science at the University of Aarhus constitut-
ed my working base both as Ph.D.-student and now as an assistant profes-
sor. Sincere thanks are due to both faculty and staff for providing a nice
working environment. Together with the Research Foundation of the Uni-
versity of Aarhus, the department has also generously sponsored my differ-
ent activities, which lead to this book. I owe a debt of gratitude to many peo-
ple at the department who have been crucial to my success in completing
first the dissertation and now the book. First of all, my Ph.D.-supervisor, Pe-
ter Nannestad has been generous with his time and helpful advice. His insis-
tence of my spending a great amount of time on both research design and
conceptualization and measurement of the dependent variable has not only
proved invaluable for this book, but also in realizing the research standards
at which political science should aim. Asbjørn Sonne Nørgaard has likewise
been a source of enormous inspiration. He has influenced my view of the
welfare state, political science and many other things in life much more than
he knows. I am also grateful to Jens Peter Frølund Thomsen and Jørn Lof-
tager for many inspiring discussions about my work, the welfare state and
many other things, and to Jørgen Elklit for taking the time to introduce me
to the departmental life. While still at the department, Erik Albæk and Pe-
ter Munk Christiansen got me interested in the welfare state in the first place
and have continued to help and encourage me. I am also thankful to my two
office mates Christian Bertelsen and Asbjørn Skjæveland and to my fellow
5
The politics of justification 22-08-2002 15:44 Pagina 6
Ph.D.-students for many discussions about the frustrating life as a Ph.D.-
student. Finally, I am pleased to acknowledge the support of Helle
Bundgaard, Jonna Kjær, Lone Winther Matias, Else Løvdal Nielsen, and
Tina Ro Thomsen with the manuscript at its various stages.
The dissertation allowed me to experience the implications of a compara-
tive study. I do not regret it for a moment, not least because it provided me
with the opportunity to spend time in such a friendly place as the Nether-
lands. The Political Science Department at the University of Nijmegen
served as my working base and I am grateful to Kees van Kersbergen and
everyone at the department for a warm welcoming atmosphere. Kees has
shown me how high academic standards and friendliness can ideally be
combined and he and Inger have shown genuine hospitality. Taco Brandsen,
Romke van der Veen, and especially Duco Bannink at the University of
Twente have patiently corrected my worst misunderstandings about the
Dutch welfare state and have commented on my work in general. Anton
Hemerijck, Wim van Oorschot, and Jelle Visser have taken time for some
very interesting discussions about the changes in the Dutch welfare state.
Finally, many thanks are also due to Welmoet Boenders, Christiaan de Jong,
and Remco Peijs for showing me that there is much more to the Netherlands
than welfare-state reforms.
A number of people have read parts of this manuscript or several of the pa-
pers written as part of the work. I am very thankful to Robert Henry Cox,
Markus Haverland, Fiona Ross, Herman Schwartz, John D. Stephens, and
Christa van Wijnbergen for many critical but very helpful comments. At the
final stages, the dissertation, and thus this book, benefited greatly from
comments from a group consisting of Karen Anderson, Sven Jochem, An-
ders Lindbom, Bruno Palier, Paul Pierson, and Nico Siegel who met for a
workshop on welfare-state retrenchment in Århus.
My dissertation committee consisting of Hans Keman, Jørgen Goul An-
dersen, and Asbjørn Sonne Nørgaard provided me with excellent criticism
and opportunity to think through several elements of the work again. In-
creasingly during recent years, Centre for Comparative Welfare Studies
(ccws) at the University of Aalborg has also been a forum for many stimu-
lating discussions about the welfare state. A generous invitation by Fritz W.
Scharpf and the Max-Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne
also encouraged me to work more intensively with the Danish case. My
gratitude is due to the politicians and political advisers who were inter-
viewed for this study, but whose names I unfortunately cannot mention, for
spending an often great amount of their sparse time on me.
Thanks are also due to Jaap Wagenaar at the aup who has been a very
6 acknowledgments
The politics of justification 22-08-2002 15:44 Pagina 7
helpful and friendly editor, and to Steve Martin for improvements of the
manuscript.
However, my deepest gratitude goes to my wife Lone for her love and sup-
port, and to Jacob, who entered this world when this project was almost
completed and taught me that there are much more important things in life
than work.
Århus, August 2002
Christoffer Green-Pedersen
acknowledgments 7
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Contents
Acknowledgements / 5
Listof abbreviations / 11
1 Introduction / 13
The arguments in brief / 14
The structure of the book / 16
2 From theories of expansion to theories of retrenchment / 19
Theories of welfare-state expansion / 19
Theories of welfare-state retrenchment / 23
3 A framework for governmentchoice on retrenchment / 31
Political parties: their objectives and incentives for retrenchment / 31
A justification strategy of blame avoidance / 33
Systems of party competition and their effects on the possibilities of pur-
suing a justification strategy / 35
Connection to the labour market: which social-security schemes will be
retrenched the most? / 39
The theoretical argument in brief / 41
4 Research strategy and research design / 43
Denmark and the Netherlands – a most similar systems design / 43
The choice of social-security schemes / 49
The choice of time period / 50
Definition and measurement of retrenchment / 58
Some hypotheses / 62
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