Making Markets in the Welfare State
The Politics of Varying Market Reforms

Examining a range of countries, periods and policy areas, this book provides an original explanation of market reforms in the industrialized world.

Jane R. Gingrich (Author)

9781107004627, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 June 2011

290 pages, 8 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.56 kg

'This theoretically astute and carefully crafted study of market-oriented public-sector reforms fills a huge lacuna in our understanding of the changes that West European welfare states have undergone over the last 30 years. Gingrich's terrific book also makes original and important contributions to the literature on partisan politics and to the literature on the institutional embeddedness of markets.' Jonas Pontusson, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Geneva

Over the past three decades, market reforms have transformed public services such as education, health, and care of the elderly. Whereas previous studies present markets as having similar and largely non-political effects, this book shows that political parties structure markets in diverse ways to achieve distinct political aims. Left-wing attempts to sustain the legitimacy of the welfare state are compared with right-wing wishes to limit the state and empower the private sector. Examining a broad range of countries, time periods, and policy areas, Jane R. Gingrich helps readers make sense of the complexity of market reforms in the industrialized world. The use of innovative multi-case studies and in-depth interviews with senior European policymakers enriches the debate and brings clarity to this multifaceted topic. Scholars and students working on the policymaking process in this central area will be interested in this new conceptualization of market reform.

1. Introduction
2. Markets and politics
3. The rise of markets
4. Health care markets
5. Education markets
6. Markets in elderly care
7. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Comparative politics [JPB], Social welfare & social services [JKS]