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PSCI 414 / MSSP 514: The Politics of the Welfare State
Spring 2016
Thursdays 1:30-4:30 pm
Room 300, 3440 Market St.
Professor Julia Lynch
3440 Market St, Room 315
[email protected]
Office hours: Mondays 2-4pm
Overview
This seminar provides an overview of the structure and functions of welfare states in Western
Europe and North America, and covers key arguments and debates about the emergence and
contemporary fate of these welfare states. The approach is broadly comparative, but throughout
the course discussions will often emphasize drawing ideas from the experiences of other
countries to inform policy solutions to problems we confront in the US. We begin by
considering the varieties and tasks of modern welfare states, in order to establish a base of
factual knowledge. We turn next to classic theories about the relationship between markets,
classes, and social protection, and examine competing explanations for why modern welfare
states emerge and why they differ from one another. We consider the role of social forces such as
organized labor and the self-employed, the role of political institutions, and the role of societal
views of appropriate gender relationships. A third section of the course examines challenges to
the welfare state that emerge from changing labor market, demographic, and social conditions in
the highly industrialized nations. Finally, we consider the political dynamics of late-20th century
reforms to the welfare state. Students will participate actively in seminar discussions and
complete a major research paper.
Graduate students will complete additional readings as noted and will write an article-length
paper.
Statement on academic integrity and plagiarism
The University of Pennsylvania’s Code of Academic Integrity states: “Since the University is an
academic community, its fundamental purpose is the pursuit of knowledge. Essential to the
success of this educational mission is a commitment to the principles of academic integrity.
Every member of the University community is responsible for upholding the highest standards of
honesty at all times. Students, as members of the community, are also responsible for adhering to
the principles and spirit of the […] Code of Academic Integrity.” The seven points of this code
(on cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, multiple submission, misrepresentation, facilitating
dishonesty, and unfair advantage) can be found at http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/osl/acadint.html.
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Course Requirements
1. (25%) Informed participation in weekly discussions
2. (25%) 7-8 page research proposal, due via Canvas at 5pm on Tuesday, March 15
3. (15%) Presentation of your research results in class on April 21
4. (35%) 20 page [35 pages for graduate students] research paper due in my mailbox in the
Political Science office at 3440 Market St, Suite 300 by 4pm on Friday, May 6
Research proposal assignment
Your research proposal must include all of the following elements:
1. The question to be asked in the paper (see below)
2. A 1-2 paragraph statement of the significance of this question for the study of
comparative social policy
§ what theoretical questions, debates or controversies will answering your
question help to resolve?
§ if it’s not obvious, a BRIEF explanation (just 1 or 2 sentences) of why
answering your question is of substantive or policy importance
3. Your proposed answer to the question (necessarily preliminary, but you must have an
informed hypothesis at this time)
4. A list of major alternative hypothesized answers to the problem, which you will
generate by drawing on common sense and on the theories you have read in this and
other political science classes
5. An explanation of how you will evaluate the merits of your own proposed answer
versus the competing hypotheses:
• what case comparisons will you use, and why?
• what evidence (data) would support or refute your argument, and competing
hypothesis? What evidence in the world would convince you that your theory
is wrong?
• a bibliography indicating where you will get the primary and secondary data
that you need to test your argument against alternative hypotheses (the
bibliography is not included in the page limit)
Your research question should address something that is PUZZLING, and should generally be a
WHY question: We expect (based on the following theories or patterns) to see this, but we see
that; WHY do we see this rather than that? Identifying an empirical puzzle that needs solving,
can be solved in 20 or 30 pages, but has not already been worked to death, is in many ways the
most challenging part of writing a research paper. The good news is that in most cases, once
you find a good puzzle, the rest of the paper is easy.
Developing the proposal will require you to do some serious research up front in order to identify
your research question, specify hypotheses (both your own and others'), and come up with a
reasonable research design, including selecting appropriate comparison cases. You are strongly
advised to meet with me during office hours at least once before turning in the proposal.
Getting the proposal right the first time is not easy, especially if you haven’t written a major
research paper before. You will be allowed one rewrite, due by via Canvas by 5pm on
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Tuesday, March 29. Your grade for the proposal will be the average of the grades for the
original and the rewrite.
Research findings presentation
During the last week of the course, each student will present his or her research findings to the
class. Because your actual papers will not be due until finals week, the findings may be
somewhat tentative. However, this is an ideal opportunity to receive feedback on potential
problems in time to correct them. Presentations should be no more than 10 minutes in length,
and will remind the audience of the research question and rationale for the study, the research
design, give an answer to the research question, and rebut possible counterarguments/alternative hypotheses.
Course Readings
The books listed below are available for purchase at the Penn Book Center. They can also be
found in the Rosengarten Reserve at Van Pelt Library.
• Francis Castles, Stephan Leibfried, Jane Lewis, Herbert Obinger and Christopher Pierson,
eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State (New York: Oxford University Press,
2010) [Chapters are also available in electronic format from the Penn library web site]
• T. R. Reid. The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer
Health Care. (New York: Penguin, 2009).
• Janet Gornick and Marcia Meyers, eds. Gender Equality: Transforming the Family
Division of Labor (New York, NY: Verso, 2009)
All other readings will be available on the course Blackboard site.
Graduate students may also wish to purchase many of the books suggested as supplementary
reading. The readings for graduate students are suggested ADDITIONAL readings. They do not
need to be completed in the week for which they are assigned, but they are essential readings for
doctoral and masters students interested in gaining foundational knowledge.
Doing the readings
When you read, please be sure to take note of the year of publication; the author’s/authors’
name(s), gender(s), and number; and do your best to figure out who these people are. Are they
politicians or policy actors? Journalists? Academics? If so, what discipline? Google is your
friend.
I strongly encourage you to form reading/discussion groups to share notes and critical
summaries, and to discuss the assigned readings outside of class. Students who do this
generally do very well in the course, while those who attempt to go it alone have much more
trouble participating effectively and writing high-quality papers.
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Schedule of readings
Week 1 (Jan 14)
Introduction
Week 2 (Jan 21)
Where do welfare states come from?
• OH Chapter 5 “The Emergence of the Western Welfare State” (Stein Kuhnle and Anne
Sander)
• Karl Polanyi. The Great Transformation (Boston: Beacon Press, 2001), Chapters 6, 7
• Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward. Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public
Welfare (New York: Vintage Books, 1971), Chapter 1.
• T.H. Marshall. “Citizenship and Social Class,” Chapter 4 in Class, Citizenship and
Social Development: Essays by T.H. Marshall (Anchor Books, 1965)
Graduate students:
• Peter Baldwin. The Politics of Social Solidarity: Class Bases in the European Welfare
State, 1875-1975 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990)
Week 3 (Jan 28)
Varieties of the post-war welfare state
§ Gøsta Esping-Andersen. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1990) Chapters 1-3
§ Ann Shola Orloff. Gender and the Social Rights of Citizenship: The Comparative
Analysis of Gender Relations and Welfare States. American Sociological Review 58:3
(1993), pp. 303-28.
§ Maurizio Ferrera, “The ‘Southern Model’ of the Welfare State in Europe” Journal of
European Social Policy (1996).
• OECD. “How Much Redistribution Do Governments Achieve? The Role of Cash
Transfers and Household Taxes”, in OECD Growing Unequal? Income Distribution and
Poverty in OECD Countries (Paris: OECD Publishing, 2008) [SKIM]
Graduate students:
• Esping-Andersen, entire.
Week 4 (Feb 4)
Forces shaping post-war welfare states
• Gøsta Esping-Andersen and Walter Korpi, "Social Policy as Class Politics in Post-War
Capitalism: Scandinavia, Austria, and Germany," in John Goldthorpe (ed.) Order and
Conflict in Contemporary Capitalism, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984), pp. 179208.
• Cathie Jo Martin and Duane Swank (2012). The Political Construction of Business
Interests: Coordination, Growth and Equality. NY: Cambridge University Press.
Chapter 2.
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Kees van Kersbergen. “Social Capitalism and Christian Democracy,” in Social
Capitalism: A Study of Christian Democracy and the Welfare State. (New York:
Routledge, 1995), Chapter 8
Andrea Campbell. “Policy Feedbacks and the Impact of Policy Designs on Public
Opinion.” Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 36:6 (2011)
Graduate students:
• Julia Lynch. Age in the Welfare State: The Origins of Social Spending on Pensioners,
Workers, and Children (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006).
Week 5 (Feb 11): NO CLASS – READ ON YOUR OWN
What do welfare states do?
• OH Chapter 31 “Social Assistance” (Thomas Bahle, Michaela Pfeifer and Claus Wendt)
• OH Chapter 24 “Old-Age Pensions” (Karl Hinrichs and Julia Lynch)
• OH Chapter 28 “Disability” (Mark Priestly)
• OH Chapter 29 “Unemployment Benefits” (Ola Sjöberg, Joakim Palme, and Eero
Carroll)
• OH Chapter 25 “Health” (Richard Freeman and Heinz Rothgang)
• OH Chapter 30 “Labor Market Activation” (Lane Kenworthy)
• OH Chapter 32 “Family Benefits and Services” (Jonathan Bradshaw and Naomi Finch)
• OH Chapter 33 “Housing” (Tony Fahy and Michelle Norris)
• OH Chapter 34 “Education” (Marius Busemeyer and Rita Nikolai)
Week 6 (Feb 18)
Forces shaping contemporary welfare states
• Paul Pierson. “Post-Industrial Pressures on Mature Welfare States” in Paul Pierson, ed.
The New Politics of the Welfare State (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000)
• Torben Iversen and Ann Wren. “Equality, Employment, and Budgetary Restraint: The
Trilemma of the Service Economy.” World Politics 50:4 (1998)
• OH Chapter 22 “Globalization” (Duane Swank)
• Will Kymlicka and Keith Banting. “Immigration, Multiculturalism and the Welfare
State.” Ethics and International Affairs 20:3 (2006)
Graduate students:
• Paul Pierson. Dismantling the Welfare State? Reagan, Thatcher, and the Politics of
Retrenchment (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994).
Week 7 (Feb 25)
The Exceptional American Welfare State?
• Julia Lynch. “A Cross-National Perspective on the American Welfare State.” In The
Oxford Handbook of U.S. Social Policy, ed. Béland D, Howard C, and Morgan K. Oxford
University Press.
• Sven Steinmo “American Exceptionalism Reconsidered: Culture or Institutions?” in:
Larry Dodd and Calvin Jillson (eds.), The Dynamics of American Politics: Approaches
and Interpretations (1994)
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Joe Soss, Richard Fording, and Sanford F Schram. Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberal
Paternalism and the Persistent Power of Race. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
2011. Chapters 1 and 3.
Graduate students:
• Jacob Hacker. The Divided Welfare State: The Battle over Public and Private Social
Benefits in the United States (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002).
Week 8 (Mar 3)
Gender and family policies
• OH Chapter 9 “Families versus State and Market” (Mary Daly)
• Janet Gornick and Marcia Meyers, eds. Gender Equality: Transforming the Family
Division of Labor (New York, NY: Verso, 2009), Chapters 1 (Gornick and Meyers), 6
(Orloff), 10 (Zippel), 14 (Morgan).
Graduate students:
• Kimberly Morgan. Working Mothers and the Welfare State: Religion and the Politics of
Work-Family Policies in Western Europe and the United States (Stanford University
Press, 2006).
RESEARCH PROPOSALS DUE VIA CANVAS AT 5PM ON TUESDAY, MARCH 15
Week 9 (Mar 17)
Health and Health Care
• Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. The Spirit Level. New York: Bloomsbury (2009),
Chapter 3
• T. R. Reid. The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer
Health Care. New York: Penguin, 2009. Chapters 1, 2, 4, 7, 8.
• Jo Phelan, Bruce Link, and Parisa Tehranifar. "Social conditions as fundamental
causes of health inequalities theory, evidence, and policy implications." Journal of
Health and Social Behavior 51.1 suppl (2010): S28-S40.
• Jacob Hacker. “The Historical Logic of National Health Insurance: Structure and
Sequence in the Development of British, Canadian, and U.S. Medical Policy.” Studies in
American Political Development. 12:1 (2008)
Graduate students:
• Ellen Immergut. Health Politics, Interests and Institutions in Western Europe (New
York: Cambridge University Press, 1992).
Week 10 (Mar 24)
Housing
• Bo Bengtsson. "Housing as a social right: implications for welfare state
theory." Scandinavian Political Studies 24:4 (2001): 255-275.
• John Doling and Richard Ronald. “Home ownership and asset-based welfare.” Journal of
Housing and the Built Environment, 25 (2010): 165-173.
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Caroline Dewilde and Peter Raeymaeckers. “The trade off between home ownership and
pensions: the individual and institutional determinant of old-age poverty.” Ageing and
Society, 28 (2008), 805–830.
Peter Kemp. "Private Renting After the Global Financial Crisis." Housing Studies aheadof-print (2015): 1-20.
Graduate students:
• Mark Kleinman. Housing, welfare, and the state in Europe: a comparative analysis of
Britain, France, and Germany. Edward Elgar, 1996.
REVISED RESEARCH PROPOSALS DUE VIA CANVAS AT 5PM ON TUESDAY,
MARCH 29.
Week 11 (Mar 31)
Education and training
• Torben Iversen and John Stephens. "Partisan politics, the welfare state, and three worlds
of human capital formation." Comparative Political Studies 41, no. 4-5 (2008): 600-637.
• Jutta Allmendinger and Stephan Leibfried. "Education and the welfare state: the four
worlds of competence production." Journal of European social policy13, no. 1 (2003):
63-81.
• Kathleen Thelen. "Contemporary challenges to the German vocational training
system." Regulation & Governance 1, no. 3 (2007): 247-260.
• Ben Ansell. "University challenges: Explaining institutional change in higher
education." World Politics 60, no. 02 (2008): 189-230.
Graduate students:
• Kathleen Thelen. Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity.
(New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014).
Week 12 (Apr 7)
The future of the welfare state
• Barbara Vis, Kees van Kersbergen and Tom Hylands. “To What Extent Did the Financial
Crisis Intensify the Pressure to Reform the Welfare State?” Social Policy &
Administration 45:4 (2011): 338-353
• Silja Häusermann and Bruno Palier. "The politics of employment-friendly welfare
reforms in post-industrial economies." Socio-Economic Review 6:3 (2008): 559-586.
• Jacob Hacker. “Universal Insurance: Enhancing Economic Security to Promote
Opportunity” (Washington, DC: Brookings, 2006)
• Darrick Hamilton and William Darity Jr. "Can ‘baby bonds’ eliminate the racial wealth
gap in putative post-racial America?" The Review of Black Political Economy 37:3-4
(2010): 207-216.
Graduate students:
• Silja Häusermann. The Politics of Welfare State Reform in Continental Europe:
Modernization in Hard Times (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010).
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Week 13 (Apr 14): NO CLASS
Week 14 (Apr 21): EXTENDED CLASS
Paper presentations
Final papers due on May 6
Turn in papers to my mailbox in the Political Science department office at 3440 Market St, Suite
300 by 4pm (after that the office doors will be locked).