The Moral Economy of Welfare States: Britain and Germany compared

The welfare state can be regarded as the major institutional arrangement of western societies that contributes to a socially accepted allocation of resources amongst the members of a given society. It is a means by which the political sphere re-balances intolerable inequalities and outcomes that have occurred within the market. For this purpose, a significant proportion of income must be transferred between individuals and social groups. Most welfare measures, therefore, are redistributive measures that aim at achieving a distribution of societal resources that is preferable to the primary distribution of the market. However, raising money for welfare obje__ c_ tiv_e s needs to he justimfieendts ,c oannstadn tLgyo_lviaever tno cnoviiicethe- ir electorate that the interventionist activities are in accord with their interests.--1 Introduction --2 Self-interest and pocket-book attitudes Beneficial involvement 5 --Rising demands and ungovernability 7 --Legitimation crisis: value for meaning 9 --The welfare backlash and a rational opposition 12 --Entrenched interests and 'varieties of capitalism' 14 --Policy reform: designing institutions for knaves 17 --3 The admixture of motives: broadening the perspective --Preference formation beyond self-interest 21 --Institutions: material incentives and social norms 27 --The moral economy of welfare state institutions 31 --The homo reciprocus 35 --Policy designs and the repertoire of motives 38 --Summary 41 --4 An analytical framework --VVelfare institutions and public attitudes 43 --Survey data and methods 47 --5 The state of welfare 55 —-A comparative framework 55 --The welfare legacy in Britain 60 --The welfare legacy in Germany 71 --Welfare regimes and their moral economies: some preliminary thoughts 81 --6 The logic of popular support for welfare schemes and their objectives 88 --Redistribution in our heads: givers and takers 89 --The two moralities of giving assistance to the poor 110 --Unemployment provision: the messy contract 127 --Old age: transfers from the active to the inactive 147 --Health: risk distribution and cost sharing 166 --7 The moral economy revisited 185 --Notes 198 --Bibliography 208 --Index 232Published version of EUI PhD thesis, 200