The Political Sociology of the Welfare State - Institutions, Social Cleavages, and Orientations (Hardcover, World)

"Drawing on survey data, this remarkably coherent volume is a must read for anyone interested in the politics of the welfare state in advanced capitalist countries. How do welfare systems and other national-level institutions affect the salience of social class for individual attitudes? In addressing this question, the contributors also explore how the process of welfare-state retrenchment over the last twenty years has affected the salience of social class. Methodologically, the volume provides state-of-the-art examples of how to model the interaction of individual-level and system-level effects. The volume offers up many fascinating insights about the determinants of individual attitudes towards inequality and the public provision of social welfare."
--Jonas Pontusson, Princeton University
"The Political Sociology of the Welfare State assembles innovative analyses about mechanisms linking political institutions, social cleavages, and citizen orientations. The general approach is new and original: it highlights feedback effects of institutions and public policies in comparative perspective. The rigorous and systematic attempt to combine micro- and macro- data makes this book a 'must-read' for all those interested in the future development of political sociology." --Hans-Dieter Klingemann, Professor of Political Science, Social Science Research Center, Berlin, Germany