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The Political Economy of Governance Capacity and Institutional Change: The Case of Basic Income Security Reform in European Welfare States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2019

Louise Haagh
Louise Haagh*
Affiliation:
Department of Politics, University of York, UK E-mail: louise.haagh@york.ac.uk
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Abstract

This article will situate public debates about – and experiments in features of – basic income within European countries in the context of welfare state crisis and change. Treating access to basic income security as a policy problem, I argue basic income policy debate highlights the need for multi-level and multifactorial analysis of public governance capacity as a key factor in driving the relationship of basic income with welfare state transformation. Drawing on the cases within this themed section, I attempt to tease out what comparatively are long-run conditions for basic income within state and society, and what are the political and institutional trade-offs at the current juncture. Exploring contributing determinants of governance corrosion and adaptation of public economic security structures under globalisation contributes to deepen our understanding of contemporary patterns of institutional change.

Keywords

Governance capacityliberalisationinstitutional changedemocratisationbasic income experiments
Type
Themed Section: Basic Income in European Welfare States: Opportunities and Constraints
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , April 2019 , pp. 243 - 263
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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