Capitalism, Democracy, and Welfare [Hardcover]

This book, first published in 2005, offers a comprehensive political economy approach to the study of the welfare state and inequality.Markets, especially global ones, are widely assumed to be antithetical to a generous welfare state. This book shows why this is not necessarily the case. Based on the key idea that social protection in a modern economy, both inside and outside the state, can be understood as protection of specific investments in human capital, the book offers a systematic explanation of popular preferences for redistributive spending, the economic role of political parties and electoral systems, and labor market stratification (including gender inequality).Markets, especially global ones, are widely assumed to be antithetical to a generous welfare state. This book shows why this is not necessarily the case. Based on the key idea that social protection in a modern economy, both inside and outside the state, can be understood as protection of specific investments in human capital, the book offers a systematic explanation of popular preferences for redistributive spending, the economic role of political parties and electoral systems, and labor market stratification (including gender inequality).Based on the key idea that social protection in a modern economy, both inside and outside the state, can be understood as protection of specific investments in human capital, Torben Iversen offers a systematic explanation of popular preferences for redistributive spending, the economic role of political parties and electoral systems, and labor market stratification (including gender inequality). Contrary to the popular idea that competition in the global economy undermines international differences in the level of social protection, Iversen argues that these differences are actually made possible by a high international division of labor.Part I. Welfare Production Regimes: 1. A political economy approach to the welfare state; 2. A brief analytical history of modelé