In this paper Esping-Andersen’s “The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism” will be illustrated followed by an discussion which is concerned with an empirical critique that refers to the number of welfare-state regimes Esping-Andersen suggests.
Since the end of the 20th century, welfare states emerged in every industrialized society to protect its citizens against certain risks and disadvantages. The national differences of these social protection systems are admittedly considerable. This diversity has been ever since an issue for historical and social science and poses challenging questions: What are the differences of the different nation systems? Where do they come from – do they exist due to political, cultural or economic reasons?
In 1990 Gøsta Esping-Andersen published “The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism” which became a milestone concerning the field of comparative welfare state research. Since the The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism was published, it is extremely difficult to find even one article on welfare states in which Esping-Andersen’s approach is not at least mentioned. Reams of reviews, articles, critiques and additions were composed. An issue that is discussed ever since and which is still a topic of controversial debates is the number of regime types which should be distinguished. As the title already shows, Esping-Andersen suggests three distinctive welfare-types, but his empirical argumentation in particular caused a debate concerning the actual number of types.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- Comparative Research
- The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism
- De-commodification
- Social Stratification
- The Three Welfare State Regimes
- The social democratic regime type
- The conservative regime type
- The liberal regime type
- Conclusion
- Critique
- Three welfare-state regimes?
- Drawing conclusions
- Problems of empirical identification
- Conclusion
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This paper aims to illustrate Esping-Andersen's "The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism" and discuss an empirical critique that questions the number of welfare state regimes proposed. The paper will examine the concept of de-commodification and social stratification as they relate to Esping-Andersen's framework, explore the three ideal-typical regime types, and then analyze the critique offered by Obinger and Wagschal (1998).
- The emergence and differences of welfare state systems across industrialized nations
- Esping-Andersen's "The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism" and its contribution to comparative welfare state research
- The concepts of de-commodification and social stratification in shaping welfare state regimes
- The three ideal-typical regime types: social democratic, conservative, and liberal
- An empirical critique of Esping-Andersen's approach and its implications for the number of regime types
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Introduction: The paper introduces the topic of welfare states, highlighting the differences between social protection systems in various industrialized nations. It presents Esping-Andersen's "The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism" as a landmark work in comparative welfare state research, specifically addressing the debate surrounding the number of distinct welfare state regime types.
- Comparative Research: This chapter discusses the importance of comparative social science in cross-national studies, focusing on its application to welfare state analysis. It highlights the challenges and limitations of traditional approaches to comparative research, including the tendency to focus on expenditure levels without considering structural features. Esping-Andersen's work is presented as a significant departure from previous approaches.
- The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism: This section introduces Esping-Andersen's framework for understanding welfare states. It outlines the concepts of de-commodification, which refers to the degree to which individuals are protected from market dependency, and social stratification, which examines the ways in which welfare systems reinforce or mitigate social inequalities. These concepts form the foundation for Esping-Andersen's three regime types.
- The Three Welfare State Regimes: This chapter delves into the three ideal-typical regimes proposed by Esping-Andersen: the social democratic, the conservative, and the liberal regime types. It examines the key characteristics of each regime, including their respective approaches to de-commodification and social stratification.
- Critique: This section presents the critique offered by Obinger and Wagschal (1998) regarding Esping-Andersen's statistical approach to identifying welfare state regimes. It explores the arguments for and against the critique, examining its validity and its potential impact on Esping-Andersen's theoretical framework.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The primary keywords and focus topics of this paper include welfare states, comparative research, de-commodification, social stratification, regime types, social democratic, conservative, liberal, empirical critique, Obinger and Wagschal, Esping-Andersen, and "The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism." These keywords represent the core themes and concepts explored in the paper, including the theoretical framework, empirical analysis, and debate surrounding the classification of welfare state systems.
- Quote paper
- Valentin Marquardt (Author), 2008, Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism? , Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/91653
