Hardback
Post-Communist Welfare States in European Context
Patterns of Welfare Policies in Central and Eastern Europe
9781784711979 Edward Elgar Publishing
This is the first book providing a comprehensive and systematic empirical assessment of the post-communist welfare states in Central and Eastern Europe in the context of their Western European counterparts. Based on the classical typologies of welfare regimes, the study systematically compares 26 European welfare states across three empirical dimensions. This way, the book sheds light on the hybrid patterns of welfare policies in post-communist countries, as they have emerged after the period of transformation, and discusses their future challenges.
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Critical Acclaim
Contents
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Welfare reforms in post-communist countries are determined by economic and social hardship, democratization of the political systems and rapid structural change. This groundbreaking book provides a comprehensive and systematic empirical assessment of the Central and Eastern European post-communist welfare states in the context of their Western European counterparts.
Basing the study on new data on welfare entitlements and cluster analysis, Kati Kuitto systematically compares 26 European welfare states across three empirical dimensions. The author employs a multidimensional framework to analyze patterns of welfare policies and highlight spending priorities, financing and the generosity of welfare entitlements. Kati Kuitto thus sheds light on the hybrid patterns of welfare policies in post-communist countries as they have emerged after the period of transformation and discusses their future challenges.
Unique and comprehensive, this is essential reading for researchers in the fields of comparative welfare state research and Central and Eastern European studies, as well as students and practitioners of social policy, social security and political economy.
Basing the study on new data on welfare entitlements and cluster analysis, Kati Kuitto systematically compares 26 European welfare states across three empirical dimensions. The author employs a multidimensional framework to analyze patterns of welfare policies and highlight spending priorities, financing and the generosity of welfare entitlements. Kati Kuitto thus sheds light on the hybrid patterns of welfare policies in post-communist countries as they have emerged after the period of transformation and discusses their future challenges.
Unique and comprehensive, this is essential reading for researchers in the fields of comparative welfare state research and Central and Eastern European studies, as well as students and practitioners of social policy, social security and political economy.
Critical Acclaim
‘Methodologically rigorous and geographically exhaustive, Post-Communist Welfare States in European Context is an insightful empirical analysis of social policy patterns in Central and Eastern Europe. It is a must-read for everyone interested in comparing hybrid emerging social protection models in the divergent new Europe with established worlds of welfare in Western Europe. Kati Kuitto has written a state-of-the-art study in comparative welfare, emphasizing regime change and variability over regime coherence and stability.’
– Pieter Vanhuysse, University of Southern Denmark
– Pieter Vanhuysse, University of Southern Denmark
Contents
Contents: 1. Introduction PART I THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS 2. Welfare State Development in the Post-communist Transition 3. Welfare Systems in Comparison – A Theoretical Framework PART II EMPIRICAL PATTERNS OF WELFARE POLICIES IN CEE AND WESTERN EUROPEAN WELFARE STATES 4. Research Design 5. Empirical Analysis: Emerging Patterns of Welfare Policies in the CEE Countries 6. Conclusion – From Makeshift Social Security to Sustainable Welfare Policies? Index
