How Welfare States Shape the Democratic Public

In democracies, the attitudes and behaviour of citizens should influence future public policies. Yet in some instances the reverse of this is true, and public attitudes and behaviour are in fact the result of past policies.

Staffan Kumlin and Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen bring together political scientists and sociologists from different and frequently separated research communities to examine policy feedback in European welfare states. In doing so, they offer a rich menu of methodological approaches. The book demonstrates how long-term policy legacies and short-term policy changes affect the public, but also shows that such processes are contingent on individual characteristics and political context.

This comprehensive study will appeal to academics interested in political behaviour and attitudes, or in welfare state policy and its consequences for national societies and economies. It will also be of value to policy intellectuals and activists involved in the politics of the welfare state.