Camila Arza - Böcker

This new book provides a cross-country comparative analysis of the key issues shaping the latest pension reforms in Europe: political games, welfare models and pathways, population reactions, and observed and expected outcomes.Pension reform has been a top policy priority for European governments in the last decade. Ageing populations, changing labour market patterns and the process of European integration are the ‘irresistible forces’ pushing for reform throughout the region. The Political Economy of Pension Reform evaluates the political forces that make pension reform viable in different national and institutional contexts and the nature of political bargains, actors and cleavages surrounding policy change. The volume also examines the nature and outcomes of pension reform experiences in Europe, searching for a solution to the financial challenge posed by growing pension budgets. By addressing the nature of change, the pathways of reform, and the outcomes of the new pension mix in the region, the authors conclude with an analysis of people’s perceptions and attitudes towards pension policy and their acceptance or otherwise of different reform options. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international political economy, European politics, and social policy.

This new book provides a cross-country comparative analysis of the key issues shaping the latest pension reforms in Europe: political games, welfare models and pathways, population reactions, and observed and expected outcomes.Pension reform has been a top policy priority for European governments in the last decade. Ageing populations, changing labour market patterns and the process of European integration are the ‘irresistible forces’ pushing for reform throughout the region. The Political Economy of Pension Reform evaluates the political forces that make pension reform viable in different national and institutional contexts and the nature of political bargains, actors and cleavages surrounding policy change. The volume also examines the nature and outcomes of pension reform experiences in Europe, searching for a solution to the financial challenge posed by growing pension budgets. By addressing the nature of change, the pathways of reform, and the outcomes of the new pension mix in the region, the authors conclude with an analysis of people’s perceptions and attitudes towards pension policy and their acceptance or otherwise of different reform options. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international political economy, European politics, and social policy.

The early 2000s were a period of social policy expansion in Latin America. New programs were created in healthcare, pensions, and social assistance, and previously excluded groups were incorporated into existing policies. What was the character of this social policy expansion? Why did the region experience this transformation? Drawing on a large body of research, this Element shows that the social policy gains in the early 2000s remained segmented, exhibiting differences in access and benefit levels, gaps in service quality, and unevenness across policy sectors. It argues that this segmented expansion resulted from a combination of short and long-term characteristics of democracy, favorable economic conditions, and policy legacies. The analysis reveals that scholars of Latin American social policy have generated important new concepts and theories that advance our understanding of perennial questions of welfare state development and change.

Los primeros años del siglo XXI fueron un período de expansión de la política social en América Latina. Se crearon nuevos programas en salud, jubilaciones y pensiones, y asistencia social, y se incorporaron grupos previamente excluidos de las políticas existentes. ¿Cuál fue el carácter de esta expansión de la política social? ¿Por qué experimentó la región esta transformación? A partir de una revisión de un amplio número de artículos y libros, mostramos que los avances de la política social en la primera década del siglo XXI se mantuvieron segmentados, con diferencias en los niveles de acceso y beneficio, brechas en la calidad de los servicios y disparidad entre los sectores de política. Argumentamos que esta "expansión segmentada" fue el resultado de una combinación de características de la democracia a corto y largo plazo, condiciones económicas favorables y legados de política. El análisis revela que quienes estudian la política social latinoamericana han generado nuevos conceptos e importantes teorías que propician nuestra comprensión de las constantes preguntas sobre el desarrollo y el cambio del estado de bienestar.