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Cited by 2,095

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 41 of the 41 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The New Politics of the Welfare State

Pierson, Paul·1996·World Politics

Abstract

This essay seeks to lay the foundation for an understanding of welfare state retrenchment. Previous discussions have generally relied, at least implicitly, on a reflexive application of theories designed to explain welfare state expansion. Such an approach is seriously flawed. Not only is the goal of retrenchment (avoiding blame for cutting existing programs) far different from the goal of expansion (claiming credit for new social benefits), but the welfare state itself vastly alters the terrain on which the politics of social policy is fought out. Only an appreciation of how mature social programs create a new politics can allow us to make sense of the welfare state's remarkable resilience over the past two decades of austerity. Theoretical argument is combined with quantitative and qualitative data from four cases (Britain, the United States, Germany, and Sweden) to demonstrate the shortcomings of conventional wisdom and to highlight the factors that limit or facilitate retrenchment success.

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Metadata

Authors
Pierson, P.
Venue
World Politics
Publisher
Project MUSE
Published
1996-01
Volume
48
Issue
2
Pages
143-179
ISSN
  • 0043-8871 (ISSN-L)
  • 1086-3338
OpenAlex
W4292280330
Cited by
2,095
References
41
FWCI
63.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: The New Politics of the Welfare State. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1353/wp.1996.0004
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Pierson, P. (1996). The New Politics of the Welfare State. World Politics. https://doi.org/10.1353/wp.1996.0004

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