Public Opinion and the Politics of Retrenchment

Abstract

Public opinion plays a central role in the Politics of Retrenchment. However, most of the empirical research in this area has been focused on the institutional actors that mobilize public opinion, but much less attention has been paid to the dynamics of public opinion itself. It is mostly assumed that cutbacks in welfare policies tend to be unpopular and strongly opposed by public opinion. Supporting this idea, empirical research using survey data has shown repeatedly over the last decades that public support for welfare policies remains at high levels in most of the European countries. Nevertheless, we have seen that public opinion reacts in many different and subtle ways to retrenchment, depending on the countries and the policies under pressure, though survey data about preferences for reforms is scarce. For these reasons, we need to have a better understanding of public preferences about retrenchment from a comparative perspective. Theoretically, it is important to connect the Politics of Retrenchment with the growing literature on preferences for redistribution and welfare policies. Empirically, we need to know under what circumstances we should expect to observe a majority supporting reform programs. The panel will address the reactions of public opinion to the Politics of Retrenchment. We welcome both theoretical and empirical contributions. Theoretical works are expected to deal with the institutional or structural factors that shape public opinion, but also with the psychological aspects of preferences formation. Empirical works using either quantitative or qualitative approaches that focus on public preferences toward reform in any field of the welfare policies can be submitted. Both case studies and comparative studies analyzing the effects of contextual variables are of great interest.

Title	Details
From ''Marx'' to the Market. The Intra-Party balance of Power and why Social Democrats introduce Welfare State Retrenchment	View Paper Details
Does Successful Retrenchment Depend on Convincing Policies, Party Political Consensus or Public Acceptance? Overcoming Reform Resistance through	View Paper Details
Class, Skills and the Support for Social Protection	View Paper Details
Where we’ve Been and where we’re Going: How National Legacies shape Beliefs about Redistribution	View Paper Details
Equity, Equality, or Need? A Multilevel Analysis of Preferences for Redistributive Justice Principles in 25 European Welfare States	View Paper Details
The Intergenerational Social Contract Revisited: Cross-National Perspectives	View Paper Details