This paper traces the social construction of a new public policy goal in the Dutch pension system. In recent year, a host of proposals for reform of the Dutch pension system have emerged in the public sphere. Many of the new policy proposals revolve around the introduction of freedom of choice in the occupational pension system: giving workers and employers more of an individual say on how and where they save for their retirement. This is a radical departure from the existing occupational pension system, in which Dutch workers are automatically enrolled in industry-wide pension funds, while the details of the pension plan are defined by the social partners through the collective bargaining process. Based on a content analysis of media sources and public policy documents, the paper shows how the new “freedom of choice” policy paradigm has been constructed through the careful mobilization of public opinion in the mass media since the mid-1990s. The research shows how demands for more freedom of choice with regards to pensions have been predominantly advanced by a small group of academic experts, industry officials and political representatives. Largely absent are the voices of Dutch citizens and representatives from the social partners. The public policy paradigm of freedom of choice is therefore constructed largely outside traditional class coalitions in Dutch politics and seems disconnected from broad-based popular support. The paper fits well with existing studies on 21st century welfare states, in particular research that emphasizes the introduction of more individual responsibility in existing welfare schemes and the delegation of public responsibilities to private actors; the emergence of new political cleavages (old versus young, capital owners versus managers and workers) in Western Europe; and political economic analyses of European pension politics.
