Pleasing the Middle Class? Discussing the Optionalisation of the Universal Welfare State

In the last decades, the universal welfare state as realised in the Nordic countries of Europe seems to have undergone significant changes. A particularly remarkable transformation was the introduction of choice options, with some observers even speaking about a “choice revolution” with respect to central welfare policies. While within social science literature this transformation is regularly related to the crucial role of the middle class within the welfare state, there are different interpretations with regard to the configuration of this interdependency: some observers argue that the “marketization” of welfare services undermines the very idea of the universal welfare state with its emphasis on de-commodification and its dictum to minimize differences between social strata. In this sense, the introduction of choice options illegitimately favours the specific interests of middle class members. Others, however, see the freedom of choice between different welfare agents as a development perfectly in line with the institutional logic of the universal welfare state.