The "Ugly" Bismarckian Welfare State: A Standard Narrative in Social Policy

The book “The Three World of Welfare Capitalism” (Esping-Andersen 1990) established a perspective of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” in comparative welfare state research. In a nutshell, the Bismarckian welfare state plays the part of the ugly, while the Scandinavian welfare state always acts as the good and the liberal welfare state as the bad (Manow 2002). Through this distinction, the discipline has developed a global meta-narrative that shapes interpretations of welfare state institutions and their reform perspectives in a considerable way. The aim of the paper is to reveal the analytical components of this narrative, and to critically put them to the test based on empirical case studies. In the first part, the paper reconstructs the narrative as a complex 'family saga' in which the Bismarckian welfare state can never play the role of the hero, but is always forced by both its supporters and opponents into a situation in which he cannot win. Here we draw on narrative approaches in theories of the policy process, as well as literary plot analyses inspired from historical analysis. In the second part, in a first step, the effectiveness of the narrative of the “ugly” Bismarckian welfare state is demonstrated by applying it to the reform trajectories of two Bismarckian welfare states, focusing on the policy sector of old-age. In a second step, alternative narratives are constructed inductively, based on an analysis of the actual trajectories of Bismarckian welfare states. It will be highlighted why Bismarckian systems are being maintained or even expanded despite the fact that their narrative of “the ugly” is disastrous for the legitimation of the welfare state. While most research on narratives in the policy process focuses on narratives as the object of study, this paper focuses on the use of narratives as a research strategy. Against this background, narratives constitute an epistemological category which puts forward a particular approach on the research subject, the empirical analysis, as well as how the results of the analysis are eventually presented (Biegoń and Nullmeier 2014). Conceptualizing theoretical approaches as narratives can thus enrich our understanding of the (temporal) context within which narratives were established, as well as the mechanisms which are theorized within this narrative. At the same time, these analytical tools can also be fruitfully applied for studying narratives in the policy process. Biegoń, D. and Nullmeier, F. (2014). Narrationen über Narrationen. Stellenwert und Methodologie der Narrationsanalyse. In: F. Gadinger, S. Jarzebski and T. Yildiz (eds.): Politische Narrative. Wiesbaden, Springer VS, pp. 39-65. Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge, Polity Press. Manow, P. (2002). The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Esping-Andersens Sozialstaats-Typologie und die konfessionellen Wurzeln des westlichen Wohlfahrtsstaats. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 54 (2), pp. 203–225.