Changing Political Economies and Welfare States

This section is part of a broader initiative of the new convenors of the Political Economy and Welfare State Standing Group (SG) to revive scholarly exchange on the group’s theme within the ECPR by engaging with how political economies and welfare states are changing and being challenged by recent economic and political developments, most notably the economic crisis, financialisation, the conflicting pressures on - and new visions of - the welfare state, and the rise of radical left and radical right populism. The first panel is entitled ‘New visions of the welfare state in the aftermath of the Economic Crisis’ (chair: Hanna Schwander, Hertie School of Governance). It plans to investigate the attitudes and preferences towards new visions of the welfare states, such as basic universal income, social investment policies, and welfare chauvinism. The second panel explores the nexus between finance and the welfare state (chairs: Daniel Mertens, Goethe University Frankfurt, and Natascha van der Zwan, Leiden University). It aims to analyse comparatively how the welfare state and the financial system are mutually intertwined, adopting a broader conception of finance which includes not just financial actors and their interest organizations, but also financial ideas and narratives. The third panel on the political economy of populism (chair: Tim Vlandas, University of Oxford) seeks to promote a more nuanced understanding of how economic and cultural factors, as well as welfare state policies, shape individual support for radical right and radical left populism. Taken together these three panels therefore address key challenges facing changing welfare states and political economies.