Welfare Democracies and Party Politics: Explaining Electoral Dynamics in Times of Changing Welfare: Introduction
Abstract
Bridging insights from comparative political economy, the study of welfare states, party politics, and electoral studies, the aim of this introductory chapter is to provide an analytical framework that locates Europe’s contemporary challenges within the longer economic and political trajectories of its “welfare democracies,” that is, by the way economies, labor markets, welfare states, and politics interact. The chapter argues that the reactions of countries to common challenges and changes are shaped by its model of welfare democracy. The chapter identifies four distinct welfare democracies and examines the systematic variation in the way political competition and voter–party links cluster across the four types. The chapter identifies the electoral dilemmas of center-left and center-right parties in a multidimensional space with volatile voter–party links, and how the strategic configuration and the rise of new challenger parties shape their responses to challenges and crises.