The Crisis Imperative : : Crisis Rhetoric and Welfare State Reform in Belgium and the Netherlands in the Early 1990s / / Sanneke Kuipers.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter AUP eBook Package Backfile 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Kuipers, Sanneke,
• Place / Publishing House: Amsterdam : : Amsterdam University Press, , [2005]; ©2006
• Year of Publication: 2005
• Language: English
• Series: Changing Welfare States ; 6
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (232 p.)

Belgium and the Netherlands were perfect examples of the "welfare without work" policy that characterized European welfare states - until a political crisis in both countries during the early 1990s produced a surprising divergence in administration. While Belgium's government announced major reforms, its social security policy remained relatively resilient. In the Netherlands, however, policymakers implemented unprecedented cutbacks as well as a major overhaul of the disability benefits program. The Crisis Imperative explains this difference as the result of crisis rhetoric-that is, the deliberate construction of a crisis as the imperative for change. It will be a valuable resource for policymakers, researchers, and anyone interested in welfare reform in the United States and abroad.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. The Crisis Imperative -- 2. Crisis and Change -- 3. Comparing Social Security Crises:Design and Method -- 4. "Nothing as Permanent as a Temporary Arrangement"1: Belgian Policy Making on Unemployment Benefits -- 5. Global Pacts and Crisis Plans -- 6. The Sticky State and the Dutch Disease -- 7. Crisis Narratives and Sweeping Reforms -- 8. The Politics of Crisis Construction -- Notes -- List of Abbreviations -- List of Interview Respondents -- Bibliography -- Index