The politics of justification : : party competition and welfare-state retrenchment in Denmark and the Netherlands from 1982 to 1998 / / Christoffer Green-Pedersen.

• VerfasserIn: Green-Pedersen, Christoffer,
• Place / Publishing House: Amsterdam : : Amsterdam University Press,, 2002.
• Year of Publication: 2002
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Changing Welfare States
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (207 pages) :; digital, PDF file(s).
• Notes: Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 15 Jan 2021).
• Other title: Front matter --; Acknowledgments --; Contents --; List of abbreviations --; 1. Introduction --; 2. From theories of expansion to theories of retrenchment --; 3. A framework for government choice on retrenchment --; 4. Research strategy and research design --; 5. Retrenchments in Denmark and the Netherlands --; 6. Dutch Politics and welfare-state retrenchment. How party competition produced consensus --; 7. Danish politics and welfare-state retrenchment: The difficulties of a right-wing government and the possibilities of a left-wing government --; 8. The evidence on balance and some quibbles --; 9. Party politics matter - summary and implications --; Appendix --; Summary --; Notes --; References --; Index
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• ISBN: 1280958847; 9786610958849; 9048505151; 0585496447
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Christoffer Green-Pedersen.

Christoffer Green-Pedersen's insightful examination of political party strategy in Europe reveals strong links between party consensus and policy retrenchment, arguing that the former allows governments to frame retrenchment in a way that justifies it to the electorate. In the Netherlands, Green-Pedersen shows, such consensus emerged in the mid-1980s, allowing the government to implement a number of welfare retrenchments; in Denmark, consensus did not emerge until the Social Democratic Party re-entered government in 1993, leading to less welfare-state retrenchment than in the Netherlands.