Rescaling of Social Welfare Policies
A Comparative Study on the Path Towards Multi-level Governance in Europe
 


09/2005 - 10/2008

Contact: Kai Leichsenring

Aims
The aim of this project is to improve the information and knowledge base for assessing intended and unintended consequences of policies concerning multi-level governance (centralization/decentralization) in social welfare domains such as social assistance and local policies against poverty, employment policies, care for the elderly, and inclusion policies for migrants. The project describes different strategies and solutions in European countries which are facing similar challenges and could thus learn from each other.
A team of experts from 8 European countries, representing different welfare regimes and geographical areas, was gathered by July 2005 (kick-off meeting, Vienna).
The project had originally been designed for a period of 30 months. The final conference took place from 13-14 November 2008 in Lucerne (Switzerland).

Results
During the first project period (September 2005 - June 2006), national reports describing changes in multi-level governance and respective realities in the participating countries since the late 1980s were provided by the national teams. Different approaches, traditions and meanings of decentralization and governance structures in the context of welfare policies were identified as well as the different stakeholders (central state, regional, local, private, non-profit) and their role in financing (taxation, purchasing), decision-making, planning and providing.

During the second phase of the project (July 2006 - September 2007) the national teams investigated on single results of these processes (shifts in responsibilities between different governance levels) by means of case-studies (vignettes) to retrieve changes and their impact on welfare state clients in different policy areas (social assistance, unemployment, long-term care).

In the last phase (October 2007 - November 2008) results were discussed in the context of various transversal and transnational issues that had been identified: changes in social welfare policies and regimes, participation and rights of clients, working conditions of professionals, equality/inequality with respect to particular groups at risk etc. Following the final conference in Lucerne (Switzerland), transnational teams elaborated on a final publication which was scheduled for summer 2010.

Project partners / co-organizers: Hochschule für Soziale Arbeit Luzern (Switzerland), IMSERSO (Spain), Institut d études Politiques de Strasbourg and Centre d étude de l emploi (France), National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (Finland), University of Urbino (Italy), Oslo University College (Norway), The Gdansk Institute for Market Economics and the Institute for the Development of Social Services (Poland), The Institute for Future Studies and Stockholm University (Sweden)
Head of project EC: Kai Leichsenring
Scientific coordinator: Yuri Kazepov
Project team EC: Flip Maas, Bernd Marin, Mattia Makovec, Asghar Zaidi, Mercedes Gonzalez-Quijano (Administration)
Financed by: Finland, Norway, Sweden, France, Spain, Poland, Switzerland, European Centre