Ageing populations in post-industrial democracies

Comparative studies of policies and politics

AUTHORS

 Achim Goerres

PUBLICATION YEAR

2012

CITATION

Vanhuysse, P. & Goerres, A. (Eds.) (2012). Ageing Populations in Post-Industrial Democracies: Comparative Studies of Policies and Politics, ECPR Studies in European Political Science. Abingdon (UK): Routledge.

 

DESCRIPTION

Most advanced democracies are currently experiencing accelerated population ageing, which fundamentally changes not just their demographic composition; it can also be expected to have far-reaching political and policy consequences.

This volume brings together an expert set of scholars from Europe and North America to investigate generational politics and public policies within an approach explicitly focusing on comparative political science. This theoretically unified text examines changing electoral policy demands due to demographic ageing, and features analysis of USA, UK, Japan, Germany, Italy and all major EU countries.
As the first sustained political science analysis of population ageing, this monograph examines both sides of the debate. It examines the actions of the state against the interests of a growing elderly voting bloc to safeguard fiscal viability, and looks at highly-topical responses such as pension cuts and increasing retirement age. It also examines the rise of ‘grey parties’, and asks what, if anything, makes such pensioner parties persist over time, in the first ever analysis of the emergence of pensioner parties in Europe.
Ageing Populations in Post-Industrial Democracies will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, and to those studying electoral and social policy reform.

Praise for Ageing Populations in Post-industrial Democracies:

'The politics of age, and of ageing societies, is finally being discovered as a field worthy of serious attention. Pieter Vanhuysse and Achim Goerres, two of the handful of younger scholars leading this discovery, have assembled a volume that maps out and extends the current boundaries of the field. From grey parties to pension reform, family policy and welfare attitudes, it speaks to issues that are as theoretically productive as they are politically contentious.' - Martin Kohli, Professor of Sociology, European University Institute Florence

'The process of population ageing has been compared to a seismic shift which has profound consequences on all aspects of our societies but is too slow to make headlines or matter in daily politics. This book makes a major contribution to spelling out its manifold political consequences and providing a scientific basis for enhancing the public discussion.' - Wolfgang Lutz, Founding Director of the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, Vienna Institute of Demography, WU-Vienna)

'Ageing Populations in Post-industrial Democracies is an indispensable guide to the current state of play in ageing societies. The essays in this volume are wide-ranging, covering pension politics, pensioners’ parties, political behavior, intergenerational justice, and family policy. The systematically comparative approach means this collection adds up to considerably more than the sum of its very smart parts.' - Julia Lynch, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania

'This is a terrific collection of essays on demographic change and generational politics, using a variety of research methods. Going beyond simple formulations of greedy older voters and myopic politicians, the carefully-researched chapters in this volume present findings that are sometimes surprising and always thought-provoking. For scholars and policymakers seeking to understand where the study of aging polities is headed over the next decade, this volume is a great place to start.' - Kent R. Weaver, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy, Georgetown University, and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington D.C.

Sample:

Chapter 6: Tepe, M. & Vanhuysse, P. (2012) 'Accelerating Smaller Cutbacks to Delay Larger Ones? The Politics of Timing and Alarm Bells in OECD Pension Generosity Retrenchment'

 

Summary at the openpop.org blog on global population issues.

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Ageing Populations Cover

PUBLICATION DETAILS

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