Browsing by Author "Afonso, Alexandre"
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- Choosing whom to betray: populist right-wing parties, welfare state reforms and the trade-off between office and votesPublication . Afonso, AlexandreThis article analyses the impact of populist right-wing parties (PRWPs) on welfare state reforms in Western Europe in the light of the trade-off that they face between office and votes. On the one hand, PRWPs appeal to traditionally left-leaning blue-collar “insiders” supportive of social insurance schemes. On the other hand, they have only been able to take part in government as junior coalition partners with liberal or conservative parties who are more likely to retrench these very same welfare programs. In this context, the article argues that these parties have to choose between betraying their electorate (and losing votes), and betraying their coalition partners (and losing office). When they choose office, it enables welfare state retrenchment by allowing their coalition partners to curtail left-wing opposition, but entails high electoral costs for PRWPs. When they choose votes, it generates deadlock and potentially jeopardises their participation in government. The paper draws on a comparative analysis of pension reforms during three periods of government participation of PRWPs: the Schüssel I and II cabinets in Austria (2000-2006), the Rutte I cabinet in the Netherlands (2010-2012) and three pension reforms in Switzerland between 1995 and 2010. The analysis draws on original primary material and interviews.
- Comparative political economy and international migrationPublication . Afonso, Alexandre; Devitt, CamillaThis article provides an overview of the literature connecting comparative political economy and international migration in advanced industrialised countries with a focus on the relationship between labour migration, labour markets and welfare institutions. Immigration flows and policies are considered both as independent (how migration shapes capitalist institutions) and dependent variables (how migration flows and policies are shaped by capitalist institutions). First, we discuss the impact of international migration on labour market institutions, welfare states and skill production regimes. Second, we discuss how labour market institutions and welfare arrangements shape migrant inflows and migration policies, notably via the structuration of interests of employers, organised labour and governments. We emphasise the ideas of liberalisation, segmentation, substitution and complementarity to grasp the relationship between immigration and labour market institutions.
- How the Populist Radical Right Transformed Swiss Welfare Politics: From Compromises to PolarizationPublication . Afonso, Alexandre; Papadopoulos, YannisThis paper shows how the rise of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) has affected welfare state reforms in Switzerland between the 1990s and the 2000s. In the 1990s, welfare state reforms drew on “modernizing” coalitions between FDP (Liberals), CVP (Christian Democrats) and SP (Social Democrats) combining retrenchment and “recalibration”. In the 2000s the FDP and CVP increasingly sided with the SVP in right-wing coalitions pushing retrenchment alone. The article shows that changes in party competition have affected welfare schemes differently, with a policy gridlock in pension reforms, where voters of the SVP do not follow their elites, but unilateral retrenchment in unemployment insurance, where recipients can be portrayed as “underserving”.