Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The Strange Survival of Social Concertation in Times of Austerity
- 2 Social Concertation as a Political Strategy
- 3 European Integration, Domestic Politics and Social Concertation
- 4 Methods and Cases
- 5 The Context of Social Concertation in Switzerland and Austria
- 6 Social Concertation and Cross-Border Labour Mobility
- 7 Social Concertation and Unemployment Policy Reforms
- 8 Synthesis and Comparative Outlook
- List of Interviews
- Notes
- References
- Index
- Changing Welfare States
7 - Social Concertation and Unemployment Policy Reforms
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 January 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The Strange Survival of Social Concertation in Times of Austerity
- 2 Social Concertation as a Political Strategy
- 3 European Integration, Domestic Politics and Social Concertation
- 4 Methods and Cases
- 5 The Context of Social Concertation in Switzerland and Austria
- 6 Social Concertation and Cross-Border Labour Mobility
- 7 Social Concertation and Unemployment Policy Reforms
- 8 Synthesis and Comparative Outlook
- List of Interviews
- Notes
- References
- Index
- Changing Welfare States
Summary
After the blue-black government came to power in 2000, the nature of social partnership completely changed. Th e government regularly invited employers only and then declared “the social partners were there”. Th ey began to kick out labour representatives from all the structures of social partnership, and even from all the places of power in the entire social security system. Th e trade unions have taken the opportunity, so to speak, to reach a negotiated outcome [on this issue] instead of being even more excluded. Th is is in fact the only reason why this agreement came into being. Social policy expert, Austrian Green Party (Interview AUT5).
With the strengthening of the svp, a new political strategy emerged within right-wing parties. Th ey were no longer afraid to propose strong cuts in the welfare system. Th ey have partly succeeded in that […] And this [reform] was the trigger for further measures of retrenchment […] It was all under the leadership of the svp. Former Vice-president, Swiss Social Democratic Party (Interview CH12).
Unemployment policy has historically been a prominent domain of cooperation between governments, trade unions and employers. In contrast to cross-border labour mobility, policy changes in this domain are generally more triggered by domestic or structural developments than by supranational market integration, and lines of cleavages between political actors may be different. This chapter presents patterns of domestic policy concertation in unemployment policy in Austria and Switzerland, and shows how the trajectory of corporatist concertation has diverged between these two countries in this field. Whereas corporatist concertation in Austria has followed a cyclical pattern influenced by the political interests of the coalition in power, it has undergone a steady decline in Switzerland due to the increasing polarisation between political parties, and the weakening of centre-right parties to the advantage of the radical right. The chapter first briefly outlines the characteristics of this policy field in general, as well as broader dynamics of reform in unemployment policy in Bismarckian welfare states. Then, it analyses concertation processes over specific reforms in both countries.
The Politics of Unemployment Policy
Unemployment policy has featured high on the agenda of mature welfare states, and even more so recently since the outbreak of the global economic crisis in 2008.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Social Concertation in Times of AusterityEuropean Integration and the Politics of Labour Market Reforms in Austria and Switzerland, pp. 155 - 194Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2013