In this chapter and the next, I offer a largely qualitative analysis of globalization and the timing and character of social welfare policy change in the large social democratic and corporatist conservative welfare states. In the present chapter, I offer a case-oriented analysis of social policy reform in the Nordic political economies – Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. In comparative perspective, the Nordic welfare states are the most developed among the rich democracies, representing Esping-Andersen's (1990) social democratic welfare state regime and closely approximating what Titmuss (1974) has called the “institutional welfare state.” The Nordic welfare states are characterized by comprehensive, universal, and egalitarian income maintenance programs, as well as relatively high levels of universally and publically provided social services (e.g., Esping-Andersen [1990; 1996b]; Huber and Stephens [1996]). Traditionally, the Nordic welfare states have been supported by redistributive general taxation and strong work orientations (i.e., in program structure and in economic policy) and they have produced the highest levels of income and gender equality within the advanced market-oriented democracies (see analysis below).

I proceed with the case-oriented analysis of the Nordic welfare states as follows. First, I provide a comparative overview of the structure of the welfare state and recent social policy change. I then examine absolute and relative levels and trends in capital mobility. Next, I explore the character and timing of social policy change – retrenchments, restructurings, and extensions of social protection – in individual welfare states from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s.