In this final chapter, I summarize the main points of the book and reflect on their implications. More specifically, I start with a summary of the theoretical and empirical arguments and results. I then point to the implications of the findings for the “new politics” versus “old politics” debate that is at the heart of this book. I also resume the book's contribution and indicate remaining limitations (at least the ones that I am aware of) and avenues for future research. Finally, I discuss the implications of the findings for representative democracy and current welfare state debate(s).

Summary and Findings

This book is devoted to the fiercely contested question if, and in what way, the ideological complexion of government is (still) consequential regarding social policy decisions. I have argued that how this question – if “politics matter(s)” – is commonly approached is fraught with problems, both with regard to the refutation and confirmation of partisan influence. Based on a systematic engagement with this Independent Variable Problem, I have developed and examined a (cognitive) framing perspective to complement the dominant materialist explanations.

The cumulated changes that have been documented regarding the generosity and conditionality of unemployment insurance schemes justify speaking of significant programmatic retrenchment in the OECD, especially against the background of their momentous implications and consequences. This confirms a range of decisive pro-retrenchment conclusions in the case-oriented welfare literature (e.g., Clasen 2005; Green-Pedersen and Haverland 2002; Hübscher 2010; Starke 2008; Stiller 2010). This does not mean that retrenchment is a universal trend, observable always and everywhere. One of the critical results that emerged from chapter 2, which is the point of departure and explanandum of the analysis, is the strong variation in policies between governments “within-country.” From a “politics matters” perspective, this within-country variation – and less the net decline over the last decades – is the interesting finding of chapter 2.

Subsequently, I contrasted the three dominant theoretical perspectives and deducted three hypotheses. The discussion of the existing research showed that the jury is still out on the question as to whether the politics of retrenchment is better characterized as “old politics” (the Left is pro-welfare and the Right skeptical), “new politics” (marginalization of politics by economic and electoral pressure), or whether parties have even moved “beyond left and right” (left retrenchment).