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Understanding convergence and divergence: old and new cleavages in the politics of minimum income schemes in Italy and Poland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2020

Matteo Jessoula ,
Julia Kubisa ,
Ilaria Madama  and
Marianna Zielenska
Matteo Jessoula*
Affiliation:
Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
Julia Kubisa
Affiliation:
Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Ilaria Madama
Affiliation:
Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
Marianna Zielenska
Affiliation:
Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
*
*Corresponding author. Email: matteo.jessoula@unimi.it
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Abstract

Italy and Poland present similarly weak minimum income protection models, yet this results from two different policy trajectories in the last 15 years: both countries actually introduced a minimum income scheme (MIS) between the late 1990s (Italy) and the early 2000s (Poland), but later developments were characterized by policy reversal in the Italian case vis-à-vis institutionalization in Poland. The paper therefore addresses two intertwined puzzles. First, in the light of very different background conditions, which factors help understand the convergent process towards the introduction of MIS? Second, what explains remarkable divergence in the subsequent phase? Challenging previous claims about the limited scope of political competition dynamics in the field of social assistance, due to generally narrow constituencies and limited political mobilization, we contend that political competition dynamics are key factors in order to make sense of both convergent and divergent trajectories in the two diverse phases.

Keywords

social assistanceminimum income schemespolitical competitionItalyPolandpoverty
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 128 - 146
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis

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