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Article: Public and private policy change: pension reform in four countries.(United States, Canada, Britain, and Japan)(Report)
- Article from:
- Policy Studies Journal
- Article date:
- August 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Policy Studies Organization. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Introduction
Since the 1980s, much has been written about the impact of fiscal austerity and free market ideas on social policy reform in advanced industrial societies. One of the most central issues debated in that comparative policy literature is the scope of policy change possible in the context of enduring institutional constraints. According to Paul Pierson (1994), the expansion of the modern welfare state during the postwar era favored the emergence of large constituencies and powerful vested interests that have prevented right-wing actors to "dismantle the welfare state." In recent years, scholars have argued that despite such institutional constraints, ...