Bi-Directional Feedback to the Welfare State and Public Opinion

Abstract

Policy feedback between public opinion and social policy is likely bi-directional. At least theory suggests. However, most research uses a uni-directional model. By conceiving the relationship as bi-directional it is possible to extend Pierson’s increasing returns theory to the neoliberal era, mostly after the 1980s, when welfare states of the rich democracies saw many forms of retrenchment. By testing a bi-directional theory using bi-directional models, this paper argues that public opinion likely updated in response to retrenchment and contributes to a new lock-in effect of institutionalized retrenchment paths. The models use ISSP data and a measure of the size of the welfare state based on SOCX spending data combined with a neoliberal indicator form the Fraser institute for the period 1990-2016 across the rich democracies for which data are available.

Does the immigration issue divide the left’s attitudes towards social welfare? A study on public support of social benefits and services in the Nordic countries

“…On the other hand, according to path dependency theory (cf. Breznau, 2020), the meaning of education is related to societal Study on public attitudes towards social benefits systems in a country. In a strong welfare state, the state invests in education, which, in turn, raises the support of public-funded education among the citizens.…”

Proposal for Research and Development of Research Tools: “The Role of Theory in Understanding and Resolving the Reliability Crisis”

“…Finally, I want to stress my capacity to use grant funding successfully. After 1 year and two months of my current DFG project, I produced two solo-authored publications (Breznau 2019c(Breznau , 2020d and one under review (Breznau 2020c) from the funding. Given the Covid-19 pandemic, my team shifted focus and now have an in-press article on government pandemic policy interventions and public preferences (Nguyen, Breznau, and Heukamp 2021), and another in the review process on income inequality, government response and public perceptions (Breznau, Heukamp, and Nguyen 2020).…”