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First published in 2007 as a special issue of Social Policy and Administration (Volume 41, Number 6), this edited volume fills an important gap within the comparative literature on social policy by focussing on recent reforms in 'conservative' or Bismarckian welfare states. Not only have systematic comparative analyses of this regime been missing so far, but within the comparative literature these countries have also the image of being rather 'reform-resistant'. This book is able to demonstrate that, on the contrary, Bismarckian welfare states have changed quite a bit. In fact, they have seen structural, institutional and even paradigmatic change, leading them towards the same objectives as those defined for other welfare systems by the main international agencies such as the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union. But continental welfare states have lagged behind the other welfare regimes and followed a specific reform trajectory, consisting of four different stages and of 'cumulative but transformative' changes.
In old-age pensions, for example, formerly 'pure' social insurance systems have slowly been turned into multi-pillar structures. Hassenteufel's and Palier's chapter demonstrates that Bismarckian health insurance systems have become hybrid through more universal coverage, more tax-financing, the development of New Public Management devices and more control over patients' circulation within the system. With regard to social policies towards lone parents, there has been a shift away from the model of supporting lone mothers to be full-time mothers at...