02278nab a22003017a 4500 049460 CL-SaANEPE 20211029001445.0 a||||| |||| 00| 0 130823n2013 xx ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d CL-SaANEPE CL-SaANEPE CL-SaANEPE Morgan, Kimberly US.WP/1/2013 Path shifting of the welfare state : electoral competition and the expansion of work-family policies in western Europe. Vol. 65, nro. 1 (january 2013), p. 73-115 What explains the surprising growth of work-family policies in several West European countries ? Much research on the welfare state emphasizes its institutional stickiness and immunity to major change. Yet, over the past two decades, governments in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have introduced important reforms to their welfare regimes, enacting paid leave schemes, expanded rights to part-time work, and greater investments in child care. A comparison of these countries reveals a similar sequence of political and policy change. Faced with growing electoral inestability and the decline of core constituencies, party leaders sought to attact dealigning voter groups, such as women. This led them to introduce feminizing reforms of their party structures and adopt policies to support mothers' employment. In all three cases, women working within the parties played an important role in hatching or lobbying for these reforms. After comparing three countries that moved in a path-shifting direction, this article engages in a brief traveling exercise, examining whether a similar set of dynamics are lacking in two countries - Austria and Italy - that have moved more slowly in reforming these policies. Agaisnt the prevailing scholarly literature that emphasizes path dependence and slow-moving change, this article reveals the continued power of electoral politics in shaping redistributive policies BIENESTAR SOCIAL FAMILIA MUJERES POLITICA LABORAL POLITICAS SOCIALES REINO UNIDO PAISES BAJOS ALEMANIA World Politics. 020492 REVA oss20130823 49203 49203