02278nab a22003017a 4500001000700000003001100007005001700018006001900035008004100054040003900095100002100134082001700155245012500172300004600297520142800343650002101771650001201792650001201804650002101816650002301837651001601860651001701876651001301893773002801906942000901934945001601943999001701959049460CL-SaANEPE20211029001445.0a||||| |||| 00| 0 130823n2013    xx ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aCL-SaANEPEcCL-SaANEPEdCL-SaANEPE1 aMorgan, Kimberly  aUS.WP/1/201310aPath shifting of the welfare state :belectoral competition and the expansion of work-family policies in western Europe.  aVol. 65, nro. 1 (january 2013), p. 73-115  aWhat 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 4aBIENESTAR SOCIAL 4aFAMILIA 4aMUJERES 4aPOLITICA LABORAL 4aPOLITICAS SOCIALES 4aREINO UNIDO 4aPAISES BAJOS 4aALEMANIA0 tWorld Politics.w020492  cREVA  aoss20130823  c49203d49203