A liberalization of corporatism? The evolving German welfare mix, seen from an international perspective

Journal title SOCIOLOGIA E POLITICHE SOCIALI
Author/s Ingo Bode
Publishing Year 2015 Issue 2015/1
Language Italian Pages 20 P. 33-52 File size 111 KB
DOI 10.3280/SP2015-001003
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This paper focuses on the reorganization of the welfare mix in advanced welfare states, with a focus on Germany and in the light of recent developments in liberal Anglo-Saxon countries. Scrutinizing the relationship between the state and the non profit sector, it retraces a movement towards the liberalization of corporatism, that is, the gradual replacement of corporatist regulation by a liberal, more market-oriented approach. With this approach, proliferating in many parts of the world, non-statutory actors are welcome as service providers, albeit on the basis of a more loosely coupled partnership with public authorities. Comparing Anglo-Saxon and continental European traditions, two forms of the regulatory interface relevant to the collaboration between the state and the non-profit sector are compared: procurement (epitomized by a public body’s purchase of services within a competitive landscape of service providers), and commissioning which be understood as covering a broader range of inter-sector arrangements in which the market logic remains rudimentary. The development in Germany, it is argued, proves hybrid as the two forms coexist, albeit within a more market-driven context. In that sense, there is a liberalization of corporatism.

Keywords: Liberalization; Corporatism; Regulatory Interface; Procurement; Commissioning

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Ingo Bode, Liberalizzazione del corporativismo? L’evoluzione del welfare mix tedesco in una prospettiva internazionale in "SOCIOLOGIA E POLITICHE SOCIALI" 1/2015, pp 33-52, DOI: 10.3280/SP2015-001003