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The shift towards an eco-welfare state: growing stronger together

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2023

Valon Hasanaj Open the ORCID record for Valon Hasanaj [Opens in a new window]
Valon Hasanaj*
Affiliation:
Institute of Political Science, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
*
Email: valon.hasanaj@ipw.unibe.ch
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Abstract

Poverty, inequality and climate change are profoundly interconnected issues and represent grave threats to the future of our planet and civilization. Failure in one will result in failure in the other; thus, government responses to such threats must be meticulously coordinated, especially across environmental and welfare state programs. In recent years, a growing body of research has examined the links between these two domains, lauding the eco-welfare state as a viable path forward. As the literature on the eco-welfare state is at an early stage, this study proposes two essential theoretical and empirical contributions. First, it examines the most prominent theoretical interpretations of the concept of eco-welfare state and proposes a refined understanding. Second, using model-based cluster analysis for 42 countries, this study empirically unveils a global shift towards and the existence of an eco-welfare state.

Keywords

Environmental statewelfare stateeco-welfare statesynergytrade-offmodel-based clustering
Type
Original Article
Information
Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , March 2023 , pp. 42 - 63
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Social Policy Association

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Footnotes

Article updated 19 December 2023.

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