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Exit Bismarck, Enter Dualism? Assessing Contemporary German Labour Market Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2011

JOCHEN CLASEN  and
ALEXANDER GOERNE
JOCHEN CLASEN
Affiliation:
School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh email: Jochen.clasen@ed.ac.uk
ALEXANDER GOERNE
Affiliation:
School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh email: alexander.goerne@ed.ac.uk
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Abstract

Between 2003 and 2005, German labour market policy was subjected to the most far-reaching reform since the 1960s. Some commentators have interpreted the changes introduced as signalling a departure from the traditional ‘Bismarckian’ paradigm in German social policy. For others, the new legislation has contributed and consolidated an ever-more pervasive trend of dualisation within the German welfare state. In this article, we contest both interpretations. First, we demonstrate that traditional social insurance principles remain a dominant element within unemployment protection. Second, we show that German labour market policy is less rather than more segmented today than it was a decade ago.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 40 , Issue 4 , October 2011 , pp. 795 - 810
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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