In the third phase of this project we analyze the outcomes of welfare state transformation and the resulting political reactions. Two research questions are of particular interest.

First, we examine whether the emergence of supply-side oriented social policies has led to increased income inequality and new social divides. For example, the recent welfare state literature has observed a growing dualization between well-protected labour market insiders and marginalized labor market outsiders with precarious employment and social security status.

Second, we investigate the reactions of citizens and collective actors such as parties and unions to growing social inequality. At the individual level we are interested in the attitudes of citizens towards the state, democracy and the market economy. In addition, we examine whether economic inequality has affected political participation. At the collective level we investigate the ways in which old and new political actors respond to the recent schanges in social policy and the resulting social outcomes.

Special attention is paid to the recalibration of the strategies and modes of interest representation of parties and interest organizations. Quantitative and qualitative methods such as panel regressions, multilevel analyses and comparative case studies are combined to provide answers to these research questions.

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Final report 2015 in German
Project application 2011-2014 in German
Project application 2007-2010 in German
Project application 2003-2006 in German