The Crisis Imperative - Crisis Rhetoric and Welfare State Reform in Belgium and the Netherlands in the Early 1990s

Why do some welfare state crises trigger comprehensive reforms, while others subside without having exhibited much effect? This book argues that crises are deliberately constructed as an imperative for change. Under certain conditions, crises can be a powerful weapon in the hands of change-oriented policymakers.

In the early 1990s, Belgium and the Netherlands were both characterized by, a 'welfare without work' pathology, not unlike that found in many other continental welfare states at the time. When crisis rhetoric was applied in both countries, the results of the subsequent welfare state reforms were quite different in both their scope and breadth.

The Crisis Imperative: Crisis Rhetoric and Welfare State Reform in Belgium and the Netherlands in the Early 1990s probes the rhetorical strategies and institutional structures of the two cases, and provides deeper insights into the factors that condition the success of a crisis imperative.

Sanneke Kuipers is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Public Administration of Leiden University in the Netherlands.