Note: w+numbers refer to working papers below on this page.
On the relationship between parties and welfare policies:
1. If left-wing parties shift position prior to the election, they retrench the welfare state once in government (S 2011, AP).
3. Left-wing and Christian-Democratic parties are punished for welfare state retrenchment, right-wing parties are not (SVK 2013, CEP).
4. Communicating retrenchment rather than obfuscating it helps governments maintain popular support (EKS 2015, EPSR).
5. Differences between left-wing and right-wing welfare policy are clear in institutional welfare reforms but absent in policy reforms (e.g. level of benefits) (KSS 2015, JEPP).