ABSTRACT
The electoral backlash against Agenda 2010 and the Hartz IV labour market reform underlines the central role of public opinion in the politics of economic reform. Land elections and opinion polls 1 convey the unequivocal message that, despite the impoverishment of the domestic economy, the German public is unprepared to countenance remedial measures involving reform and retrenchment in the welfare state. Mid-way through its second term, electoral logic prevailed upon the Schröder government to call time-out on the reform process, leaving the structural problems of welfare state finance unresolved.
