ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that a revised version of functionalist theory may explain converging as well as diverging trends in the evolution of welfare policies across countries. The origin of the welfare state literature can be traced back to the “modernization theory” of the 1950s and 1960s. Differences in the initial social environments may frame the early welfare-political games differently across countries, resulting in somewhat different initial organizational solutions to the popular demand for security. Welfare politics have sometimes been framed as part of a wider political struggle between different social classes/groups in society. The introduction of democracy implies that the political game is transformed into a setting in which various elites must engage in a competition for votes. The introduction of democracy may thus trigger a series of political games, in which visible social security costs are “shifted around” in order to appeal to the insurance/security demands of larger groups of the electorate.
