ABSTRACT
In this introduction, we discuss the key questions underlying this edited volume: what explains cross-national variations in governments’ decisions to involve the social partners in crisis management across Europe? We briefly outline the trajectory of collectively organized policymaking and crisis management before 2008, while also defining key analytical terms such as neo-corporatism, social pacts, and social concertation. We provide an overview of the most common explanatory factors for collective crisis management. Based on the social science literature, we differentiate three lines of argument, including predominantly socio-economic (functionalist) factors; explanations focusing on politics, electoral competition, and political institutions; and those approaches investigating power resources, labour relations, and wage bargaining. We give also a rationale for our research design that is underpinning the empirical findings presented in this volume. Moreover, we briefly outline the key findings for each country as well as the comparative analyses and the EU-level chapter.
