ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the pre-communist, the communist and the post-communist developments of social policy in Central and Eastern Europe. The Central and East European countries were highly influenced by the Bismarckian model of social welfare policies, especially those countries that had been a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When communist parties came to power throughout Central and Eastern Europe they proclaimed themselves to be revolutionaries, who wanted to make a sharp break with the past. The chapter shows that the exact welfare mixes differ among countries, the post-communist countries all seem to have developed hybrid models that combine conservative Bismarckian legacies from the pre-communist era, communist-era policies and tendencies towards neoliberal residualist reforms. Employment regulations and active labor market policies in the post-communist countries represent an undervalued policy area. Nordic countries fall into the inclusive regime, continental and South European countries into the dualistic regime and post-communist countries are associated with the liberal regime.
