ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the unnoticed transformations with regard to social assistance policies. Poland has local self-governance, with regard to social assistance and social services, to a larger extent than France, but to a lesser extent than in the Nordic countries. Switzerland, Italy and Spain have primarily regional social assistance legislations, although the central state does to some extent attempt to counteract regional variation. The chapter also analyses the territorial distribution of power between the national, regional and local levels of government. Administrative decentralisation has a long tradition within traditionally-based public administrations, both in federal and unitary government systems. The debate concerning decentralisation or recentralisation also concerns administrative decision-making. The main administrative responsibility lies at the municipal level, but planning competencies are also found at the regional and provincial levels. Considering a specific hypothesis, the possibility of welfare state convergence has in recent years reappeared on the European social policy research agenda.
