Mixed Framing
Blame Avoidance and Credit‐Claiming in Retrenchment Politics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6452091 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nils Röper (0000-0001-6303-5137, John F. Kennedy Institute, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 124-137 |
| Publication date | 2025-05-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Policy and Administration (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0144-5596 • E-ISSN: 1467-9515 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/spol.13145 |
| OpenAlex | W4410289914 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 101 |
This article is concerned with the political communication of unpopular retrenchment reforms. It proposes a further conceptual and empirical integration of the key concepts of blame avoidance and credit‐claiming. Contrary to dominant perspectives arguing that blame avoidance strategies dominate in an era of austerity, it is argued that even when communicating unpopular retrenchment reforms, governments engage in mixed messaging. They employ both credit‐claiming and blame avoidance framings at the same time. Whereas the relative weight of both strategies depends on contextual political factors, credit‐claiming is the dominant discursive mode. The argument builds on insights about the level of political agency involved in crafting strategic framing and the anticipatory nature of retrenchment reform dynamics. To empirically corroborate these propositions, the analysis turns to the case of German pension politics, which presents a least likely case for the argument
Blame · Economics · Framing (construction · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Retrenchment · History · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Psychology · Public Administration · Social Psychology
Process-Tracing Methods
Shaping Abortion Discourse
Institutional Change and Globalization
Systematic process analysis
The Crisis Imperative
The Politics of the New Welfare State
The Politics of Welfare State Reform in Continental Europe
New Century – New Paradigm
The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State
Dismantling the Welfare State?
The Transformation of British Welfare Policy
The Dual Transformation of the German Welfare State
Pension Reforms and the Opinions of European Citizens
Blame Avoidance and Credit Claiming Revisited
The Comparative Political Economy of Pension Reform
The Reform of Bismarckian Pension Systems
Der deutsche Sozialstaat
Coping with Permanent Austerity
Gerechtigkeit im Wohlfahrtsstaat
Toward a Theory of Political Strategy in Policy Analysis
Political parties’ welfare image, electoral punishment and welfare state retrenchment
Reform narratives and argumentative coupling in German pension policy
Blame avoidance and credit-claiming dynamics in government policy communications
Narrative stories, institutional rules, and the politics of pension policy in Canada and the United States
Unpopular Policies and the Imperative of Justification
Framing Effects and Comparative Social Policy Reform
Taking Stock of the Comparative Literature on the Role of Blame Avoidance Strategies in Social Policy Reform
Credit-Claiming or Blame Avoidance? Comparing the Relationship between Welfare State Beliefs and the Framing of Social Policy Retrenchment in France and Germany
Crisis and the Structural Transformation of the State
Communicating austerity measures during times of crisis
German Finance Capitalism
Britain-out and Trump-in
Between substantive and symbolic influence
Blame avoidance, electoral punishment and the perceptions of risk
Policy instruments and welfare state reform
The effect of economic change and elite framing on support for welfare state retrenchment
The Origins of Policy Ideas in German Pension Debates
Retirement and the moral economy
Die „schlichte Notwendigkeit“ privater Altersvorsorge / The Imperative of Private Pensions
Ideas and Institutions in Social Policy Research
When Past Reforms Open New Opportunities
Privileging Policy Change? Sustaining Automatic Stabilizing Mechanisms in Public Pensions
Congress, The Electoral Connection
On credit and blame
Discursive strategies of blame avoidance in government
Unequal benefits – diverging attitudes? Analysing the effects of an unequal expansion of childcare provision on attitudes towards maternal employment across 18 European countries
Errors have been made, others will be blamed
Mixed Messages
Welfare State Restructuring without Grand Coalitions
Deservingness versus values in public opinion on welfare
The Social Construction of an Imperative
After KKV
The New Politics of the Welfare State
Political Strategies and Fiscal Retrenchment
Framing Deservingness to Win Support for Welfare State Retrenchment
Strategic Re‐framing as a Vote Winner
The Sophisticated Public
Ideas are Not as Stable as Political Scientists Want Them to Be
Losing the Issue, Losing the Vote
Avoiding Blame-A Comprehensive Framework and the Australian Home Insulation Program Fiasco
Reconceptualizing Major Policy Change in the Advocacy Coalition Framework
Why don’t citizens give governments credit when they deliver on electoral pledges
Why and how do Political Actors Pursue Risky Reforms
Framing Welfare Reform in Affluent Societies
The Politics of Blame Avoidance
Interest group framing in Denmark and the UK
The electoral consequences of welfare state changes
Multipillarisation remodelled
The other side of agency
Ideas do not float freely
Working with ideas
Germany after a Decade of Social Democrats in Government
Anticipatory and reactive forms of blame avoidance
What wins public support? Communicating or obfuscating welfare state retrenchment
The electoral consequences of welfare state retrenchment
Governments and unpopular social policy reform
The Politics of Trade-Offs
Welfare-state Retrenchment in Denmark and the Netherlands, 1982-1998
Does Discourse Matter in the Politics of Welfare State Adjustment
Invasion From Within
Policy Making for the Long Term in Advanced Democracies
Does Public Opinion Affect Political Speech
What Makes People Worry about the Welfare State? A Three-Country Experiment
Risky Business? Welfare State Reforms and Government Support in Britain and Denmark
Avoiding Blame
Framing
Discursive Institutionalism
Managing Blame
Demonstrating Rigor Using Thematic Analysis
Pressure without Pain
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |