Jens Alber
Biographic Data
| ID | 250214 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jens Alber |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jens |
| FAMILY NAME | Alber |
| SIGNATURE | ALBER J |
| AFFILIATIONS | WZB Berlin Social Science Center |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 32 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 182 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 31 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1976 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Modernization, Cleavage Structures, and the Rise of Green Parties and Lists in Europe
In their famous article on cleavage structures, party systems and voter alignments S. M Lipset and S. Rokkan postulated a "freezing" of the Western European party systems since the 1920s. A sound test of the suggestions made here would imply the laborious task to develop empirical measures of cohort-specific mobility chances which the typology had to assume as constant throughout all Western European nations. Since 1950 enrollment ratios in insti…
Government Responses to the Challenge of Unemployment
The historical roots of unemployment in Western Europe can be traced back to the sixteenth century when the commercialization of agriculture displaced peasants from the countryside and began to dissolve traditional feudal systems of protection and obligation. Liberal and conservative governments have higher activity scores during high unemployment periods. For the conservative governments, the propensity to legislate is actually twice as great du…
Modernization, Democratization, and the Development of Welfare States in Western Europe
The concept of modernization in this chapter emphasizes the multidimensionality and interre-latedness of developmental processes. It is concerned with the relationship between the growth of mass democracies and welfare state policies, since sufficient information on the growth of state bureaucracies is still largely missing for most European countries. The concept of modernization has largely replaced the traditional concept of development as wel…
Are There Visible Accession Effects? Comparing Some Key Indicators of the Trajectories of Central and Eastern European Countries Inside and Outside the EU since the 1990s
Comparing four groups of post-communist transition countries-those which became EU members, those with candidate status, and two groups which are considered mere partners with or without a future membership perspective-the authors examine to what extent there are visible accession effects. The basic assumption is that countries which were under the pressure of the Copenhagen criteria and under constant EU supervision should have developed more fa…
United in diversity?
Der Soziologe als Hofnarr – Zur politischen und soziologischen Aktualität des Denkens von Ralf Dahrendorf
What the European and American welfare states have in common and where they differ
The classification of the American welfare state as ‘residual’ does not square with the empirical facts. The US system is dominated by public provisions for welfare among which social insurance programme, particularly Social Security and Medicare, clearly predominate, while public pensions are more universal, redistributive and generous than in some European countries. Key differences persist with respect to a stronger reliance on private provisi…
Family and the Welfare State in Europe
This insightful book explores the role of both the family and the state in shaping the living conditions of the young and old in Europe. It provides a comparative theoretical and empirical analysis of age-related policies and welfare arrangements in Germany, France, Italy and Sweden.
Generationenbeziehungen im Wohlfahrtsstaat
Die Alterung der Gesellschaft und sich ändernde Familienkonstellationen sind gemeinsame Entwicklungslinien der heutigen Wohlfahrtsstaaten. Diese Prozesse stellen die wohlfahrtsstaatliche Ausgestaltung oder - in radikalen Ansätzen - den Wohlfahrtsstaat selbst in Frage. Die Autoren verknüpfen anhand des Vergleichs ausgewählter Länder (Deutschland, Frankreich, Italien und Schweden) Variationen des Wohlfahrtsstaats mit den Lebensbedingungen, Beziehun…
Generationenbeziehungen Im Wohlfahrtsstaat
Informal Food Production in the Enlarged European Union
Das „europäische Sozialmodell” und die USA
Based on longitudinal data in the dimensions of state, economy and society it is analyzed to what extent European societies have certain features in common which distinguish them from the United States. For most social indicators the range of variation within the European Union is bigger than the gap between Europe and the U.S. Differences between countries with different institutional arrangements persist. In terms of employment and growth dynam…
The European Social Model and the United States
The notion of a European social model assumes that European societies have certain features in common that distinguish them from the United States. Analysing longitudinal data on the dimensions of state, economy and society three findings stand out: (1) for most indicators the range of variation within the European Union is bigger than the gap between Europe and the United States; (2) counter to the idea of policy convergence, differences in the …
Modernisierung als Peripetie des Sozialstaats
National Socialism and Modernization
However, the destructive dynamism of National Socialism and, in particular, its tendency to cloak the social and political inadequacies of its notions of Volksgemeinschaft by seeking out ever larger numbers of external enemies, reveals a long-term pathological dimension within modern industrial society itself: a dimension which was transfigured into the utopian vision of a racialist reconstitution of society and which found its apocalyptic fulfil…
Sozialstaat und Arbeitsmarkt
The article examines whether western welfare states have common institutional features which entail typical patterns and problems of employment, especially in the service and low wage sector. A cross-sectional analysis of 21 countries makes out big differences between the employment profiles of the anglo-saxon family of nations and of the European welfare states, but considerable country-specific differences within more specific families of natio…
Social dumping, catch-up or convergence? Europe in a comparative global context
Versorgungsklassen im Wohlfahrtsstaat
Die Nachkriegsperiode stand in allen westeuropäischen Demokratien im Zeichen eines beträchtlichen Wachstums sozialstaatlicher Aktivitäten. Der Anteil der Sozialausgaben am Bruttoinlandprodukt hat sich zwischen 1950 und 1977 im westeuropäischen Durchschnitt von 9 auf 22% mehr als verdoppelt1. Einige Länder wie Schweden geben heute fast ein Drittel ihres Wirtschaftsprodukts für soziale Leistungen aus. Selbst in der sozialpolitisch am stärksten zurü…
Il Ripensamento Del Welfare State in Germania E Negli Stati Uniti
IntroduzioneL'età dell'oro del welfare state sembra essersi conclusa. I cambiamenti demografici e l'intensificarsi della competizione internazionale in un'epoca di globalizzazione hanno messo a dura prova i sistemi di welfare. Sebbene non vi siano indicazioni di un rifiuto generale dello stato sociale (welfare backlash) tra l'opinione pubblica occidentale, gli elettori spesso scelgono partiti neo-conservatori che promettono di tagliare i programm…
A Framework for the Comparative Study of Social Services
Comparative research on welfare states has most focused on social transfers as the depen dent variable. As demographic changes make social services increasingly important ingredi ents of welfare state production, however, it will be necessary to shift the research agenda accordingly, and to take servtces more system atically into account. Building on Stein Rok kan's approach to the study of European political development, this article specifies s…
The Politics of Pensions
Die Gesundheitssysteme der OECD-Länder im Vergleich
Das Gesundheitswesen rückt zunehmend in das Zentrum politischen und wissenschaftlichen Interesses. Das hängt zwar nicht nur, aber überwiegend mit seiner rasanten Kostendynamik im Kontext knapper öffentlicher Finanzmittel zusammen. Die Kostenentwicklung bringt politische wie ökonomische Probleme mit sich. Da es sich bei den Beitragssätzen für die Krankenversicherung um politisch verordnete Zwangsabgaben handelt, werfen steigende Beitragssätze imme…
Is there a crisis of the welfare state? Crossnational evidence from Europe, North America, and Japan
Critics of the welfare state combine assumptions about likely trends in welfare state development with hypotheses on its side effects on social integration and system integration. These assumptions are eleborated and confronted with empirical evidence for 16 major Western countries. The central findings are the following: (i) Growth rates of social spending have declined sharply since 1975, albeit with marked cross-national variation. The slowdow…
Continuities and Changes in the Idea of the Welfare State
Vom Armenhaus zum Wohlfahrtsstaat
A Framework for the Comparative Study of Social Services
Comparative research on welfare states has most focused on social transfers as the depen dent variable. As demographic changes make social services increasingly important ingredi ents of welfare state production, however, it will be necessary to shift the research agenda accordingly, and to take servtces more system atically into account. Building on Stein Rok kan's approach to the study of European political development, this article specifies s…
Informal Food Production in the Enlarged European Union
Social dumping, catch-up or convergence? Europe in a comparative global context
The European Social Model and the United States
The notion of a European social model assumes that European societies have certain features in common that distinguish them from the United States. Analysing longitudinal data on the dimensions of state, economy and society three findings stand out: (1) for most indicators the range of variation within the European Union is bigger than the gap between Europe and the United States; (2) counter to the idea of policy convergence, differences in the …
Continuities and Changes in the Idea of the Welfare State
Is there a crisis of the welfare state? Crossnational evidence from Europe, North America, and Japan
Critics of the welfare state combine assumptions about likely trends in welfare state development with hypotheses on its side effects on social integration and system integration. These assumptions are eleborated and confronted with empirical evidence for 16 major Western countries. The central findings are the following: (i) Growth rates of social spending have declined sharply since 1975, albeit with marked cross-national variation. The slowdow…
What the European and American welfare states have in common and where they differ
The classification of the American welfare state as ‘residual’ does not square with the empirical facts. The US system is dominated by public provisions for welfare among which social insurance programme, particularly Social Security and Medicare, clearly predominate, while public pensions are more universal, redistributive and generous than in some European countries. Key differences persist with respect to a stronger reliance on private provisi…
Modernisierung als Peripetie des Sozialstaats
Are There Visible Accession Effects? Comparing Some Key Indicators of the Trajectories of Central and Eastern European Countries Inside and Outside the EU since the 1990s
Comparing four groups of post-communist transition countries-those which became EU members, those with candidate status, and two groups which are considered mere partners with or without a future membership perspective-the authors examine to what extent there are visible accession effects. The basic assumption is that countries which were under the pressure of the Copenhagen criteria and under constant EU supervision should have developed more fa…
Einige Grundlagen und Begleiterscheinungen der Entwicklung der Sozialausgaben in Westeuropa, 1949-1977
Der Artikel beschreibt und analysiert die Entwicklungsmuster der Sozialausgaben in 13 westeuropäischen Wohlfahrtsstaaten von 1949 bis 1977. Teil I beschreibt allgemeine Trends und nationale Variationen der sozialstaatlichen Entwicklung. Teil II untersucht, ausgehend von drei sozialwissenschaftlichen Theorietraditionen, einige Bedingungsfaktoren der Ausdehnung der Sozialausgaben. Marxistische Theorien werden im Licht eines Vergleichs der Sozialaus…
Le Origini Del Welfare State
IntroduzioneLe origini dei contemporaneiwelfare stateeuropei risalgono alla istituzionalizzazione dei primi sistemi di assicurazione sociale alla fine del XIX secolo. Nonostante una così lunga tradizione storica di politica sociale, la teoria macrosociologica ha sorprendentemente trascurato per lungo tempo lo sviluppo delwelfare state. Solo negli ultimi anni la ricerca delle scienze sociali ha cominciato ad occuparsi con maggiore interesse dei fa…
Der Wohlfahrtsstaat in der Krise? Eine Bilanz nach drei Jahrzehnten Sozialpolitik in der Bundesrepublik
Der Aufsatz beschreibt und analysiert die Entwicklung der Sozialausgaben in der Bundesrepublik von 1949 bis 1978. Der beschreibende Teil charakterisiert die einzelnen sozialpolitischen Programme anhand der wichtigsten gesetzlichen Veränderungen sowie anhand quantitativer Indikatoren ihrer Leistungen. Der analytische Teil untersucht einige Grundlagen und Konsequenzen der sozialpolitischen Expansion. Zunächst wird die Entwicklung der Sozialleistung…
The Coverage of Social Insurance Schemes
["The following article is part of a larger data collection on participants of social insurance systems in Western Europe which is published as research report No. 4 of the HIWED project (Historical indicators of the Western European Democracies) at the Urriversity of Mannheim, W. Germany. The report contains qualitative and quantitative data, and the part reproduced here serves as the introduction to . the tables
Der Wohlfahrtsstaat in der Krise? Eine Bilanz nach drei Jahrzehnten Sozialpolitik in der Bundesrepublik
Der Aufsatz beschreibt und analysiert die Entwicklung der Sozialausgaben in der Bundesrepublik von 1949 bis 1978. Der beschreibende Teil charakterisiert die einzelnen sozialpolitischen Programme anhand der wichtigsten gesetzlichen Veränderungen sowie anhand quantitativer Indikatoren ihrer Leistungen. Der analytische Teil untersucht einige Grundlagen und Konsequenzen der sozialpolitischen Expansion. Zunächst wird die Entwicklung der Sozialleistung…
Le Origini Del Welfare State
IntroduzioneLe origini dei contemporaneiwelfare stateeuropei risalgono alla istituzionalizzazione dei primi sistemi di assicurazione sociale alla fine del XIX secolo. Nonostante una così lunga tradizione storica di politica sociale, la teoria macrosociologica ha sorprendentemente trascurato per lungo tempo lo sviluppo delwelfare state. Solo negli ultimi anni la ricerca delle scienze sociali ha cominciato ad occuparsi con maggiore interesse dei fa…
State, Economy and Society in Western Europe, 1815–1975
Einige Grundlagen und Begleiterscheinungen der Entwicklung der Sozialausgaben in Westeuropa, 1949-1977
Der Artikel beschreibt und analysiert die Entwicklungsmuster der Sozialausgaben in 13 westeuropäischen Wohlfahrtsstaaten von 1949 bis 1977. Teil I beschreibt allgemeine Trends und nationale Variationen der sozialstaatlichen Entwicklung. Teil II untersucht, ausgehend von drei sozialwissenschaftlichen Theorietraditionen, einige Bedingungsfaktoren der Ausdehnung der Sozialausgaben. Marxistische Theorien werden im Licht eines Vergleichs der Sozialaus…
L'Espansione Del Welfare State in Europa Occidentale
Introduzione La precedente indagine sull'origine del welfare state in Europa Occidentale ha mostrato come la variante delle teorie pluraliste conflittuali che si rifà alla weberiana Herrschaftstheorie sia il modello interpretativo più valido per la comprensione della fase emergente delle assicurazioni sociali. Quest'ultima è stata perciò definita come una fase di politica sociale «dall'alto», caratterizzata dallo sforzo da parte del potere politi…
Vom Armenhaus zum Wohlfahrtsstaat
Activities of the ISSC
Die Gesundheitssysteme der OECD-Länder im Vergleich
Das Gesundheitswesen rückt zunehmend in das Zentrum politischen und wissenschaftlichen Interesses. Das hängt zwar nicht nur, aber überwiegend mit seiner rasanten Kostendynamik im Kontext knapper öffentlicher Finanzmittel zusammen. Die Kostenentwicklung bringt politische wie ökonomische Probleme mit sich. Da es sich bei den Beitragssätzen für die Krankenversicherung um politisch verordnete Zwangsabgaben handelt, werfen steigende Beitragssätze imme…
Is there a crisis of the welfare state? Crossnational evidence from Europe, North America, and Japan
Critics of the welfare state combine assumptions about likely trends in welfare state development with hypotheses on its side effects on social integration and system integration. These assumptions are eleborated and confronted with empirical evidence for 16 major Western countries. The central findings are the following: (i) Growth rates of social spending have declined sharply since 1975, albeit with marked cross-national variation. The slowdow…
Continuities and Changes in the Idea of the Welfare State
The Politics of Pensions
A Framework for the Comparative Study of Social Services
Comparative research on welfare states has most focused on social transfers as the depen dent variable. As demographic changes make social services increasingly important ingredi ents of welfare state production, however, it will be necessary to shift the research agenda accordingly, and to take servtces more system atically into account. Building on Stein Rok kan's approach to the study of European political development, this article specifies s…
Versorgungsklassen im Wohlfahrtsstaat
Die Nachkriegsperiode stand in allen westeuropäischen Demokratien im Zeichen eines beträchtlichen Wachstums sozialstaatlicher Aktivitäten. Der Anteil der Sozialausgaben am Bruttoinlandprodukt hat sich zwischen 1950 und 1977 im westeuropäischen Durchschnitt von 9 auf 22% mehr als verdoppelt1. Einige Länder wie Schweden geben heute fast ein Drittel ihres Wirtschaftsprodukts für soziale Leistungen aus. Selbst in der sozialpolitisch am stärksten zurü…
Il Ripensamento Del Welfare State in Germania E Negli Stati Uniti
IntroduzioneL'età dell'oro del welfare state sembra essersi conclusa. I cambiamenti demografici e l'intensificarsi della competizione internazionale in un'epoca di globalizzazione hanno messo a dura prova i sistemi di welfare. Sebbene non vi siano indicazioni di un rifiuto generale dello stato sociale (welfare backlash) tra l'opinione pubblica occidentale, gli elettori spesso scelgono partiti neo-conservatori che promettono di tagliare i programm…
National Socialism and Modernization
However, the destructive dynamism of National Socialism and, in particular, its tendency to cloak the social and political inadequacies of its notions of Volksgemeinschaft by seeking out ever larger numbers of external enemies, reveals a long-term pathological dimension within modern industrial society itself: a dimension which was transfigured into the utopian vision of a racialist reconstitution of society and which found its apocalyptic fulfil…
Sozialstaat und Arbeitsmarkt
The article examines whether western welfare states have common institutional features which entail typical patterns and problems of employment, especially in the service and low wage sector. A cross-sectional analysis of 21 countries makes out big differences between the employment profiles of the anglo-saxon family of nations and of the European welfare states, but considerable country-specific differences within more specific families of natio…
Social dumping, catch-up or convergence? Europe in a comparative global context
Modernisierung als Peripetie des Sozialstaats
Das „europäische Sozialmodell” und die USA
Based on longitudinal data in the dimensions of state, economy and society it is analyzed to what extent European societies have certain features in common which distinguish them from the United States. For most social indicators the range of variation within the European Union is bigger than the gap between Europe and the U.S. Differences between countries with different institutional arrangements persist. In terms of employment and growth dynam…
The European Social Model and the United States
The notion of a European social model assumes that European societies have certain features in common that distinguish them from the United States. Analysing longitudinal data on the dimensions of state, economy and society three findings stand out: (1) for most indicators the range of variation within the European Union is bigger than the gap between Europe and the United States; (2) counter to the idea of policy convergence, differences in the …
Informal Food Production in the Enlarged European Union
Generationenbeziehungen im Wohlfahrtsstaat
Die Alterung der Gesellschaft und sich ändernde Familienkonstellationen sind gemeinsame Entwicklungslinien der heutigen Wohlfahrtsstaaten. Diese Prozesse stellen die wohlfahrtsstaatliche Ausgestaltung oder - in radikalen Ansätzen - den Wohlfahrtsstaat selbst in Frage. Die Autoren verknüpfen anhand des Vergleichs ausgewählter Länder (Deutschland, Frankreich, Italien und Schweden) Variationen des Wohlfahrtsstaats mit den Lebensbedingungen, Beziehun…
Generationenbeziehungen Im Wohlfahrtsstaat
Family and the Welfare State in Europe
This insightful book explores the role of both the family and the state in shaping the living conditions of the young and old in Europe. It provides a comparative theoretical and empirical analysis of age-related policies and welfare arrangements in Germany, France, Italy and Sweden.
Political science (28 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (23 works) · Economics (15 works) · Law (13 works) · Politics (12 works) · Welfare state (11 works) · Humanities (9 works) · Art (7 works) · Economic growth (7 works) · Sociology (7 works)