Neoliberalising State Retirement

Market Dependence, State Autonomy, and the Florida Retirement System

Bibliographic Data

ID2371340
AuthorsJordan W Scott (0009-0001-5414-6713, Florida State University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume52
Issue2
Pages305-322
Publication date2025-07-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0896-9205 • E-ISSN: 1569-1632
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/08969205251356673
OpenAlexW4415775784
LanguageEN
References cited20

This article intervenes in the debate about political power and state autonomy by examining the 2011 reform to the Florida Retirement System pension plan. By analyzing a single case during the neoliberal period, it contributes to expanding knowledge of how state power functions, on the ground, contemporarily. First, I analyze the state's role in creating and maintaining markets through legislative controls. Rather than removing state influence from the economy, the state plays a major role in securing markets exploitable for profit. Second, as neoliberal organizations and actors gain power and influence, at times infiltrating the state, the state loses autonomy to those actors, strengthening the political and economic power of the capitalist class vis-à-vis workers. The qualitative data show strong networks between organizations with corporate influence, legislators, and Governor Rick Scott. These networks allow organizations to set political priorities in a way that goes beyond normal interest group lobbying

Autonomy · Governor · Legislature · Politics · Elite Sociology and Global Capitalism · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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