Economic Globalization and the Welfare State in Affluent Democracies , 1975 – 2001

troversies involves the relationship between globalization and the state, and especially economic globalization and the welfare state. Scholars, public figures, analysts, and theorists all have contributed to an extensive and rapidly growing literature. Among many, a consensus is emerging that globalization has at least some type of relationship with the welfare state, even if the exact nature of that relationship remains unclear. Fundamentally, this consensus suggests that analysts need to consider the global economy when studying what have traditionally been considered domestic political phenomena (Berger 2000; Evans 1997; Guillén 2001). As Milner and Keohane (1996:3) remark, “We can no longer understand politics within countries—what we still conventionally call ‘domestic’ politics—without comprehending the nature of the linkages between national economies and the world economy, and changes in such linkages.” Despite this emerging consensus, many social scientists remain skeptical Economic Globalization and the Welfare State in Affluent Democracies, 1975–2001