The Politics of Pension Reform: Institutions and Policy Change in Western Europe

European pension systems are increasingly under pressure. In this book Giuliano Bonoli examines policymakers’ efforts to cope in a context where they are caught between public support for existing pension schemes and the expected inability to sustain current arrangements in the long run. The book explores the impact of formal institutions and decision-making procedures on welfare retrenchment and modernisation. It compares and assesses the process of pension policy-making in the UK, France and Switzerland, examining the factors that influence pension reform, and the relative impact upon the decision-making process of political parties and interest groups. The book provides a detailed description of new pension legislation and looks at the issues of demographic change, pension financing, and likely developments on the wider European level. This analysis of pension reform will be of interest to policymakers as well as students of the politics of the welfare state.