More systematic inquiry into this topic holds a broad and important
potential. National infrastructures of local government make much of the
difference for the effective substance of policy as well as for meaningful
political participation. This article, employing the first systematic classification
of these infrastructures, points to a close relation between decentralization
to local government and the character of the welfare state itself.
Our analysis focuses on the universalistic, egalitarian, publicly provided
systems of social provision that have become known as Social Democratic
welfare states (Esping-Andersen 1990; Huber and Stephens 2001). How it
has been possible to construct and maintain this type of welfare state poses
one of the enduring puzzles for the political economy of public policy.
Work on this question generally identifies the Social Democratic welfare
state with centralized policymaking and administration. Yet in fact, the
distinctive infrastructure of local government that accompanies this
welfare state is in crucial respects among the most decentralized in the
advanced industrial world. Historical analysis suggests that decentralization
preceded and even furnished an essential prerequisite for the Social
Democratic welfare state.
The Welfare State and Decentralization: Alternative Hypotheses
One of the most deeply ingrained presumptions in the comparative literature
about the welfare state has been its identification with centralized
state hierarchies. This is especially true for the Social Democratic welfare
states of the Nordic countries, where publicly provided, egalitarian, universalistic
social services predominate. Yet Nordic authors have often
pointed to a defining role for local policy choices and local participation
there, in the development of welfare states (Grønlie 2004; Östberg 1996), in
contemporary “postmodern” forms of administration (Bogason 2000), and
even in a distinctive, localized “model of governance” (Pierre 1999).
For a public welfare state built around universalistic, egalitarian ends,
territorial centralization is in certain respects essential. It offers a primary
means to assure equal provision regardless of place. Comparative studies
of these “Social Democratic” welfare states consistently focus on national
governments and politics to explain and describe them (Esping-Andersen
1985; Heclo 1974; Huber and Stephens 2001; Sansom 1996). Centralized
decisions and resources have been crucial to their administrative structure.
Nationally organized parties, labor, and business interests have been
prime movers in this legislation. If local and national power were mutually
exclusive, these welfare states could be expected to concentrate more
power at the national level than other types of welfare states built around
less universalistic or egalitarian objectives.
For two reasons, however, egalitarian, universalistic welfare states may
in fact have to rely more than other types on greater powers to local
governments. First, strong local governments provide credible means to
carry out the more ambitious ends of this welfare state. To provide public