 Regime = pattern of politics, policies, institutions  Politics = way people compete for political power  Policies = outcome of political conflict  Institutions = rules of game; structure competition  Regime types  Social democratic (Denmark, Norway, Sweden)  Conservative (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands)  Christian democratic (Canada, Ireland, United States)

 Scandinavian countries  Gradual, smooth democratization  No linguistic, ethnic, religious cleavages  Unique alliances  Disunity among opponents, social homogeneity, strong working-class attachments, appeal to middle-class voters beyond working-class base

 Capitalist  Big government  High state expenditures and government revenues  High percentage public sector employees  Social democratic welfare state  Universal  Comprehensive  Generous  Quality of life detached from labor market  Service intensive  Redistributive

 Welfare state  efficient and productive  High labor force participation  Dynamic and competitive  Moderates workers’ wage demands  Active labor market policies  Highly competitive capitalist economies and large redistributive welfare states

 Centralized  Parliamentary democracies  Strong parties, disciplined majorities, fused executive- legislative  Unitary  Gives dissenting groups few opportunities to block legislation majority prefers  Large, powerful labor movement  High percentage of unionized workers  Unions and party closely allied  Corporatist interest groups  Unions and employers engage in centralized bargaining

 Goods and services left to market; marginal state  Weak left-wing parties  Absent (e.g., U.S.)  Class-voting low  Class cleavages less intense; other sources of conflict  Business dominates  Interest group advantage  Low voter turnout (lowest among working class; class divide subdued)  Policies appeal to wealthy voters; ignore demands of working-class  Business interests identified with interests of society as a whole (“What’s good for GM…”)

 Good creating new jobs, increasing economic growth  Small public sector  Regulation constrained  Low welfare effort  Low levels of public spending  Circumstances of non-poor determined through private sector  Policies suit wealthy  Low costs of welfare limits taxes  Purchase welfare (i.e., healthcare, daycare, retirement, etc.) privately through market

 Federal and Unitary  Parliamentary and presidential  Bicameral (differences in power of second chamber)  Electoral systems (PR and plurality)  Judicial review  Centralization  U.S.: strong federalism, bicameralism, independent Congress, weak parties, judicial review  minorities (e.g., upper class) can capture part of state and thwart will of majority (e.g., middle and working class)  Similar interest group structures (pluralist) and smaller, weaker union movements

 Class and church-state cleavages (emergent parties and other political issues)  Centrist in orientation (“catch-all” parties)  Workers, farmers, shopkeepers, business executives  Move right or left in seeking coalition partners  PR electoral systems

 Big government (but < social democratic regimes)  High welfare expenditures (= social democratic regimes)  Public sector employment (< average for conservative regimes)  State -- large fiscal presence, small social presence  Social policy  reinforce traditional family values; mitigate effects of inequality  Benefits preserve differentials among occupations and reinforce class differences

 Parliamentary democracies  Bicameral (differences in power of houses)  Differences in judicial review, unitary-federal forms  Corporatist interest groups  Limited number of hierarchically structured associations participate in policy-making process  Degree of corporatism varies

 Physical well-being  Christian democratic (CD) regimes marginally > Social democratic (SD) > Conservative (C); CD >= SD > C  C -- highest rate of absolute poverty  Informed decision-making: SD > CD > C  Safety: SD > CD > C  Civil and political rights/quality of democracy  SD = CD = C press freedom, political rights, civil liberties, competitive elections  “Voice and accountability” SD > CD > C  Voter turnout SD > CD > C  SD regimes best meets “good society” standards  Quality of democracy, safety, informed decisions  CD > SD (physical needs)