This volume seeks to contribute to an interdisci-plinary, comparative, and historical study of Western welfare states

Introduction; 1: What Is the Welfare State?; 1: The Historical Core and Changing Boundaries of the Welfare State; 2: Why and How Welfare States Grew: Determinants and Variations; 2: Modernization, Democratization, and the Development of Welfare States in Western Europe; 3: The Development of Welfare States in North America; 3: Social Security: The Importance of Socioeconomic and Political Variables; 4: The Growth of Social Insurance Programs in Scandinavia: Outside Influences and Internal Forces; 5: Government Responses to the Challenge of Unemployment: The Development of Unemployment Insurance in Western Europe; 4: Economic Equality: The Distribution of Incomes; 6: The Historical Development of Income Inequality in Western Europe and the United States; 5: Educational Opportunities: Access to Education and Priorities in Welfare State Development; 7: Educational Opportunities and Government Policies in Europe in the Period of Industrialization; 8: Education and Social Security Entitlements in Europe and America; 6: An End to Growth? Fiscal Capacities and Containment Pressures; 9: Trends and Problems in Postwar Public Expenditure Development in Western Europe and North America; 10: Leftism, Catholicism, and Democratic Corporatism:; 11: Toward a New Welfare State?