Exploring the increasing involvement of the private sector in social policy, this collection examines the complex relationship between the public and private sectors from an international perspective, focusing on health and pension policies.

Introduction: Public and Private?; D. Béland  and  B. Gran Balancing Acts: Trends in the Public-Private Mix in Health Care; D. Street Orienting the Public-Private Mix of Pensions; P. Marier and  S. Skinner Extensive but Not Inclusive: Health Care and Pensions in the United States; C. Howard and  E. Berkowitz The Canadian Paradox: The Public-Private Divide in Health Insurance Pensions; G. Boychuk and  K. Banting New Zealand: The Expansion of the State in a Liberal Welfare Regime; T. Ashton and  S. John Much Noise, Little Progress: The UK Experience of Privatization; P. Taylor-Gooby and  L. Mitton Sweden: Markets Within Politics; K. Anderson, P. Blomqvist and  E. Immergut Germany: The Public-Private Dichotomy in the Bismarckian Welfare Regime; S. Jochem The Swiss Welfare State: A Changing Public-Private Mix?; F. Bertozzi and  F. Gilardi The Japanese Familial Welfare Mix at a Crossroads; T. Shinkawa New Political Legacies and the Politics of Health and Pension Re-reforms in Chile; C. Ewig and  S. Kay Conclusion: Revisiting the Public-Private Dichotomy; D. Béland and  B. Gran