Governing Work and Welfare in a New Economy European and American Experiments

This text examines the common challenges confronting the European Union and the United States as they reconfigure work and welfare in a new economy and struggle to develop effective and legitimate governance arrangements. Chapters by leading European and American scholars demonstrate that despite institutional and political differences, the EU and the US face similar problems created by changes in productive organization, employment patterns, household structures and social risks. They likewise face similar problems of co-ordinating reforms across interdependent policy domains and levels of governance, each involving a multiplicity of public and private actors. Because the issues are complex, the environment uncertain and ready-made solutions unsatisfactory, policy makers in Europe and the US have increasingly recognized the need to accept diversity, encourage experimentation, foster collaborative problem solving and link multiple levels of governance.