INSTITUTIONS, IDEAS and LEARNING in WELFARE STATE CHANGE Labour Market Reforms in Germany Alister Miskimmon, William E

New Perspectives in German Political Studies General Editors: William Paterson OBE, Honorary Professor in German and European Politics at the University of Aston and Chairman of the German British Forum. Charlie Jeffery, Professor of Politics at the University of Edinburgh. Germany remains a pivotal country in Europe. It is Europe’s biggest economy, continues to play a central role in the European Union, and has a growing significance in international security politics based on its strategic location at the centre of Europe and its evolving role as a provider of security in Europe and beyond. All this is nuanced by the legacies of a turbulent recent history: the two World Wars, the Holocaust, Germany’s division after World War II and its unification in 1990. New Perspectives in German Political Studies has been designed as a platform for debate and scholarship on contemporary Germany. It welcomes contribu- tions from political science, international relations, political economy and contemporary history. It follows on from the success of the earlier series on New Perspectives in German Studies, co-edited by William Paterson and the late Professor Michael Butler. Titles include: Timo Fleckenstein INSTITUTIONS, IDEAS AND LEARNING IN WELFARE STATE CHANGE Labour Market Reforms in Germany Alister Miskimmon, William E. Paterson and James Sloam (editors) GERMANY’S GATHERING CRISIS The 2005 Federal Election and the Grand Coalition Anne Fuchs PHANTOMS OF WAR IN CONTEMPORARY GERMAN LITERATURE, FILMS AND DISCOURSE The Politics of Memory Beverly Crawford POWER AND GERMAN FOREIGN POLICY Embedded Hegemony in Europe Dan Hough, Michael Koß and Jonathan Olsen THE LEFT PARTY IN CONTEMPORARY GERMAN POLITICS Roger Woods GERMANY’S NEW RIGHT AS CULTURE AND POLITICS Christian Schweiger BRITAIN, GERMANY AND THE FUTURE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Matthew M. C. Allen THE VARIETIES OF CAPITALISM PARADIGM Explaining Germany’s Comparative Advantage? 9780230243279_01_prexii.indd i 1/20/2011 5:41:20 PM Gunther Hellmann (editor) GERMANY’S EU POLICY IN ASYLUM AND DEFENCE De-Europeanization by Default? Chantal Lacroix IMMIGRANTS, LITERATURE AND NATIONAL INTEGRATION Charles Lees PARTY POLITICS IN GERMANY A Comparative Politics Approach Ronald Speirs and John Breuilly (editors) GERMANY’S TWO UNIFICATIONS Anticipations, Experiences, Responses James Sloam THE EUROPEAN POLICY OF THE GERMAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATS Interpreting a Changing World Margarete Kohlenbach WALTER BENJAMIN Self-Reference and Religiosity Henning Tewes GERMANY, CIVILIAN POWER AND THE NEW EUROPE Enlarging Nato and the European Union Wolf-Dieter Eberwein and Karl Kaiser (editors) GERMANY’S NEW FOREIGN POLICY Decision-Making in an Interdependent World Gerard Braunthal RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM IN CONTEMPORARY GERMANY A Threat to Democracy? Ruth Wittlinger GERMAN NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY A Different Republic After All? New Perspectives in German Political Studies Series Standing Order ISBN 978–0–333–92430–3 hardcover Series Standing Order ISBN 978–0–333–92434–1 paperback (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBNs quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England 9780230243279_01_prexii.indd ii 1/20/2011 5:41:20 PM Institutions, Ideas and Learning in Welfare State Change Labour Market Reforms in Germany Timo Fleckenstein Lecturer in Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK 9780230243279_01_prexii.indd iii 1/20/2011 5:41:20 PM © Timo Fleckenstein 2011 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identiﬁ ed as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978–0–230–24327–9 hardback This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Fleckenstein, Timo, 1977– Institutions, Ideas and Learning in Welfare State Change : labour market reforms in Germany / Timo Fleckenstein. p. cm. Includes index. Summary: “Investigates the transformation of German labour market policy, showing that Germany has departed from the conservative- corporatist path of welfare, especially with the Hartz Legislation of the Red–Green government”— Provided by publisher. ISBN 978–0–230–24327–9 (hardback) 1. Manpower policy—Germany—History. 2. Labor market— Germany—History. 3. Welfare state—Germany—History. I. Title. HD5779.F58 2011 331.12'0420943—dc22 2010050731 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne 9780230243279_01_prexii.indd iv 1/20/2011 5:41:21 PM To my parents, Gottfried and Monika 9780230243279_01_prexii.indd v 1/20/2011 5:41:21 PM This page intentionally left blank Contents Tables ix Abbreviations x Preface xi 1 Introduction 1 1.1 The research puzzle and competing theories of the welfare state 2 1.2 The structure of the book 15 2 Institutions, Ideas and Learning 21 2.1 New institutionalism and the problem of change 21 2.2 Sources of institutional change 32 2.3 Towards an institutional approach to learning 42 3 The German Welfare State and Labour Market Policy 60 3.1 The German welfare state and labour market policy until 1998 60 3.2 The Red–Green labour market reforms, 1998–2005 76 4 The Institutional Setting of German Labour Market Policy-Making 93 4.1 The institutional setting of German labour market policy-making 93 4.2 The social and labour market policy discourse 98 5 Red–Green Labour Market Policy-Making: An Overview 113 5.1 The Job-AQTIV Law: strengthening enabling activation 115 5.2 The Hartz Legislation: shifting towards coercive activation 121 5.3 The first and second Red–Green governments compared 126 5.4 The European Employment Strategy: learning with Europe? 128 vii 9780230243279_01_prexii.indd vii 1/20/2011 5:41:21 PM viii Contents 6 The First Red–Green Government and the Alliance for Jobs 136 6.1 The Alliance for Jobs: an overview 137 6.2 The benchmarking report on employment of the low-skilled 142 6.3 The benchmarking report on labour market policy 144 6.4 The ‘Benchmarking Germany’ report 147 7 The Second Red–Green Government and the Hartz Commission 150 7.1 The Hartz Commission: an overview 151 7.2 The Hartz Commission at work 154 7.3 The Hartz Report: lessons learnt 156 7.4 The Hartz I and II Laws: implementing the Hartz Report 165 7.5 The Hartz III Law: learning beyond Hartz 166 7.6 The Hartz IV Law: learning without Hartz 170 8 Conclusions 179 8.1 Learning to depart from a policy path 181 8.2 The politics of learning 188 8.3 An institutional approach to learning 193 8.4 New institutionalism, learning and policy change 201 Appendix: List of Interviewees 206 Bibliography 209 Index 230 9780230243279_01_prexii.indd viii 1/20/2011 5:41:21 PM Tables 3.1 Labour market reforms of the Kohl government before unification 67 3.2 Labour market reforms of the Kohl government after unification 75 3.3 The Job-AQTIV Law of the first Schröder government 80 3.4 The Hartz Legislation of the second Schröder government 88 ix 9780230243279_01_prexii.indd ix 1/20/2011 5:41:21 PM Abbreviations ABM Job creation measures (Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahmen) ACF Advocacy coalition framework AFG Labour Promotion Act of 1969 (Arbeitsförderungsgesetz) AFRG Labour Promotion Reform Act of 1998 (Arbeitsförderungs- Reformgesetz) ALG Unemployment benefit (Arbeitslosengeld) BMWA Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Arbeit) BRH Federal Audit Office (Bundesrechnungshof) CDU Christian Democratic Union (Christlich Demokratische Union) CSU Christian Social Union (Christlich-Soziale Union) EU European Union EES European Employment Strategy GDP Gross domestic product MBO Management by objectives MP Member of Parliament (Bundestagsabgeordneter) NPM New public management OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PES Public Employment Service PSA Personnel Service Agency (Personalserviceagentur) SAM Structural adjustment measures (Strukturanpassungsmaßnahmen) SGB Social Code Book (Sozialgesetzbuch) SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands) x 9780230243279_01_prexii.indd x 1/20/2011 5:41:21 PM Preface This book started out as part of a research programme on European welfare states at the University of Osnabrück (Germany), for which the Hans Böckler Foundation provided generous funding. In Osnabrück, I was lucky to find enthusiastic colleagues who were eager to discuss different theoretical perspectives on welfare state change.

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