EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE Department of Political and Social Sciences Competing Ideas The Religious Foundations of the German and Italian Welfare States Josef Hien Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of Political and Social Sciences of the European University Institute Examining Board: Prof. Sven Steinmo (EUI, Supervisor) Prof. Stefano Bartolini (EUI) Prof. Mark Blyth (Brown University) Prof. Wolfgang Streeck (Max Planck Institute) © (2012) Josef Hien No Parts of the thesis may be copied, reproduced or transmitted without prior permission of the author. 2 ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the influence of political Catholicism and Catholic social doctrine on the evolution of the continental European welfare regimes. Paradoxically it finds that the doctrine had less influence on the formation of welfare regimes in countries where Catholicism was strong in contrast to countries where it was in a weak minority position. This finding does not only challenge many of the accounts that have perceived and analyzed religious influences on welfare state formation as a static and quantifiable variable but also addresses and rivals most postulations of mainstream welfare state theories such as Logic of Industrialism, Power Resource, Class Coalition and Employer Centered Approaches. In contrast to these postulations this thesis finds that welfare in continental Europe evolved during the 19th century and most of the 20th century as the result of a battle over ideas and worldviews between different societal groups and their political outlets. Which idea and worldview makes its way into institutional implementation is not primarily connected to the mere numerical strength or power resources of its societal and political representation but is a function of the performance of the programmatic ideas themselves. Decisive is how they strive in competition with other programmatic ideas. Two mechanisms stick out that determine whether programmatic ideas are successful: the performance and evolution of the idea in a process of ideational competition and the degree of ideational compatibility of a programmatic idea other ideas that enables the formation of ideational and political coalitions. The programmatic ideas and hence the worldview that performs these two tasks best wins its way into institutional implementation. Though, ideational competition, evolution and implementation is not solely endogenous to the battle of ideas but structured through a variety of exogenous factors such as the institutional (election system, mode of governance, degree of enfranchisement) and structural-material environment (pace of industrialization, spatial diffusion of economic development, number of ideational competitors). The thesis will show against the backdrop of the Italian and German welfare state development, from the end of the 19h century to the present, that these battles of ideas and worldviews were a major driver in how continental European political economies were structured during the 20th century. I II Acknowledgements I always thought that this would be the part of the thesis that I would enjoy the most. All these years of fantasizing about the acknowledgements. It is also the part that I personally always enjoy the most to read of a dissertation. It unveils the hidden story ‘behind’ a PhD and adds a human touch. If one is lucky one gets to read one’s own name or at least some inside jokes that one can decipher. However, no one told me that the finishing of the thesis would be much less glorious than expected. At the end, one has simply run out of time, is too exhausted, the fingers hurt and one has accumulated a substantial amount of rage against any form of communication that is based on the written word. However, I still like to read acknowledgements and I still like to read my name in them. I assume it is the same for you. Here they are: First of all, I have to thank Sven Steinmo. It was him who brought me into the EUI in the first place and he was ever since an incredible source of inspiration. He has been a true supervisor, mentor, and friend over the past four years. The countless challenging conversations that we had in office hours, cafeterias and over late night beers on the Florentine piazzas have provided the true fundament for this thesis. Sven also hooked me up with a job as a research assistant which allowed me to invest in my first Florentine race bike that gave me an escape lane to browse Tuscan Hills and think about ideas and interests. The second thanks goes to the panel of my doctoral dissertation. I want to thank, Stefano Bartolini, Mark Blyth and Wolfgang Streeck for thorough, critical, thoughtful and most inspiring comments in their reports. A special thanks goes to Wolfgang Streeck who took time of his busy schedule as director of the Max Planck institute and had a deep, critical and encouraging conversation with me on “ihr Werk” (as he called it) upon my arrival in Cologne. Alexander Trechsel also deserves special thanks for all the professional advice and fun throughout the years and especially for giving me a ride to the Oktoberfest four years ago. In the end every dissertation is written by the student himself. However, institutions can inhibit or facilitate this process. This list is reserved to those that facilitated the process. A big thanks goes to the DAAD who did not only pay all my dentist bills but also provided me with my livelihood during the past four years. Furthermore, I want to thank the European University Institute for being the most wonderful institution of higher education that I have ever seen. I also want to thank Humboldt University and the Berlin Graduate School of Social III Sciences for hosting me for a six month research visit in Berlin and finally the Max Planck institute in Cologne for providing me with a post-doc fellowship. Yet, of course no institution is anything without the people that run it. When debating with Herbert Kitschelt a long time ago at Duke where to go for graduate school in Europe, he unforgettably mentioned to me that the EUI would not only have the best view but, will also provide the smartest and most inspiring fellow graduate students in Europe to be my peers (which proved equally important than the view). He could not have been more right. The buzz at the EUI is made by your fellow students that draw you into a constant, never ending borderless intellectual adventure upon your arrival for the coming four years. One can capture it as a 24 hour debate that starts on the bus number 7 in the morning, continues with the first café in the cafeteria, is relaunched over lunch in the mensa, goes down to Bar Fiasco for a first aperitivo and later hits the piazzas of downtown Firenze. On the weekend it follows you on the train to the Tuscan beaches. This PhD is as much the product of myself as it is the product of these conversations with my friends and colleagues which of course also includes the great faculty at the EUI. For comments, support, training and seminars I want to thank Laszlo Bruszt, Rainer Bauböck, Donatella della Porta, Martin Kohli, Mark Franklin, Adrienne Heritier and of course the outstanding Alexander Trechsel. On top of all this presides the soul of Peter Mair who was and will always be the spirit of the Badia. Also the frequent visiting fellows of the EUI that in one way or another commented on this PhD must be thanked. Gratitude goes especially to Isabelle Engeli, Dorothee Bohle, Ellen Immergut, Graham Smith and David Natali. I also want to thank some people that have supported and inspired me on my academic Career prior to the EUI. These were Herbert Kitschelt and Guillermo Trejo at Duke and Petra Bendel and Klaus Brummer at the University of Erlangen Nürnberg. However, this dissertation would have not seen the light of the day without the constant support of friends, colleagues and personalities, at home in Germany, at the EUI and in Florence. A special shout out goes to all the wonderful people of Via Sarpi 22, Sara, Elisa, Elena, Fanfa, Silvia, Allessandro and the wider Florentine architect friendship circle. You gave the unique feeling of belonging to a famiglia Italiana. Another big thanks goes to all the friends at the institute, you have been a constant source of inspiration, gossip and scandals that has made the Badia a livable place – no need to name you, you know who you IV are. I will only mention that I am glad to have friends that by now stretch from the Russian tundra to the cliffs of Portugal and from the Northern tips of Scandinavia to the Bosporus. Great thanks I also own to my family. I thank Franz and Luca because they are fun and life without siblings would be boring and my parents Elisabeth and Albert for deciding one day that it would be a good idea to put me into this world. Thank you, it has been a wonderful experience so far. This thesis is dedicated to you. Finally I have to thank Elin to whom I own the most of the past four years. You made life a bliss. I look very much forward to embark on a lifelong adventure with you. Josef Hien, Cologne 29.10.2012 V 1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Religious foundation of the German and Italian Welfare States ...................... 1 1.2 Bismarck and the Black International: Early Modern Social Security ...................... 2 1.3 Christian Socialism or the Spirit of Capitalism: The Post-War Settlement .............. 3 1.4 The End of History? ............................................................................................... 3 1.5 Implications .......................................................................................................... 4 2 Theory and Concept ......................................................................................... 7 2.1 The Origins of Welfare .......................................................................................