Divergence and Synchronization of the Institutional Clocks of the Welfare State

Abstract

This article explores the divergence and synchronization of the development of the European welfare states by means of a new concept, that is, social/institutional time The concept enables the author to describe the development of welfare states by means of several time axes, which are complementary to conventional calendar time. On the basis of these multiple time axes, the article first analyses the historical trajectories of 13 European welfare states between 1885 and 1975. By means of factor analyses of the mentioned time data, the article subsequently also tackles the question of the dimensionality of social/institutional time, which is important for identifying the divergence or convergence of welfare state development. Finally, the article presents an integrated model of the interference and synchronization of the different institutional clocks of the welfare state. The model focuses on international and inter-institutional asynchronies for explaining the development of the welfare state between 1885 and 1975 and is corroborated by an empirical test based on the aforementioned time data.