2
Ideas and Social Policy
Abstract
Since the beginning of the 1980s, historical institutionalism has emerged as one of the most
influential theoretical perspectives in social policy studies. While most insightful, this approach tends
to relegate policy ideas to the back of its theoretical constructions dealing with welfare state politics.
The objective of this paper is to show how institutionalist scholarship can pay greater attention to
ideational processes without abandoning its core assumptions about the structuring impact of
political institutions and policy legacies on welfare state development. If institutions truly influence
policymaking, policy ideas matter in and beyond the agenda setting process. Related to existing
policy legacies, perceived problems mesh with policy alternatives grounded in a specific paradigm.
When stressing the ‘need to reform’ and promoting new alternatives, policy entrepreneurs draw on
existing ideological repertoires to frame the debated policy alternatives. The ability to successfully
frame these alternatives can become a decisive aspect of the policy process. The discussion of recent
social policy reforms enacted in North America and Western Europe provides ground to these
general claims.
Convention