Ethnic Heterogeneity and the Welfare State

Abstract

Countries cumulate very different experiences on welfare state development and change and the process dominant in one context may not be consistent over time. How welfare states develop and change has partly to do with changes in the need and demand for social protections as well as those in political attitudes and preferences that dictate policy actions and decisions. An integral component of how welfare states change can also be ethnic heterogeneity as it can affect both the economic contexts of needs and demands and the political contexts of attitudes and preferences. Yet, while the existing theories of the welfare state underscore these political and economic contexts of social protection, they fail to adequately link welfare state developments and changes with the changes in ethnic heterogeneity. Given the major changes in welfare state policy provisions and practices, coupled by a landscape of growing ethnic heterogeneity in high-income countries, it is important to examine if this form of social heterogeneity can be a significant factor in thinking about the needs and demands as well as the political attitudes and preferences, which help shape and reshape welfare state policies.