Partisan politics and welfare adjustment: the case of France

Abstract:

This article examines the relationship between partisanship and welfare reform in France. France was governed by the right from 1993 to 1997 (Edouard Balladur and Alain Juppé) and has been ruled by the left since June 1997 (Lionel Jospin). Fiscal consolidation and welfare reform have been a central issue, perhaps the central issue, for each of these governments, making it possible to compare strategies across the political spectrum. The article pays particular attention to the ongoing efforts of the Jospin government to anchor its social and economic reforms on the left. The government's strategy can be distilled into four components: 1) imposing the costs of austerity on the constituents of the right, rather than the left; 2) giving a progressive twist to neo-liberal ideas, such as privatization; 3) targeting tax relief at average and low-income groups; 4) channeling scarce resources to highly visible, progressive projects.