Public Organization and the Waning of the Welfare State: A Research Perspective

Abstract The political economy of the welfare state, which had emerged as the successful response of capitalist democracies to the economic crisis of the nineteen-thirties, is now confronted with new problems and demands which seem to challenge its continuing viability. The resulting crisis of transition may lead into political regression and even catstrophe unless political systems increase both their capacity for policy innovation and their ability to avoid dramatic policy failures. The essay suggests that organizational studies may offer a significant contribution to the successful management of the macro-societal transition process if they will systematically relate their own work to substantive policy studies. By focusing closely on the organizational causes of policy failures, they may contribute to the practical improvement of public policy-making as well as to systematic theory development. The potential of this approach is illustrated through brief sketches of three studies combining substantive policy analysis with the analysis of public sector organization.