Partisan Influence on Policy Preferences in Retrenching the Welfare State.

ABSTRACT: While citizens typically favor welfare policies, the electoral consequences of retrenching the welfare state are often minimal for parties implementing the reforms. Using two structural reforms in Finland as a natural quasi-experiment, we show that voters' policy preferences shift in response to welfare reform measures initiated by their preferred parties. In December 2020, the Finnish center-left government enacted two reforms: one reducing social protection by removing entitlements for laid-off older workers to receive income-based unemployment benefits, and the other increasing social spending by extending the compulsory education age from 16 to 18. Using a two-wave panel survey conducted before and after the government actions, the results indicate that government voters became conside

SUBMITTER: Nemcok M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12369940 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature