Abstract
This text was written by P. Taylor-Gooby in 2005. It is about the erosion of European welfare States which are challenged by a growing ethnic diversity. In this text, the author tries to contradict the idea that the absence of welfare states would result from a large racial diversity. In his mind, left politics should be taken into consideration to explain social spending. He also compares Europe and the USA to understand these differences and to take examples. In my opinion, this text is well-written; the arguments are clearly presented and easy to understand. Furthermore, the author draws on statistics and empirical studies in order his work more rigorous.
In the first part, the author identifies the different challenges European welfare states have to face: the globalization of the economy (it becomes necessary for governments to invest in areas which contribute to the economic production), the transition to oriented-services economy which make the growth less exponential, the erosion of national governments with the EU construction. Taylor-Gooby also argues that European societies are more and more individualistic (lack of social cohesion) even if we can notice that welfare states increase social spending.
