POLS WPPS Seminars Series

The Politics of long-term care
Valeria de Tommaso
(NASP-Unimi, Ph.D Candidate)

Mapping eco-social policies to tackle energy poverty 
Jaewook Lee
(Unimi, Postdoc)

12 June 2024, h.14.30
Seminar Room Passione
Via Passione 15 - Milan 

Abstracts

Valeria de Tommaso | The Politics of long-term care 
The literature on welfare politics generally argues that the left-right spectrum is no longer sufficient to explain the tightening of welfare conditionality. This article argues that politics, encompassing ideology, party competition and coalition dynamics, play a crucial role. A examination of legislative changes in Southern Europe during the past decade shows that while welfare conditionality has been strengthened in Italy, it has diminished in Portugal and Spain. This paper argues that this divergence stems from the distinct patterns of party competition that emerged in each country after the 2013-2015 electoral turmoil. In Spain and Portugal, social democrats found themselves in bloc systems of party competition, characterized by having left-wing and right-wing blocs in which the vote and office strategies coincide. Within this context, social democrats accommodated the policy stances of emerging new-left parties when forming coalition governments. Conversely, Italy's political landscape evolved into a pivot system of party competition since no relevant party emerged from the far-left. This led to a policy consensus among the populist center-left, social democrats, and the far-right in favor of strengthening welfare conditionality. It is argued that such policy directions mirror the orientations of these party families and align with the demands of their electorate.

Jaewook Lee | Mapping eco-social policies to tackle energy povery
Feminist organizations and policymakers are increasingly promoting 'degenderization' reforms, seeking to incentivize men's caring roles. However, reserving parental leave time for fathers may generate opposition from groups advocating to prioritize mothers' caring rights. This article explores the politics of degenderization through feminist advocacy and parental leave reform in Spain. It combines a historical review, document analysis, and interviews with policymakers and activists to examine how civil society mobilization for parental leave reform is also influenced by policy feedback effects from broader family and gender policy and representation. Results show that the institutionalization of degenderization objectives in parties and state bodies, originally a reaction against Francoism, generated positive feedback effects by rendering elites responsive to the requests of an organization advocating for completely equal and non-transferable leave for each parent (PPiiNA). Its success provoked a negative effect, mobilizing mothers' groups into a competing organization that demands transferable or mother-exclusive leave rights (PETRA).

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This seminar is part of the POLS Welfare & Public Policies (WPPS) Seminar Series
(Organizing Committee: Matteo Jessoula, Marcello Natili, Valeria De Tommaso, Paolo Funari)

For an overview of the PhD Political Studies Seminar Series, click HERE