This paper is about the relative impact of retirement and social class on individual attitudes towards welfare state policies in advanced industrial democracies. Which factor is more important in explaining individuals' social policy preferences: socio-economic background or retirement? How can...

Introduction -- The unexpected peacefulness of transitions -- Political quiescence despite conditions for conflict -- Preventing protests: divide and pacify as political strategy -- The great abnormal pensioner booms: strategic social policies in practice -- Peaceful pathways: the political...

"This book adopts novel theoretical approaches to study the diverse welfare pathways that have been evolving across Central and Eastern Europe. Beyond existing path dependency and neo-institutionalist explanations, it highlights the role of explanatory factors such as micro-causal mechanisms,...