Forms of European multi-level administration show an increased 'defibration' of the state through a shift of functioning onto the European level, onto other transnationally acting member states and onto the level of social self-organisation. At the same time a new 'complexity' is to be observed...

This paper describes welfare state transformation in OECD countries since the 1970s against the background of the post-war settlement. Relying on quantitative macro-data and qualitative information from the literature, we show that welfare states have converged, especially regarding various...