Mapping the perceived importance of actors in social policy accountability across welfare state regimes: an assessment made by academic experts

Abstract

This article examines the role of a range of actors in social policy accountability across different welfare regimes, with a focus on Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, and Spain. Using a survey conducted with academic experts in these four countries, we examine the perceived importance attributed to political institutions, public bodies, and stakeholders. These include governments, political parties, parliaments, autonomous bodies, market-oriented actors, and societal actors. We examine the perceived role of each actor in influencing relationships of social policy accountability between governments and citizens. By doing so, we identify whether social policy accountability modes are primarily based on a supply-side/proactive pattern, where governments responsible for implementing policies play a key role in implementing accountability measures, or on a demand-side/reactive pattern, where the various forums (such as political institutions, autonomous watchdogs, and societal actors) are seen as the most important actors for accountability.

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant no. PID2022-142315NA-I00) and the Catalan Institute of Self-Government Studies (grant no. 2017 IEA5 00013).