Abstract

When the communist regimes fell, a variety of hybrid types of policies developed. Not only do policies differ between countries, but also the types of policies differ within one country, as some social policy areas may have, for example, more liberal-residualist characteristics, while other policy areas in the same country may have more conservative-Bismarckian aspects. The development of post-communist social policies has been influenced mainly by a combination of path dependency (often with universalist and conservative elements), a discourse dominated by market-liberal hegemonic tendencies, and the desire of large portions of the population to have relatively generous welfare policies.