Elites, Policies and State Reconfiguration

“This is not only a provocative book but also a very convincing one. Against the dominant current, William Genieys and Mohammad-Saïd Darviche are showing that the custodians of the French state are able to protect their strong institution against any destructive attempt. The State is not failing in parts, liberalism and the market are still unable to destroy the strong french state. This is a crucial finding. Every scholar in comparative political sociology should read this superb empirical and theoretical research.”

—Pierre Birnbaum, Université Paris 1, France

“Genieys and Darviche have written an important book on a crucial area of public policy.  It is excellently documented and it relies on considerable empirical data as well as being embedded in theory. It thus constitutes a milestone in French political science.”

—Ezra N. Suleiman, Princeton University, USA

“Linking policy studies and political science.  How public elites contribute to the survival and modernization of the Welfare State. A major contribution to analysis and theory.”

—Jean-Claude Thoenig, National Center for Scientific Research, France

This book examines the history of the French welfare state from the mid-twentieth century to the present day. The French social security system has changed profoundly over the last few decades. The Bismarkian model of governance and social protection inherited from the Second World War has progressively faded away in favor of a reinforcement of the state’s capacity to intervene on policies and the implementation of national health insurance coverage. In order to understand this major transformation, this book draws on rich original sources to offer a historical and sociological perspective on elite policymakers and policy change. In doing so, it identifies correlations between the changing social backgrounds and career paths of elites in charge of social insurance policies since the 1940s, and the development of health policy programs.
William Genieys is CNRS Research Professor of Politics and Sociology at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics, Sciences Po, France.

Mohammad Saïd Darviche is Associate Professor at the University of Montpellier, France.