Cambridge University Press Welfare States in East Central Europe, 1919–2004

A comparative-historical study of welfare states in the former communist region of East Central Europe. Inglot analyzes almost one hundred years of expansion of social insurance programs across different political regimes. He places these programs in a larger political and socioeconomic context, which includes the most recent developments since the advent of democracy. Based on this research, he argues that despite apparent similarities the welfare states of East Central Europe, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic and Slovakia since 1993), Poland, and Hungary have pursued distinct historical paths of development and change. He examines the highly unusual evolution of these welfare states in detail, tracing alternating periods of growth and retrenchment/reform, which he links to political and economic crises under communist rule. Inglot uses this comparative analysis of welfare systems to examine the continued influence of history over the politics and policies of the social safety nets in Eastern Europe. Review 'Overall Inglot presents a carefully laid-out conceptual framework of nearly a century of welfare state development in three (with Czechoslovakia's split in 1993, four) very different, if geographically close, countries in East Central Europe.' The Journal of Austrian History Yearbook Book Description Inglot analyzes historical patterns of expansion and evolution among welfare states in East Central Europe. About the Author Tomasz Inglot is currently Professor of Political Science and Director of the International Relations Program at Minnesota State University. His articles appeared in Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Perspectives on Political Science, and Polityka Społeczna (Warsaw) and he co-edited the collected conference papers of the 2005 meeting on East European social policy at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. He is also the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, IREX travel grants, and an ACLS Postdoctoral Fellowship in East European Studies.