Abstract
Anthony McCashin’s Continuity and Change in the Welfare State: Social Security in the Republic of Ireland is a commanding and intricate account of the development of the social security system in Ireland between 1981 and 2016. It provides a detailed picture of welfare state change in the context of the rapid social and economic advancement of the Irish state and the subsequent response of the government during, and in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis. The book will be of particular interest to students of Irish social policy who will benefit from understanding the historical foundations of the contemporary system. It also provides an important resource for European and international scholars whose research centres on the examination of welfare state policies and politics and those who are interested in comparative social policy. Anthony McCashin is a Lecturer at Trinity College, Dublin. His book began life as his Doctoral thesis which was submitted to Trinity College, Dublin in 2014. The author has had a distinguished career in welfare state research in Ireland, including a period as Research Officer for the Commission on Social Welfare (1986-1992).
The book is an important and much needed addition to the limited biographical and theoretical texts dedicated to analysis of the social security system in the Republic of Ireland (Kelly 1996; Cook 1986, 1990; Cousins 2003; Carey 2008). The book aims to meet two inter-related objectives; first, a ‘comprehensive analysis of social security change in Ireland from 1981 – 2016’, and second, ‘a theoretically grounded interpretation of the sources of the observed changes’ (McCashin 2019: 5). The author undoubtedly fulfils both objectives through the use of a robust methodology. McCashin provides a useful literature review of existing studies of the emergence of social security in Chapter 3. In the process, he provides an important comparative and analytic commentary which succeeds in constructively unpacking the deficiencies and gaps in their respective methodological approaches. This exercise leads the author to conclude that ‘the limited scholarship available found state centred approaches particularly applicable in understanding the pattern and timing of social security development’ (McCashin 2019: 82). This paves the way for McCashin to underscore the value of his subsequent analysis.
McCashin traces the development of the Irish social security in the context of the rapidly changing European welfare state landscape which has, since the 1980s, witnessed a ‘pattern of change in social security (that) has gone beyond a growth – to – limits scenario in which the most mature systems would regress the most, and that cash benefits relative to incomes are in general less generous’ (McCashin 2019: 253). He tentatively concludes that between 1981 and 2016 - Ireland has largely maintained welfare state conservatism ‘with a small c’ (McCashin 2019: 254), in the most part due to its political system of concurrent coalition governments which has ensured a ‘stubborn continuity in the Irish social security system’ (McCashin 2019: 7). The Irish political party system is not orientated to divergent ideological positions, with political actors predominantly attuned to local issues. This is caveated with the suggestion if there is a continued, and full implementation of employment activation measures and an auto-enrolment pension regime is rolled out that there could be a definitive shift to the liberal world. However, this should be considered in the context of Ireland’s opportunity to move away from the male-breadwinner model which could prompt more progressive childcare policies and associated provisions which would transform the system and create a ‘hybrid regime’ (McCashin 2019: 255; 158-169). The author’s findings are premised on a detailed analytical framework which adapts institutionalism to the case of the Irish social security system.
McCashin’s decision to use institutionalism as an exploratory framework is set out in Chapter 2 and is supported with a detailed account of key scholarship in the field. Indeed, the author’s use of single N and small N case studies associated with this method, makes an important contribution to the ‘intellectual cumulation’ of the chosen research genre (Pierson and Skopol 2002: 15; McCashin 2019: 43). The strength of this book lies in McCashin’s skillful application of institutionalism to the empirical aspect of the study, which presents a one country case study of Ireland spanning 35 years - consulting policy, legal and expenditure changes in the system between 1981-2016 (McCashin 2019: 86). Consequently, the author provides a detailed quantitative analysis of social security expenditure and a documentary analysis of policy and legislation introduced in the time period under examination (Chapters 5 and 6). The chapters that captivated the reviewer most were Chapters 7-10, which provided interesting discursive relief from the painstakingly complex detail provided in first half of the book. The latter half of the book is further enhanced by relevant interview data collected from policy actors.
The sophisticated methodological framework coupled with an impressive attention to detail is undoubtedly this book’s strength. In some respects, however, it is also the book’s weakness – particularly for those readers, such as undergraduate students of Irish social policy, who may find the intricacies of the narrative intimidating; this is particularly true of the quantitative section of the book. A further strength is the impressive and expansive reading list that McCashin consulted and this is reflected in the rigour of his analysis. Overall, McCashin’s book makes a valuable contribution to scholarship on the Irish social security system – particularly in its important analysis of social security law and policy implemented following the financial crash.