How the politics of ideas shaped Dutch disability reform
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Paulette Kurzer
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In 2002, ten percent of the Dutch labor force was enrolled in the country’s disability insurance scheme. In the current issue of Governance, Paulette Kurzer of the University of Arizona examines how the politics of ideas shaped the trajectory of disability reform. “Ideas played a strategic role,” Kurzer says. Center-left politicians seized on the concept of labor market activation as a device for thwarting neoliberal restructuring of the disability program. The concept of activation also resonated with voters — but for very different reasons. Voters were drawn to the idea as a way of barring ethnic minorities from taking advantage of the program. Read the article.
