Does Nationalism Trigger Welfare-State Disintegration? Social Policy and Territorial Mobilization in Belgium and Canada

Abstract

Since the late 1990s a growing number of scholars have explored the relationship between decentralization, nationalism, and social policy development. In this paper we explore the impact of substate nationalism on the territorial integration or disintegration of the welfare state in Belgium and Canada. As argued, although substate nationalist mobilization is intuitively associated with welfare-state disintegration, there is little evidence to support this claim. In Belgium, despite Flemish nationalist pressures, francophone opposition and major constitutional obstacles have prevented the decentralization of the federal social insurance system. In Canada competitive nation building between the federal and Quebec governments has not led to the erosion of social protection. Instead, this logic has favored the creation of a decentralized and asymmetrical welfare state while exacerbating pressures for social policy expansion. In order to explain such contrasted outcomes we draw on the existing scholarship on the role of ideas and of institutions in policy development.