A two-step approach for the analysis of hybrids in comparative social policy analysis: a nuanced typology of childcare policies

Typologies have represented an important tool for the development of comparative social policy research and continue to be widely used in spite of growing criticism of their ability to capture the complexity of welfare states and their internal heterogeneity. In particular, debates have focused on the presence of hybrid cases and the existence of distinct cross-national pattern of variation across areas of social policy. There is growing awareness around these issues, but empirical research often still relies on methodologies aimed at classifying countries in a limited number of unambiguous types. This article proposes a two-step approach based on fuzzy-set-ideal-type analysis for the systematic analysis of hybrids at the level of both policies (step 1) and policy configurations or combinations of policies (step 2). This approach is demonstrated by using the case of childcare policies in European economies. In the first step, parental leave policies are analysed using three methods – direct, indirect, and combinatory – to identify and describe specific hybrid forms at the level of policy analysis. In the second step, the analysis focus on the relationship between parental leave and childcare services in order to develop an overall typology of childcare policies, which clearly shows that many countries display characteristics normally associated with different types (hybrids and. Therefore, this two-step approach enhances our ability to account and make sense of hybrid welfare forms produced from tensions and contradictions within and between policies.

Devolution, Social Policy and Education: Some Observations from Northern Ireland

Many commentaries on social policy in the UK assume that policy as developed in England applies to the constituent countries of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. However, the advent of political devolution in the last five years is slowly being reflected in the literature. This paper takes education policy in Northern Ireland and discusses recent policy developments in the light of the 1998 Belfast Agreement. The Agreement, it is suggested, is providing a framework which promotes equality, human rights and inclusion in policy making. Some early indications of this are discussed and some of the resultant policy dilemmas are assessed. The paper concludes that accounts of policy development
in the UK, which ignore the multi-level policy-making contexts created by devolution, do
a disservice to the subject.