Organisational reforms in active welfare states: A comparative analysis of the turn to 'single gateways' in Western Europe

Based on the case of reforms aimed at integrating the provision of income protection and employment services for jobless people in Europe, this thesis seeks to understand the reasons which may prompt governments to engage in large-scale organisational reforms. Over the last 20 years, several European countries have indeed radically redesigned the organisational structure of their welfare state by merging or bundling existing front-line offices in charge of benefit payment and employment services together into 'one-stop' agencies. Whereas in academic and political debates, these reforms are generally presented as a necessary and rational response to the problems and inconsistencies induced by fragmentation in a context of the reorientation of welfare states towards labour market activation, this thesis shows that the agenda setting of these reforms is in fact the result of multidimensional political dynamics. More specifically, the main argument of this thesis is that these reforms are best understood not so such from the problems induced by organisational compartmentalism, whose political recognition is often controversial, but from the various goals that governments may simultaneously achieve by means of their adoption. This argument is tested by comparing agenda-setting processes of large-scale reforms of coordination in the United Kingdom (Jobcentre Plus), Germany (Hartz IV reform) and Denmark (2005 Jobcentre reform), and contrasting them with the Swiss case where the government has so far rejected any coordination initiative involving organisational redesign. This comparison brings to light the importance, for the rise of organisational reforms, of the possibility to couple them with the following three goals: first, goals related to the strengthening of activation policies; second, institutional goals seeking to redefine the balance of responsibilities between the central state and non-state actors, and finally electoral goals for governments eager to maintain political credibility. The decisive role of electoral goals in the three countries suggests that these reforms are less bound by partisan politics than by the particular pressures facing governments arrived in office after long periods in opposition.

[Voyage en Italie : 1824-1830]. , Bas-relief au musée [archéologique] de Florence : [motif] : [dessin] / h. L. [Henri Labrouste]

Référence bibliographique : Weigert, 155

[Voyage en Italie : 1825-1830]. , Au Musée de Florence : [motif ornemental à base de feuilles d'acanthe] : [dessin] / h. L. [Henri Labrouste]

Référence bibliographique : Weigert, 160

[Voyage en Italie : 1824-1830]. , Musée des Études, peinture de Pompeia : [un motif : femme déposant une offrande au pied d'une statue] : [dessin] / h. L. [Henri Labrouste]

Référence bibliographique : Weigert, 282

[Voyage en Italie : 1824-1830]. , Musée des Etudes, Bronzes : [un motif de vase] : [dessin] / h. L. [Henri Labrouste]

Référence bibliographique : Weigert, 258

[Voyage en Italie : 1824-1830]. , [Musée des Etudes : femme à sa toilette, contre une colonne] : [un motif] : [dessin] / [Henri Labrouste]

Référence bibliographique : Weigert, 248

[Voyage en Italie : 1824-1830]. , [Musée des Etudes : femme à sa toilette, portée par deux personnages ailés] : [un motif : vase] : [dessin] / [Henri Labrouste]

Référence bibliographique : Weigert, 249

[Voyage en Italie : 1824-1830]. , Musée des Etudes, Etrusques : [un motif de vase] : [dessin] / h. L. [Henri Labrouste]

Référence bibliographique : Weigert, 267

[Voyage en Italie : 1824-1830]. , [Musée du Vatican, détail d'une composition ornementale] : [un motif] : [dessin] / [Henri Labrouste]

Référence bibliographique : Weigert, 619

[Voyage en Italie : 1824-1830]. , [Cuve de bain en basalte, socle à motifs de griffons, motif de palmette] au Musée du Vatican : [trois motifs] : [dessin] / h. L. [Henri Labrouste]

Référence bibliographique : Weigert, 617

Biochemical properties of RuvBD113N: a mutation in helicase motif II of the RuvB hexamer affects DNA binding and ATPase activities.

Many DNA helicases utilise the energy derived from nucleoside triphosphate hydrolysis to fuel their actions as molecular motors in a variety of biological processes. In association with RuvA, the E. coli RuvB protein (a hexameric ring helicase), promotes the branch migration of Holliday junctions during genetic recombination and DNA repair. To analyse the relationship between ATP-dependent DNA helicase activity and branch migration, a site-directed mutation was introduced into the helicase II motif of RuvB. Over-expression of RuvBD113N in wild-type E. coli resulted in a dominant negative UVs phenotype. The biochemical properties of RuvBD113N were examined and compared with wild-type RuvB in vitro. The single amino acid substitution resulted in major alterations to the biochemical activities of RuvB, such that RuvBD113N was defective in DNA binding and ATP hydrolysis, while retaining the ability to form hexameric rings and interact with RuvA. RuvBD113N formed heterohexamers with wild-type RuvB, and could inhibit RuvB function by affecting its ability to bind DNA. However, heterohexamers exhibited an ability to promote branch migration in vitro indicating that not all subunits of the ring need to be catalytically competent.

[Voyage en Italie : 1824-1830]. , Musée des Études, mosaïque de Pompeia : [un motif : composition architecturale avec lutteur et poule] : [dessin] / h. L. [Henri Labrouste]

Référence bibliographique : Weigert, n. d.

[Voyage en Italie : 1824-1830]. , [Musée des Études ?] : [un motif représentant deux biches] : [dessin] / [Henri Labrouste]

Référence bibliographique : Weigert, 266