International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy: Volume 31 Issue 3/4

Guest editorial: Shifts in Nordic welfare governance: introduction and outlook

Viola Burau, Signy Irene Vabo

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers included in this special issue and discuss the theme – shifts in Nordic welfare governance.

Retuning the Nordic welfare municipality: Central regulation of social care under change in Finland

Teppo Kröger

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the changes that have taken place in the central regulation of social care in Finland since the 1970s. The changes in vertical…

Multi‐level governance in Norway: universalism in elderly and mental health care services

Gro Sandkjær Hanssen, Marit Kristine Helgesen

Based on a case study of Norway, the purpose of this paper is twofold: to present recent trends in the development of the multi‐level governance of the care services for the…

Universalism and the local organisation of elderly care

Signy Irene Vabo, Viola Burau

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concept of territorial equality as an indicator of universalism in locally provided care services for older people. The research…

Local welfare governance structuring informal carers' dual position

Liisa Häikiö, Anneli Anttonen

Local welfare governance is approached from the vantage point of informal carers caring for older people. A bottom‐up perspective is used to construct a critical view on welfare…

Changing governance, changing needs interpretations: implications for universalism

Mia Vabø

The paper seeks to explore how universal welfare arrangements based on needs testing may change and assume different institutional forms. Drawing attention to Norwegian home care…

Multi‐level governance and universalism: Austria and Germany compared

Hildegard Theobald

The paper compares the introduction of universal long‐term care schemes and the regulations of migrant care work within the framework of multi‐level governance in Austria and…

Quasi‐marketisation in domiciliary care: varied patterns, similar problems?

Ingo Bode, Laurent Gardin, Marthe Nyssens

This paper seeks to explore various types of quasi‐market governance in domiciliary elderly care with an interest in both the institutional variety of these governance…