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Conservative parties, progressive policies : the politics of the ongoing gender revolution
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Florence : European University Institute, 2025
EUI; SPS; PhD Thesis
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ALVARIÑO VÁZQUEZ, Manuel, Conservative parties, progressive policies : the politics of the ongoing gender revolution, Florence : European University Institute, 2025, EUI, SPS, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/92816
Abstract
Since the 1980s, centre-right parties have radically switched from incentivising malebreadwinner to dual-earner family models. This has contributed to the path departure of conservative welfare states in their regulation of gender, family and labour markets, converging towards social investment work-family policies. These events challenge classic partisan and path dependence expectations of welfare politics. Therefore, recent research has reconceptualised political parties as capable of adapting their policies to changing economic pressures and social demand. This thesis offers a new argument for this political puzzle by focusing on policy feedback effects from left-wing activity. The core argument is that welfare partisanship is resistant, but policy feedback effects can drive ideological change. Stubborn policy paradigms and enduring linkages with social groups prevent parties from abandoning their traditional ideologies to respond to structural change. Instead, postindustrial challenges to conservative institutions initially cause conflict between progressive modernisers and conservative resistance. If left-wing governments introduce workfamily reforms, these create feedback effects by shaping policy ideas among bureaucrats and employers while also influencing civil and electoral mobilisation. These processes can trigger a ‘partisan feedback,’ leading centre-right parties to abandon their initial opposition and become supporters of gender institutional change. The dissertation tests this idea using a nested comparative historical analysis. The macro level comparison of six conservative welfare states shows that centre-right parties only shift their stance on work-family policies after progressive governments introduce transformative reforms. The micro level uses process tracing in Spain and Germany to explore two feedback mechanisms connecting left- and right-wing administrations: bureaucratic continuity and civil mobilisation. By gathering novel empirical material on work-family policy development in conservative welfare states, this dissertation offers a new theory on right-wing parties and gender institutional change with broader implications for the politics of the welfare state.
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Additional Information
Defence date: 10 June 2025
Examining Board: Prof. Anton Hemerijck (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Margarita León (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, External Co-Supervisor); Prof. Ellen Immergut (European University Institute); Prof. Silja Häusermann (Universität Zürich)
Examining Board: Prof. Anton Hemerijck (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Margarita León (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, External Co-Supervisor); Prof. Ellen Immergut (European University Institute); Prof. Silja Häusermann (Universität Zürich)
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Chapter 3 'Partisan politics and feedback effects: comparing defamilialization by center-right parties across six familistic countries' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'Partisan politics and feedback effects : comparing defamilialization by center-right parties across six familistic countries' (2024) in the journal 'Politics and society'.
Chapter 4 'Conviction or Consent? Tracing the Influence of Coalition Partners on Family Policy under Centre-Right Ministers' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'Conviction or consent? : tracing the influence of coalition partners on family policy under centre-right ministers' (2024) in the journal 'Government and opposition'.
Chapter 5 'Care at the Crossroads: How policy feedback shaped competing feminist advocacy for parental leave reform in Spain' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'Care at the crossroads : how policy feedback shaped competing feminist advocacy for parental leave reform in Spain' (2025) in the journal 'Politics & policy'.
Chapter 4 'Conviction or Consent? Tracing the Influence of Coalition Partners on Family Policy under Centre-Right Ministers' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'Conviction or consent? : tracing the influence of coalition partners on family policy under centre-right ministers' (2024) in the journal 'Government and opposition'.
Chapter 5 'Care at the Crossroads: How policy feedback shaped competing feminist advocacy for parental leave reform in Spain' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'Care at the crossroads : how policy feedback shaped competing feminist advocacy for parental leave reform in Spain' (2025) in the journal 'Politics & policy'.
Research Projects
European Commission, 882276
Sponsorship and Funder Information
This publication is part of a project that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 882276).