Explaining Reform in Europe: Comparison Patterns and Reflections

This chapter describes the reforms that have been addressed in the various cases discussed in the book. It overviews the barriers and facilitators that appear from the cases and relates them to factors. The chapter reflects on the paths to and phases of reform, based on an evaluation of how barriers either diminished or were overcome by facilitators. The cases analyzed in the chapter represent a wide variety of reform types, ranging from cases of constitutional reform (Germany) to New Public Management reform (home care). The cases occurred in different policy sectors (such as social security and agriculture), in different political systems (federal versus centralized) and on different levels (local level reforms in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK as well as national level reforms such as in Ireland and the Netherlands). Despite these differences, the policy changes studied in this project all fit the definition of reform used in this study: the studied changes were fundamental, intended, and enforced.