Duration:
01 January 2026 - 31 December 2029

Research Team:
Dr. Johanna Fischer (Head of project)
Q-Sys AG (Head of project)
Prof. Dr. Heinz Rothgang (Head of project)
Q-Sys AG
Meika Sternkopf
Migyeong Yun

The project A07 is part of the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1342 Global Dynamics of Social Policy (3. funding phase).

Abstract:

Against the background of demographic aging, the comparably novel social policy field of long-term
care (LTC) is gaining political and societal salience in many parts of the world. The aim of establishing
high-quality, affordable, and accessible LTC systems is also reflected in several of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, such as the goals on “Health and Well-Being”, “Reduced Inequalities”, “Gender Equality”, and “Decent Work and Economic Growth” as care work is predominantly provided by women and often in un- or underpaid settings.

In the first and second phase of the CRC, the projects A04, B07, and A07 have extensively mapped the historical emergence of public LTC systems for older persons and their respective system architecture as well as vertical and international interdependencies such as the role of international organizations, policy diffusion, and migration. Building on this research, in the third phase, project A07 aims to examine how LTC
policies shape politics and political systems and contribute to political integration. In doing so, we
draw on the concept of policy feedback which has fruitfully been applied to study political changes in other fields of social policy but not yet in the field of LTC. Do new policies generate new politics, that is, can we observe distinct effects and mechanisms of policy feedback? More specifically, A07 will investigate the extent to which the type, scope of benefits, and inclusiveness of national LTC systems influence political outcomes in three areas: political attitudes and behavior of the general public, of interest groups, and of political elites.

To operationalize our explanatory variable, the LTC system, we draw on our research from the previous CRC phases, that is, the multidimensional, actor-centered classification of LTC systems, our dataset on scope of benefits and inclusiveness, and country case study results. As dependent variables, we focus on three dimensions. Firstly, attitudes towards and trust in the (welfare) state as well as electoral behavior, in particular of affected groups like older persons and women, might be altered by feedback effects stemming from pre-existing LTC policy. We study these effects for all 51 national LTC systems globally by drawing on international survey data on opinions and voting. Secondly, LTC policies might influence the constitution and political participation of interest groups such as organizations of persons in need of care, unions of care workers, or business associations of providers. Thirdly, we expect changes in the positions taken as well as the structure of political and administrative elites through policy feedback from LTC systems, for instance in state bureaucracy, party positions, and, potentially, party systems.

For analyzing feedback effects on interest groups and political elites, we chose a comparative case study design based on expert interviews and document analysis to trace influences on those actors in depth over time. Maximizing variance, we analyze countries from three world regions—Europe, East Asia, Latin America—which each introduced differently designed distinct LTC systems in three subsequent decades: Germany in the 1990s, South Korea (Korea) in the 2000s, and Uruguay in the 2010s. In this way, we want to contribute to the discussion on how social policies feed back into the politics of ageing societies worldwide.

Duration:
01 January 2026 - 31 December 2029

Research Team:
Dr. Johanna Fischer (Head of project)
Q-Sys AG (Head of project)
Prof. Dr. Heinz Rothgang (Head of project)
Q-Sys AG
Meika Sternkopf
Migyeong Yun

Project Type:
Third-party funded project