Reconsidering the fiscal-social policy nexus: The case of social insurance

Bridging existing streams of fiscal and social policy research, this article lays the foundations for a fiscal-centred perspective on welfare state development and restructuring. This perspective is grounded in two interlocking claims. The first is that social insurance systems financed by contributions can be used by state and non-state actors to advance their fiscal goals, beyond the financing of social benefits and services. The second is that, through different mechanisms such as legitimacy production, institutional design, and coalition building, the design and management of social insurance contribution policies for such fiscal purposes can have a direct impact on social programmes.