Enter neoliberalism: Transformation of the Finnish welfare state, 1991--2007

This dissertation examines the process of welfare state change in Finland from the end of the 1980s to the present with the purpose of finding out why and how the Finnish welfare state transformed from an egalitarian welfare state to "a competitiveness society.";The key findings are that the economic crisis of the early 1990s, combined with the collapse of the Soviet Union, was a shock that enabled a new worldview to gain a foothold in the center of Finnish political decision-making. The neoliberal ideology, that had already gained ground elsewhere in the world through the efforts of international organizations such as the OECD, became the framework for restructuring the Finnish welfare state.;While those advocating neoliberal politics had a ready plan, support from the political left for the public sector austerity program was paramount. The Social Democrats, traditionally the strongest advocates of the welfare state, astonished by the magnitude of the problems created were quick to decide their politics had come to the end of their road. In charge of the country, and driven by crisis consciousness they started practicing the only politics that seemed credible at the time---essentially starting to practice their opponents' politics. Eventually, the centralized political decision-making structure and the tendency toward consensus politics in a small country help to explain why the new ideas were able to gain ground so efficiently among the country's political decision-makers.