Ministries of Finance and the Politics of Social Policy-Making

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Julian Garritzmann
• Subject Area: Political Science
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 510978065

Welfare state research is one of the most established fields in political and social science. We know a lot about how and why welfare states differ. This project posits, though, that a crucial actor in public (social) policy-making has been overlooked: Ministries of Finance. We argue that and explain why Ministries of Finance have become an increasingly important – but scholarly neglected – actor in the politics of social policy-making and propose a framework to empirically explore the complex mechanisms through which they affect policies. We systematicallystudy the power channels and policy impact of MoFs across countries, policy areas, and time, thereby connecting and expanding welfare state research, political economy, public policy, and public administration research. Empirically, we employ a multimethod design, combining process-tracing case studies with an original expert survey and descriptive background research across a range of democracies. This project connects and expands welfare state research, public policy, political economy, and public administration.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants