Protest events, welfare generosity, and welfare state regimes: a comparative analysis of welfare states and social unrest

This article examines data from the Cross-National Time- Series Data Archive and the Comparative Welfare Entitlements Dataset on protest events, levels of welfare generosity (the extent to which welfare protection is provided by non-market actors), and welfare state regimes in 18 advanced industrialized countries across the period 1971–2002. Using a direct measure of protest events in terms of frequency of riots, demonstrations, general strikes, political assassinations, and attempted revolutions, the article finds that there is a significant relationship between welfare generosity, welfare state regimes, and protest events. The findings demonstrate that more extensive welfare arrangements - conceptualized through the use of empirical data - not only ameliorate social disadvantages and thus legitimate market economies and capital accumulation, but also bring about stability and social order.