1. Introduction: The Puzzle of Social Pacts 2. The Institutional Political Economy of Social Pacts: A Critical Appraisal 3. The Political Logic of Social Pacts 4. Governments, Voters, and Social Pacts in Western Europe 5. The Divergent Trajectories of Social Pacts in the LMEs: Ireland and the UK 6. Social Democracy between Pacts and Legislation in Scandinavia: Sweden and Finland 7. Cycles of Social Pacts in the Mediterranean Economies: Spain and Italy 8. Tripartism under Duress in Coordinated Market Economies: Germany and Austria 9. Conclusion: The Electoral Politics of Social Pacts

Kerstin Hamann is Professor of Political Science at the University of Central Florida. She is the co-author of Institutions and Democratic Development and Assessment in Political Science.

John Kelly is Professor of Industrial Relations, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK. His books include Union Organization and Activity and Rethinking Industrial Relations (both published by Routledge).

This book provides a comparative assessment of social pacts between governments, labor unions and employer organizations in Western Europe. Using a dataset covering 16 European countries, as well as eight in-depth country case studies, the authors argue that governments' choice of social pacts or legislation is less influenced by economic problems, but is strongly influenced by electoral competition.