During the last decade, many European countries introduced extensive reforms to the implementation structures through which income protection and activation programmes for the unemployed are implemented and delivered. These governance reforms include: the creation of markets for the provision of activation and employment services, the promotion of cooperation between benefit and employment agencies, processes of decentralizing policy making authority and the introduction of new public management in the public sector. This collection analyses and compares these reforms, exploring a relatively new research area. Covering nine European countries - the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland - it focuses on the reform programmes themselves, and on what is known about their effects, arguing that governance structures are not without consequences for the social programmes they implement and deliver.

List of Tables and Figures Notes on Contributors Acknowledgements 1. The Governance of Active Welfare States; R.van Berkel, W.de Graaf & T.Sirovátka 2. The Administration of Income Provision and Activation Services; R.van Berkel 3. Accelerating Governance Reforms: The French Case; A.Eydoux & M.Béraud 4. Fragmented Governance Continued: The German Case; I.Dingeldey 5. Steering with Sticks, Rowing for Rewards: The New Governance of Activation in the UK; S.Wright 6. The Governance of Activation Policies in Italy: From Centralized and Hierarchical to a Multi- level Open System Model?; P.R.Graziano & A.Raue 7. The Liberal Governance of a Non-liberal Welfare State? The Case of the Netherlands; R.van Berkel & W.de Graaf 8. Marketization in a Federal System: New Modes of Governance in Unemployment Insurance and Social Assistance in Switzerland; F.Ehrler & F.Sager 9. Governance of Activation Policies in the Czech Republic: Uncoordinated Transformation; T.Sirovátka & J.Winkler 10. Decentralization and Back to Centralization: The Swedish Case; R.Minas 11. Governance of Integrated Activation Policy in Finland; V.Karjalainen & P.Saikku 12. The Governance of Active Welfare States in Europe in a Comparative Perspective; R.van Berkel, W.de Graaf & T.Sirovátka