Comparative welfare state politics : development opportunities and reform Machine generated contents note: Introduction. The political opportunities and constraints of welfare state reform; 1. The welfare state: dynamic development crisis resilience and change; 2. The logics of the welfare state: why did we need a welfare state in the first place and how did we get it; 3. Welfare state regimes: why did we get different worlds of welfare and do we still have them; 4. What do welfare states actually do How welfare states protect against social risks and fight poverty and inequality; 5. Toward an open functional approach to welfare state reform; 6. Why do we need to reform the welfare state: part I. globalization as a functional pressure coming from the outside; 7. Why do we need to reform the welfare state: part II. post industrial society and the functional pressures to reform coming from within; 8. Why do politicians and governments pursue risky reforms; 9. Can and will the welfare state survive the great recession. Kees van Kersbergen and Barbara Vis explain the political opportunities and constraints of welfare state reform in advanced democracies Kees van Kersbergen and Barbara Vis explain the political opportunities and constraints of welfare state reform in advanced democracies