Debating unemployment policy : political communication and the labour market in Western Europe Part I. The Context Structures and the Policy Specific Debates: 1. Introduction: shaping the debate on unemployment and the labor market Hanspeter Kriesi Laurent Bernhard Flavia Fossati and Regula Hanggli; 2. Theoretical framework: production of policy specific political communication Regula Hanggli and Flavia Fossati; 3. The political contexts of the national policy debates Hanspeter Kriesi Flavia Fossati Laurent Bernhard; 4. The variety of national debates Hanspeter Kriesi Laurent Bernhard Flavia Fossati Regula Hanggli and Christian Elmelund Prstekr; Part II. The Political Actors and Their Assets: 5. What affects power in the labor market domain Laurent Bernhard; 6. The labor market policy space Flavia Fossati; 7. Beliefs or interests: what is the driving force behind coalition formation Laurent Bernhard; 8. The action repertoires for shaping the debates Laurent Bernhard; Part III. Communicating in Public: 9. Framing strategies: important messages in public debates Regula Hanggli; 10. The positioning of the actors in the public debates Hanspeter Kriesi and Regula Hanggli; 11. Inside the interaction context Laurent Bernhard; 12. Quality of public debates Regula Hanggli and Richard van der Wurff; Part IV. Conclusion: 13. Conclusion Laurent Bernhard. In 2008 the world experienced the Great Recession a financial and economic crisis of enormous proportions and the greatest economic downturn since the 1930s. In its wake unemployment became a key preoccupation of West European publics and politicians. This comparative study considers the policy debates surrounding unemployment in the United Kingdom Germany France Italy Denmark and Switzerland since 2008. With an over arching focus on drawing out cross national commonalities and differences the authors ask whether patterns of political communication vary across countries. Their analysis draws on interviews with labour market policy makers in the six selected countries and paints a revealing picture. Appealing to researchers in comparative politics political communication and welfare state research this book will also interest practitioners involved in labour market policy