Conclusion: the political economy of social policy - a brief state of the art

Reflecting on the set of contributions that compose this Handbook, this chapter reflects on recent developments in the literature on the political economy of social policy, but also identifies future directions challenges for research within this field. The chapter starts by looking at how scholarship in this field has evolved in recent decades, identifying both the areas that have shown greater dynamism over the years, but also those that, after a period of relative neglect, seem to be resurfacing within this field of enquiry. Special attention is also given to the areas/topics that attracting more attention in recent years and are likely to shape the future directions of research in the field. Finally, the chapter charts important innovations in the collection and analysis of social policies - from a political economy perspective.