The Welfare State Reader has rapidly established itself as vital source of outstanding original research. In the second edition of this highly respected Reader, Pierson and Castles have comprehensively overhauled the content, bringing it wholly up-to-date with contemporary discussions about this most crucial area of social and political life. The book includes fifteen new and carefully edited selections, all reflecting the very latest thinking and research in welfare state studies. These readings are organized around a series of current debates on welfare regimes, on globalization, on Europeanization, on demographic change and the political challenges of the new century.There are also two substantial sections devoted to the futures of welfare assessing the new risks and new opportunities that confront policy-makers in an increasingly complex political environment. Each part, as well as the volume overall, is set in context by an editorial introduction. As well as bringing together classic debates, The Welfare State Reader constitutes an invaluable guide to what is happening at the cutting edge of welfare research. Read either independently or alongside the third edition of Pierson's Beyond the Welfare State, it will give the reader an unrivalled overview of debates surrounding the welfare state.