Military as social policy actors

A systematic comparative analysis of the war-welfare state nexus is still lacking. Particularly the role of the military as a potentially relevant social policy actor needs to be examined. Our knowledge in this respect is extremely limited. The Varieties of Capitalism literature has emphasized the role of employers in welfare state formation. It is time to pay attention to the military as a further unusual suspect of social policy activism. This paper will discuss the potential impact of the military as as social policy actor in the various phases of war preparation, during war and post-war.