적대정치에서 합의정치로? 블레어정부 이후 영국의 연금개혁에 관한 연구

This paper explores what brought about a series of consensual pensions reform since the early 2000s in the UK. Traditionally, the pension reforms in the UK took the unilateral form that the ruling party designed and passed the related bills as it wanted. Generally it is said that the UK institutions (political as well as pension institutions) made such unilateral reforms possible. However the pensions reform that started in 2002 and have finished in 2012 went through a broad consultation process with the opposition parties, relevant stakeholders, and the general public. In addition, although the Labour government was replaced with the Conservative-Liberal coalition government in the way of the reform, the new government continued and completed it. By doing so, the sustainability of the new pension system increased. What made such consensual pension reform possible was the power relations that the Prime Minister and Department of Work and Pensions created using Pensions Commission as leverage. Such UK experiences suggests that the power resources of the main actors and their power relations rather than institutions themselves are more crucial in determining the process and results of pension reform.