The politics of local welfare: How local political arenas shape decentralised social policies

Following a major decentralisation in 2015, Dutch municipalities became responsible for three social policy domains: youth care, care for chronically ill and elderly, and employment and income. This thesis researches how the dynamics of the local political arena contribute to variation in constellations of local social policy after decentralisation. The argument that “the transfer of a large number of tasks from the central government to municipalities allows for local tailoring and customisation, and allows for stronger citizen involvement”, turns out to be difficult to implement in practice.