Collaborative Practices in the Regulatory Welfare State? A Societal Values Perspective

Recent changes and challenges in the welfare state mean there is a need to pay more attention to collaboration in the regulation of the welfare state. The paper proposes a new theoretical perspective, the collaborative regulatory welfare state (CRWS), to refer to regulatory processes that involve collaborative practices in the welfare state. It explicates four elements that support CRWS: patterns of operation, trust, values, and professional knowledge and learning. To illustrate our theoretical claims, we offer two examples of regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper adds to the theoretical literature on the regulatory welfare state and collaborative governance and has practical implications for the regulation within the welfare state as a practice to promote societal values.