Do parties (still) make a difference in social policy-making? The study takes an innovative perspective on this disputed question. On the basis of comparative case studies about labour market and pension politics in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany, the study demonstrates that partisan conflicts are decisively shaped by the existing welfare state structures. Thus, parties matter but the nature of partisan conflicts differs remarkably among welfare states. Moreover, as welfare structures are the result of previous policies one has to consider institutionalized partisan effects. In contrast to conventional studies, the book does not stop at analyzing differences concerning welfare generosity but also incorporates conflicts about the often hotly contested funding and administration of welfare programs. The author is a scholar of party politics and the welfare state. His research focuses on the retrenchment and restructuring of European welfare states.