Torben Iversen is the Harold Hitchings Burbank Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University. His books include Women, Work, and Politics and Capitalism, Democracy, and Welfare. David Soskice is School Professor and Professor of Political Science and Economics at the London School of Economics. His books include Macroeconomics: Institutions, Instability, and the Financial System (with Wendy Carlin) and Varieties of Capitalism (edited with Peter A. Hall).
A remarkable achievement by two very prominent scholars. This must-read book poses important challenges for those of us who believe that capitalism has taken a turn that is unfavorable to middle-income workers and that government has become less responsive to their interests. --Jonas Pontusson, author of Inequality and Prosperity: Social Europe vs. Liberal America This is an impressive, bracing, and agenda-setting book. Democracy and Prosperity is a landmark work in comparative political economy. --Paul Pierson, coauthor of American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper Democracy and Prosperity is a tour de force that is certain to anchor debates on global capitalism for the foreseeable future. With their characteristic verve, Iversen and Soskice make a bold, brave, and lucid argument about a foundational topic--and offer grounds for unexpected optimism. --Cathie Jo Martin, coauthor of The Political Construction of Business Interests