The welfare state - what is it?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

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Humanity strives for improvement. For the first time, such a concept as a welfare state (welfare state) was considered by Lorenz von Stein in the middle of the 19th century. It was then believed that the idea of such a country was to restore equality and freedom. In addition, it was necessary to raise the lower and disadvantaged classes of society to the level of the rich and powerful. This can be realized through the state, which will ensure that the social and economic progress of all its citizens is carried out.

Construction principles

The theory of the welfare state provides for such implementation features as the active participation of people aimed at solving social problems, a mixed economy and other things that can be seen in most countries of the world that are economically developed. Therefore, a variety of options for its implementation are now presented, and the practical features are considered and systematized. You can get acquainted with them in social theory. In addition, there are a number of suggestions in theory about how the current state of affairs can be improved.

When creating types of state, social policy is built around certain principles that are internally connected. These are the stratification of social groups, the nature of state intervention and the limit of the transition of market distribution to bureaucratic distribution.

Coming to bloom

Concepts of the welfare state and welfare policies became widespread after the Second World War. A distinctive feature of this time is the presence of a powerful working-class movement that voted for left-leaning parties, so the Social Democrats often won. At the same time, it was possible to pursue policies that created conditions for the gradual growth of the economy and increase its efficiency, and to distribute the results of prosperity relatively fairly, which is why the welfare states became what we see them now. After all, a beneficial effect was exerted on the population of countries and on a number of internal factors, the stabilization of which led to the desired result.

Theory

The Keynesian doctrine of economic policy sees the welfare state as a country's built-in stabilizer. Due to its multifunctional nature, the possibility of simultaneousmeeting many conflicting aspects and strategies, such an organization of affairs is attractive to a wide range of heterogeneous forces.

Interest in this case is the concept of the welfare state, voiced by K. Offe. What is she? He believed that the essence of the welfare state was formed as a combination of the consequences of a wide range of factors, the structure of which varies in different countries. These were socio-demographic reformism, Christian socialism, large branch trade unions, as well as the presence of enlightened political and economic elites. All this influenced the fact that comprehensive compulsory insurance schemes were recognized and implemented, a minimum wage was established, laws on labor protection were adopted, and the education and he alth systems were developed. In addition, people can count on the state in obtaining housing (here it means only the availability of assistance, and not a free apartment). Trade unions were also recognized as the legitimate political and economic representatives of workers.

The beginning of the crisis

Representatives of the theory of the welfare state argued that in the end many difficulties can be solved and in the future such a model will avoid problems within the country. But everything was not so easy. In the late 70s, significant social guarantees, high unemployment and an aging population began to put pressure on the state budget. But that was only the beginning. P. Rosanvallon (French researcher) argued that this model survived three crises in the 20th century alone:

1. Economic.
2. Ideological.
3. Philosophical.

Let's take a closer look at them.

Crisis

At the end of the 70s, it seemed that utopia would soon reign in public life. People will be protected from the main risks and needs of life. But since the early 1990s, there has been a significant (relatively) rise in unemployment and new forms of poverty. They showed that the suggestions made earlier were illusory. This is how the welfare state survived the first economic crisis. The ideological one falls on the 80s. Then the effectiveness of the methods used by state intervention in the economic sector of public life (when this was done to solve social problems) was called into question. The bureaucratization of the state apparatus, as well as the closed nature of the decisions made, were especially criticized. The result is a confusion of priorities. This, in turn, caused a crisis of legitimacy. All this remained unresolved. In the late 1990s, a philosophical crisis arose. In addition to all of the above, the concept of social rights and the principles of social solidarity were called into question. But they were the conceptual and value bases of the model used.

Retreat

Let's digress a little from the main topicarticle and pay attention to such a historical phenomenon as the heavenly welfare state. The concept discussed earlier was created in the late 1920s. Whereas "heavenly" originates in the 19th century.

During the "opium" wars, part of the Chinese wanted to live on the principle of equal distribution and not be under the influence of aggressors (the main one was the British Empire). At first they were quite successful. But, alas, the movement was broken, and what it would eventually turn into, we can only judge.

Direction

The main thing in the concept under consideration is overcoming social conflicts, when with the help of the state tolerable living conditions are created for absolutely all strata of society. To do this, social assistance programs are used for low-income and poor strata, measures are taken to reduce unemployment, and so on. That is, problems that the market itself cannot sort out are solved. To some extent, the program that worked in the USSR was adopted.

Thanks to this, the term “welfare state” arose and is actively used. In a certain sense, any country falls under it, because there are people everywhere, but here a slightly different direction is understood. Thus, a state is called social, which assumes the provision of all residents with a certain amount of social benefits: the right to education, a living wage, medical care, and so on.

Such a country with the help of taxation wants to create a certain balance betweenthe poor and the rich. It tries to guarantee the minimum necessary level for a civilized existence. The main stumbling block for supporters of this concept are economic problems. But it is believed that over time this will be resolved. People in the future will not have to strain at work, as they will be fully provided for. The love of money will be considered as it should be - a painful condition.

Practical introduction

The first steps towards a welfare state that lasted for a long time (and not like with the Chinese - for several years) were made in the 80s of the 19th century in Germany. The government of Otto von Bismarck acted as the initiator of such changes. It implemented a social safety net that included unemployment benefits, sickness or accident insurance, and old-age pensions. But this was introduced not so much out of concern for ordinary citizens, but to weaken the growing influence of the Socialist Party of Germany. This example turned out to be contagious, and many other governments began to use the accumulated experience.

Especially significant in this case is the case of Sweden. The country has virtually eradicated poverty, despite the fact that it has some of the highest taxes. The actions carried out have received the name of "social-oriented policy". The presence of the USSR had a considerable influence on the increase in the scale and pace of implementation of these programs. To enable competition andfree secondary and higher education, he alth care and so on were provided.

Conclusion

The welfare state is a kind of equivalent of socialist ideology from the liberal-capitalist camp. Despite a number of successes, due to existing problems, many political scientists do not take it seriously. As a reference point, it is often cited that such a worldview entails the danger of becoming a consumer society, which has a number of negative consequences.