The welfare state

Comparative welfare state: Emergence

(a) Functionalist approach (b) Class mobilization approach (c) Institutionalist approach

Comparative welfare state: Expansion Factors for the expansion 1. Social democracy social democratic rule was a necessary condition

- 'decommodification' is the strongest if the left power is strong andthe right power is divided - social democratic attempts to expand the welfare state is more effective if the party is supported by a strong and coherent union movement

Comparative welfare state: Expansion Factors for the expansion 5. Secular trends Other secular trends that promote welfare state expansion and development include:

1. Demographic ageing 2. Structural change 3. Politics for profit 4. Positive feedback

Comparative welfare state: Variation Types of welfare state Esping-Anderson (1990) distinguishes three welfare regimes based on Titmuss's typology

1. Liberal (residual; UK, US)): low decommodification; social rights need-based; flat benefits; finance tax 2. Conservative (ach. perf; Germany): med decomm; social rights employment-related; contribution-related; finance contribution 3. Social democratic (ins. red.; Sweden): high decomm; social rights universal; redistributive; finance tax

Comparative welfare state: Variation Types of welfare state Richard M. Titmuss(1958) distinguishes three models of welfare states:

1. Residual welfare model: social protection is available only when "natural" channels (private market, family) fail to deliver 2. Industrial achievement performance model: welfare rights and benefits are linked to employment relation and reflect work performance 3. Institutional redistributive model: social welfare institutions are an integral part of society, offering universalistic services based on citizenship

Comparative welfare state: Expansion Factors for the expansion

1. Social democracy 2. Neo-corporatism 3. Risk redistribution 4. Christian democracy 5. Secular trends

Examples of welfare states

Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Denmark (extensible to UK/US depending on typology)

Here, the role of the state is emphasized

actions are taken by the state to reduce income insecurity and inequalities or protect against social risks and distribution of life chances.

Comparative welfare state: Expansion Factors for the expansion 2. Neo-corporatism welfare state expansion depends structurally on

centralized neo-corporatist industrial relations systems

The welfare state is a

combination of capitalism and democracy, where political equality and economic inequality are seen as being able to coexist. The welfare state was a prominent model for advanced capitalist democracies after the WWII.

Comparative welfare state: Emergence (b) Class mobilization approach In a market economy, unemployment, sickness, invalidity due to accidents or old age are threats to workers; the welfare state is demanded for

decommodifying labour(i.e., granting labour temporal relief from the pressure to 'sell' itself in the market) The variation, instead of convergence, among welfare states is emphasised - the more powerful the labour was, the more elaborate the welfare state tended to be

Comparative welfare state: Emergence (c) Institutionalist approach

focuses on rules and regulations of policy-making and state structures that operate relatively autonomously from social and political pressures as the main determinants of the welfare state

Comparative welfare state: Emergence (c) Institutionalist approach These institutional structures (e.g., bureaucracy) could

grant social rights to people as a kind of compensation in less advanced economies(and for the lack of participatory rights in countries with restricted suffrage)

The welfare state is a democratic state that guarantees

not only civil and political rights but also social protection as a right attached to citizenship,

Comparative welfare state: Expansion Factors for the expansion 3. Risk redistribution 4. Christian democracy Examples of other pro-welfare state actors include Christian democratic parties that

operate in the centre, enjoying considerable working-class support and being backed by powerful Christian unions

the welfare state (and its growth and expansion) are measured in terms of

public social spending expressed as a proportion of total state spending or of the GDP.

Comparative welfare state: Emergence (a) Functionalist approach

sees the welfare state as a response to new citizen needs that emerge with: 1. disappearance of traditional means of subsistence and traditional bonds of mutual assistance (families), and 2. new risks of modern, urbanised, and industrialised society

Comparative welfare state: Emergence (b) Class mobilization approach

sees the welfare state as the outcome of struggles between social classes and their political organizations

Comparative welfare state: Emergence (a) Functionalist approach Functionalists expect that different nations will adopt

similar social and economic policies; any difference is such policies is attributed only to the different timing of industrialisation and modernisation

Comparative welfare state: Expansion Factors for the expansion 2. Neo-corporatism The vulnerability that small open economies face in the global economy favors

the expansion of the domestic public economy through social guarantees, full employment, and more active government management of the economy To do so, strong consensus-building mechanisms are necessary (Demo neo-corp structures with trade unionisation & centralisation of wage bargaining)

Comparative welfare state: Expansion Factors for the expansion 1. Social democracy the more the mass of the population is organized as wage-earners within the social democratic movement,

the higher the quality of welfare arrangements tended to be

Comparative welfare state: Emergence (c) Institutionalist approach there is no clear relationship between the level of economic development (e.g., GDP per capita) and

the relative 'earliness' or 'lateness' of welfare state formation

Comparative welfare state: Expansion Factors for the expansion 3. Risk redistribution 4. Christian democracy welfare policies are not always the results of a 'victory' of the working class

the working class is only one risk category, and the privileged groups share a common interest in redistributing risk with the disadvantaged there are countries that pursued equality and developed as the welfare states but did not have a strong social democratic labour movement