Case study 6:
THE ORIGINS OF THE WELFARE STATE
”The Welfare State in Historical Perspective”.
Author: Asa Briggs, 1961 (2000).
U.K.Rognlien, 2005
OUTLINE OF THE ARTICLE
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Research questions
What constitutes welfare? Why becomes the state the main founder of welfare? How can we define the
phrase ”welfare state” in a view of a number of historical considerations?
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Main concepts – definitions
”A social service state”. ”The welfare state”. The emergence of the welfare state paradigm; the
nineteenth-century background (Bismarck, Bentham, Ljoyd George) and the twentieth-century story
(Booth, Rowntree, Beveridge).
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Thesis and arguments
The idea of using organized power in an effort to modify the play of marked forces and to determine the
pattern of welfare services. Determinants; social (poverty, social structure),change in policy paradigm
( research, policy enterpreneurs), and political (government and social political coalitions).
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Application – evidence
Both social and political historical considerations are important understanding of the developement of the
welfare state. Qualitative indicators.
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Policy implications
Attitudes towards poverty can be changed by investigation of the ”social contigencies”. An association
between unemployment and welfare policy. A Welfare state can develope within market capitalism. The
influence of working-class pressures of welfare legislation.
Policy implications
Main power resource
Social
Poverty
Policy model
Research
Booth,
Rowntree
Politics,
Laws
Ideology
Coalitions
Bismarck,
Beveridge
Government,
Social Democrats,
Working class
(power resources)
Laws
A SOCIAL SERVICE STATE/
A WELFARE STATE
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Guaranteeing individuals and families a
minimum income .
Narrowing the extent of social insecurity
Ensuring that all citizens are offered the best
standards in relation to a increasing range of
social services.
A SOCIAL SERVICE STATE
A social service state is a state in which
communal resources are employed to
abate poverty and to assist those in
distress.
THE WELFARE STATE
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A welfare state is a state which organized
power is deliberately used (through politics
and administration) in an effort to modify the
play of marked forces in at least three
directions:
THE WELFARE STATE
The possibility of using governmental power has been related to:
•
The Context: The balance of economic and social forces (social
•
The State: The available resources of the state,
political actors).
Expert knowledge –> changning paradigm, and
Effective techniques of influence and control
•
The Culture: The prevalence (or absence) of the conviction that
societies can be shaped by conscious policies designed to eliminate
”abuses” which earlier had been accepted as inevitable features of
the human condition.
Welfare State instruments
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Social insurance
Direct provision (cash or in kind)
Subsidy
Partnership with other agencies (including
private business agencies)
Action through local authorities
THE WELFARE STATE
The demand for ”minimums standards” can be related to a particular
set of cummulative pressures:
•
•
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In 1909, Webbs urged the need for government action to secure ”an
enforced minimum of civilized life”.
The idea of basing social policy as a public commitment to ”minimum
standards”, become practical politics in Britain in the so-called
”Beveridge revolution” of the Second World War.
The direction of welfare policy and distinction of the welfare state, is
based on older logic of equality, citizenship and more recent history of
the market.
THE IDEA AND HISTORY OF THE STATE;
THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY
BACKGROUND
BRITAIN:
GERMANY:
•
1882 - 1945:
Policy paradigm; a conservative
welfare state.
Pro-state culture:
less equality among citizens,
less coverage (benefits,
population).
Social Health Insurance reforms.
(1945->: Social democratic welfare state;
National Health Insurance.)
•
1834 – 1880:
Policy paradigm; a liberal
welfare state. (Market based
health care service).
Pro-market culture:
more equity among poor and
less equity among citizens, less
coverage of all people.
Accusation and critics of
Bismarck`s policy
The legislation would make
German workers depended upon
the state.
THE WELFARE STATE;
THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY STORY
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The basic transformation in the attitude
towards poverty.
The detailed investigation of the ”social
contingencies”.
The rising unemployment.
The development within market capitalism
itself of welfare philosophies and practices.
The influence of working-class pressures on
the content and tone of welfare legislation.
THE WELFARE STATE,
THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY STORY:
CAUSALITY
5. Politics, Laws:
State/government,
Sociopol. Actors,
Working class.
4. Change in Policy paradigm:
State power resource;
Policy model.
1. Social context:
Rising unemployment,
poverty
2. Research, Policy experts:
Investigation of
social contigencies
3. Culture/Public opinion:
Transformation in attitude towards poverty.
THE WELFARE STATE;
THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY STORY
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Booth`s and Rowntree`s reaserch:
a fresh impetus to the general adoption of
the policy of securing a minimum condition to
every individual.
Rowntree:
The roots of poverty were to be found in
social maladjustment. Poverty was not the
fault of the poor; it was the fault of society.
THE WELFARE STATE;
THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY STORY
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1911: Ljoyd George`s national health insurance
legislation.
William Beveridge (1879-1963): ”Beveridgism”.
1942: ”Beveridge Report”.
(1909:”Unemployment”, 1944: ”Full Employment in
a Free Society”).
THE RESULT:
”MATURE” WELFARE STATE POLICIES
•
•
•
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The Second World War urged the move from a ”minima” to an
”optima”.
1942: ”The Beveridge Report”.
•
White paper; unemployment.
•
The Butler Act
1946: The National Insurance Act,
The National Health Service Act.
1948: The National Assistance Act
BRIGGS
Politics is something more than
the study of economics.
”The Welfare State in Historical Perspective”,
Asa Briggs, 2000.
COMMENTS AND CRITICISM
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Design and style of writing:
From a reading point of view; the article could be improved in design when using graphs,
pictures, tables or models (e.t.c),
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The main points come in clear,
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although the author use sentences wich tends to be of particular language difficulty when
she make connected references.
Technical content:
When the author refers to historical events, she has a tendence to be unsystematically and
woolly; that is in some sections she express herself in vague terms from a historical point of
view.
She emphasize the origin of the welfare state from both social and political angle in view of
a number of historical considerations, which is interesting and essential with thought of
achieving a proper interpretation of essential factors and happenings in the past .