Welfare State Models: A Comparative Analysis
ITEM 2: MODELS TO THE WELFARE STATE – GLOBALIZATION
2. CONCEPTS: SOCIAL POLICY, SOCIAL WELFARE, AND WELFARE STATE
Social welfare is related to values, while the welfare state (EB) deals with political, economic, and administrative decisions affecting citizens, demonstrated through social policies.
2.1 Welfare
Welfare is a broad term describing services provided to citizens, protecting them from adverse circumstances. In advanced societies, three pillars support welfare:
- Family: Guided by the principle of reciprocity.
- Market: Based on exchange.
- State: Operates under the principle of equality, ensuring minimum welfare redistribution to address inequality.
2.2 Welfare State
The concept of the welfare state varies across countries. The European Union (EU) emphasizes social protection, with various actors, including the state, involved in social welfare provision. In the United States, social welfare focuses on economic assistance for those in poverty. Despite differences, all models share the commonality of the state accepting responsibility for universal welfare provision to all citizens.
The state’s organization is linked to nation-building efforts based on citizen solidarity. Redistribution becomes a social right. Segall argues that the approach should prioritize reciprocity and solidarity, aiming to ensure the welfare of all citizens.
Briggs defines the welfare state as one where organized power (through politics and administration) modifies market forces to:
- Guarantee minimum income for individuals and families.
- Eliminate and prevent unsafe living conditions.
- Mitigate social contingencies (illness, aging, unemployment).
- Avoid potential crises.
- Ensure all citizens, regardless of status or class, receive optimal social services.
Navarro identifies several types of state interventions directly affecting citizens:
- Public services: Health, education, family support, social services, and housing.
- Social transfers: Redistributing public funds from some citizens (workers, employers) to others (pensioners).
- Policy interventions: Laws and regulations strengthening and protecting citizens.
- Public statements: Aiming to establish optimal working conditions.
The Welfare State Models
The welfare state represents an ideal model for universal social protection services delivered through social policies. Standard models in EU countries include the liberal, conservative Bismarckian, and Nordic or social democratic models. Some add the “southern” model, specific to Southern European countries.
Liberal Model (Anglo-European Countries)
- Limits actions to addressing poverty as an individual problem, not a structural societal issue.
- Assumes individuals can secure their own social provision during contingencies.
- Prioritizes the market for resource allocation, with the state intervening only to correct market failures and integrate the poor into the market.
Conservative Bismarckian States (Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, Holland)
- The state and public institutions are involved in socio-economic processes, distributing benefits based on class and political representation.
- Social benefits are not universal rights and tend to reinforce social stratification based on the political capacities of social actors.
- The state provides benefits only when families cannot provide for themselves.
- Does not separate the economy from society.
- Based on the state’s legitimacy to promote social integration and economic development.
- Focuses on social insurance linked to wages, requiring formal employment and contributions for access.
- Aims to strengthen social stratification and the traditional family, linking benefits to employment, particularly for adult men and their families.
Social Democratic Model
This model is described mainly through two experiences: the Beveridgean paradigm and Scandinavian social democracy. Both emerged to address social problems arising from World War II.