Definition and Nature of the Welfare State

Definition and Nature of the Welfare State

Adopting a rather narrow and restricted view of it, Abraham defines it, as 'a community where state power is deliberately used to modify the normal play of economic forces so as to obtain a more equal distribution of income for every citizen, a basic minimum irrespective of the market value of his work and his property'. It is purely on economic point of view. T. W. Kent attempts a more inclusive definition when he says that a welfare state is 'a state that provides for its citizens a wide range of social services'.

Kent goes on to say that the primary purpose of the state is to give the citizen security, but the welfare state undertakes to help him if he lose his ordinary source of income.

Hobman describes the welfare state as a compromise between communism on the one side and unbridled individualism on the other. As such, Hobman believes that in spite of all its imperfections, the welfare state sets a pattern for any humane and progressive society. To sum up his views some what extensively, the welfare state guarantees a minimum standard of subsistence without removing incentives to private enterprise. It brings about a limited redistribution of income by means of graduated high taxation. Yet it does not pretend to establish economic equality among its citizens. All are assured of adequate help in case of need, whether the need is due to illness, old age, unemployment or any other cause.

The emergence of the concept of the welfare state has added a new dimension to the discussion on the end and functions of the state. The idea of Welfare State is not new to political theory. It is as old as political thought. Ancient western political thinkers like Plato and Aristotle maintained that the purpose of the state was the welfare of the people. Ancient Indian thinkers also stated in their writings that all people must live happily and it was the duty of the king to promote the welfare of the people. But it did not receive much attention in the past. It received greater attention only in the later part of the 19th century. It emerged from Industrial Revolution which created a number of problems such as concentration of wealth in the hands of few individuals, bad working conditions for the workers, growth of towns and slums, spread of epidemics, growing unemployment, rising prices etc. Added to these, the scientific and technological developments increased the problems of the human beings. To solve these problems the state had to take up the responsibility of implementing a number of socio-economic programmes to make human life happy. It had to interfere in all spheres of human life to promote the maximum happiness of the maximum number of people. The result was that it began to pass a number of laws in the later half of the 19th century. 'It was with the passing of Factory Laws that the modern Welfare State was born'