Welfare State Classification: The Development of Central Eastern European Welfare
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| 2.1 Definitions As described in the introduction the welfare state has been a favored topic of research and debate for many years. This can be explained by the emerge of welfare states in the 1960s and 1970. The development of welfare states throughout the 20 th century can be considered to be enormous. Most welfare states have developed from night-watchmen states to institutions that are predominantly preoccupied with the production and redistribution of social well-being (Esping-Andersen 1990). For this research it is relevant to define the concept of welfare state and to give a very brief overview of the development of welfare states in general. Concerning the concept of welfare state scholars do not agree on the proper definition. This next section will review some of the most prominent definitions used in the literature. A very narrow definition is given by Cochrane and Clarke (1993); they define the concept of welfare state as “the involvement of the state in social security and social services” (Cochrane and Clarke 1993: 4). Again, this definition can be considered to be very narrow. A more broad definition is given by Asa Briggs in 1961; she argues that welfare states have three objects: “A welfare state is a state in which organized power is deliberately used in an effort to modify the play of market forces in at least three directions – first by guaranteeing individuals and families to meet a minimum income; second, by enabling individuals and families to meet certain social contingencies which lead otherwise to individual and family crises; and third by ensuring all citizens the best standards available in relation to a certain agreed range of social services” (Briggs 2006: 16). This definition includes three objects to which a proper welfare state must comply according to Briggs. Even though Briggs emphasizes on these three objects, the definition still is quite narrow; it only focuses on redistribution and allocation of money. It does not explicitly take into account other important aspects of welfare such as social care. Esping-Andersen defines the concept of welfare state as “the institutional arrangements, rules and understandings that guide and shape current social policy decisions, expenditure developments, problem definitions, and even the respond-and-demand structure of citizens and welfare consumers. The existence of policy regimes reflects the circumstance that short term policies, reforms, debate, and decisions making take place within frameworks of historical institutionalization that differ qualitatively between countries” (Esping-Andersen 1990). 6 Esping-Andersen’s definition will be used throughout this research. The main reason for using this definition is twofold. First, the definition is broad and includes most of the key elements of the welfare state. Second, this research focuses on the classification scheme of Esping-Andersen. Hence, it is useful to use the definition given by Esping-Andersen. Download 374.54 Kb. Share with your friends:
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