WELFARE STATE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: BIRTH, RISE AND RESTRUCTURING PROCESS

This study handles the arguments on emergence, development and transformation of welfare state in developed Western countries with regard to state intervention and marketisation. Welfare state, which emerged by the end of 19th century in Western Europe, found a basis of practise in developed capitalist countries, following the Second World War. The increasing social expenditure of that period, the social protection measures, the social welfare services and the graduated tax rates intended to avoid the social risks are the basic policies that are used in descibing the interventionist state approach. Petrol shocks and crises, which took place in 1970’s, caused severe critisism of generous welfare expenditures made by the Western Europen governments, as a result of which, the welfare state faced strong pressure for downsizing. Welfare states, whose financial and fiscal sustainability was being critised, had to struggle againsy the transformation of economic structure caused by the increasing internationalisation and competiton on one hand, anf the effects of the demographic crisis that took place together with thr trnasformation in social structure. Meanwhile, severe discussions on decrease of the social expenditures and replacement of social welfare with the market economy went on. Though the studies on welfare state commonly argue that welfare state was downsizing or being eliminated, this study suggests that welfare state has not got weaker, the social expenditures keep on rising, state intervention is still affective, though not highly, in redistribution of the welfare, marketisation takes place only in several welfare services, sowelfare state will maintain its influence in the future, as well