The Politics of Welfare: Modern Social Policy in Western Society (Harvester Wheatsheaf Studies in Sociology)

This text is a sociological history of the development and evolution of the political ideas and policies which have influenced, and continue to influence, the provision of social welfare in modern western societies. The British experience of the welfare state is compared and contrasted throughout the book with its counterparts in the USA and Sweden. The book concludes with a chapter which looks at the alternatives for state welfare provision in the future. Topics covered include: political and social contexts for state welfare; critical moments in the development of welfare systems; managing the welfare consensus in the postwar period (up to the 1960s); the entrenchment and divergence of state welfare; the influence of the radical Right; welfare consensus; and the future of state welfare.