The Welfare State and the Politics of Austerity

The welfare state faces intellectual, political and policy challenges which question its rationale, its legitimacy and its effectiveness. There have been distinct phases in the development of the welfare state which include the extension of social rights to all citizens in the first half of the twentieth century, the retrenchment in the 1970s, and the new ideas around social investment in the 1990s. A new phase has opened with the adoption of austerity programmes following the financial crash in 2008 and economic recession. The future of the welfare state is once again in question and to survive it needs continuing reforms and a new vision of democratic citizenship. ByAndrew GambleinThe Age of Perplexity: Rethinking the World We Knew.