Social justice and the welfare state: Institutions, outcomes, and attitudes in comparative perspective

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the relationship between social justice and the welfare state from an institutional, social-structural, and attitudinal perspective. Drawing on David Miller’s distinction between equality, need, and merit and Gøsta Esping-Andersen’s classification of social-democratic, liberal, and conservative welfare regimes, it elaborates (a) the differential emphasis welfare states give to core principles of social justice, (b) the extent to which they realize these principles through their programs and policies, (c) and what their citizens regard as just. Social-democratic welfare states stand out as distinctly egalitarian through a universal approach to social rights, low levels of poverty and inequality, and a strong egalitarianism of their citizenry. Liberal welfare states, by contrast, focus on meeting basic needs via targeted social policies, thus exhibiting high levels of poverty and inequality while citizens’ orientations display a pronounced liberalism. Conservative welfare regimes rely on social insurances to relate social benefits and contributions in a meritocratic way, involving medium levels of poverty and inequality and solid welfare state support. The concluding section discusses whether public understandings of social justice have changed in conjunction with major welfare state reforms that have occurred throughout the OECD and considers the implications for the future of the welfare state.