The programmes that make up the welfare state vary from nation to nation and from time to time, and the balance between markets and government, and free enterprise and social protection is perennially in question. In contemporary political debate the welfare state seems to be mostly viewed as a
problem rather than a solution, and welfare programmes appear constantly on the defensive.
ThisVery Short Introduction describes the modern welfare state, explaining its historical and contemporary significance and arguing that far from being 'a failure' or 'a problem', welfare states
are an essential element of contemporary capitalism, and a vital concomitant of democratic government. In this accessible and entertaining account, David Garland cuts through the fog of misunderstandings to explain in clear and simple terms, what the welfare state is, how it works, and why it
matters.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis,
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1. What is the Welfare State?
2. Before the Welfare State
3. Birth of the Welfare State
4. The Welfare State 1.0
5. Varieties
6. Problems
7. Neoliberalism and WS 2.0
8. Post-Industrial transitions: toward WS 3.0
9. The indispensable Welfare
State
References
Further Reading
Index
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David Garland is the Arthur T. Vanderbilt Professor of Law and Professor of Sociology at New York University. He is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh and taught there from 1979 to 1997 before moving to the USA. A Fellow of the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences. Garland is the author of a series of award-winning books on punishment and criminal justice, including The Culture of Control (OUP 2001) and Peculiar Institution: America's Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition (OUP 2010), and the editor of Mass Imprisonment: Social Causes and Consequences
(Sage, 2001).