The Politics of Social Welfare: The Collapse of the Centre and Rise of the Right

The development of the welfare state has been a central concern across the political spectrum since the breakdown of the Keynesian economic model in the 1970s. The Politics of Social Welfare examines how the apparent consensus on social welfare issues was undermined at both practical and theoretical levels. Major elements of the welfare state did survive the downsizing projects of the 1980s, but there was a significant and lasting transformation of the environment in which social welfare matters were discussed. European social democrats and American liberals effectively conceded that the welfare system does not always serve the best interests of the poor. The focus on the American experience highlights the manner in which the right have been able to deride previous antipoverty efforts and exploit concepts such as 'the feminization of poverty', the 'underclass' the and 'dependency culture'. In contrast the centre and the left, inhibited by their perception of the politics of taxing and spending, have been unable to articulate their ideas in a similarly populist fashion.