Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.3935/rsp.v3i3.456
Conditions for the Institutional Stabilization of a Welfare State
Eugen Pusić
; Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti
Abstract
The Republic of Croatia is, according to its Constitution (Art.1), a „Welfare State“ („Social State“). Under what conditions could this constitutional promise be redeemed by creating a network of stable and dependably functioning welfare institutions? Beyond the State as organization, institutional stability is achieved when the motives, interests, and needs of the people are transformed into institutional purposes of the State, and the corresponding norms – legal, ethical, and other – are internalized and habitual zed in the minds of the population to an extent where they are no longer at the mercy of changing political power relationships. The traditional basis of the State as institution is the authority of the rulers on one side and peace and security of the subjects on the other. Is the Welfare State a third kind of State-as-institution, stabilizing the welfare services and benefits beyond the reach of changing political majorities? The Welfare State has its historical roots as much in the conservative motives of appeasing the working class as in the progressive ideas of social justice. It started with social insurance programs in Europe in the 19th century when both economic productivity and social politically feasible. It developed fully in the wake of World War II as a system of programs whereby the State increasingly assumed responsibility for the material well-being of its citizens. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the Welfare State is facing a crisis generated by its increasing costs as well as by the pressure on society to adapt its economy to considerable technological innovation. The future of the Welfare State points beyond the State to the emergence of a network of institutions, governmental as well as non-governmental, stabilized on the dual purposes of general material security and the ideal of justice.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
29839
URI
Publication date:
1.3.1996.
Visits: 1.951 *