In what century did the name welfare state appear? Welfare state: concept and characteristics. Changing attitudes towards the idea of a welfare state

Welfare state - an institution aimed at organizing a normal life and developing society as a whole, protecting the rights and freedoms of a person and citizen, and worthy of his living conditions. Article 7, paragraph 1 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation "The Russian Federation is a social state, the policy of which is aimed at creating conditions for a decent life and free human development."

The essence welfare state:

Socially oriented structure of the economy;

The unification of all social groups of the population, nations and peoples into a single whole - a civil society, in whose hands the state serves as an instrument for conducting socially oriented policies;

Ensuring the protection and service of the interests of the whole society as a whole (the goal of the welfare state);

Recognition of rights, freedoms and legitimate interests a person as the highest value, a priority of human rights;

The presence of a parliament in which all social groups of the population of the state are equally represented;

Development of social programs by the state;

Developed social legislation;

Social responsibility of the state to its citizens and the responsibility of members of society to each other before the entire community of citizens

Performing traditional and security functions:

Personal care, support and assistance to socially unprotected segments of the population (pensioners, disabled people);

Encouraging charitable activities (through a variety of benefits);

Occupational safety and health of people;

Combating unemployment (payment of unemployment benefits, retraining and free training in new professions);

Participation in international control over the enforcement of rights;

Participation in the implementation of interstate environmental, cultural and social programs. Welfare state (from Lat. Society) is a state in which citizens are in a known connection with it. The state interferes in the life of citizens as long as natural rights and freedoms are not affected. State participation in households. life is wide enough. The state provides social services. services by redistributing the public good.

First used in the CRF 93 (Article 7). RF - social. a state whose policy is aimed at creating conditions for a dignified life and free human development.

Signs:

High level of economy. development of the country, which makes it possible to redistribute incomes of the population without prejudice to the owners;

Social oriented structure of the economy;

Formation of gr. society, in whose hands the state serves as a tool for conducting social. politicians;

Development of state. social programs and prioritization of their implementation;

Approval of the goals of the state-va, providing everyone worthy. conv. life, social security and equal starting conditions for personal self-realization;

Developed social legislation;

Social the responsibility of the state to its citizens and the responsibility of members of society to another friend and to the entire community, that is, their duty to promote social. providing, to be responsible for the team. mutual assistance, to fulfill obligations arising from property rights, etc.

Social functions states:

Social support independent segments of the population (unemployed, pensioners, disabled people);

Occupational safety and health;

Support for family, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood;

Social smoothing inequality through the redistribution of income between different groups of the population through taxes, special. social programs, state funds. budget, etc .;

Encouragement of philanthropists. activities (benefits);

Fin. and other support for fundamental scientific research and cultural programs;

fight against unemployment;

Participation in the implementation of interstate econ, cult., image., social. programs;

Mater. providing social... vulnerable groups of the population at a level not lower than the level of living. Minimum. Welfare state criteria:

1. It is obliged to maintain absolute equality in rights for all different social services. classes, for a separate self-determining personality due to its power.

2. It is obliged to contribute to the economy. and the social progress of all its citizens, for ultimately the development of one is a condition for the development of the other, and it is in this sense that the social. state-ve.

a state that provides a certain standard of living for its citizens, the satisfaction of their material and spiritual needs (a decent existence)

S.G. implies a guarantee of state support for education, health care, social security, employment, labor protection, protection ecological environment a habitat.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

SOCIAL STATE

a concept that characterizes the modern state, which in relations with civil society decides socio-economic, cultural and environmental objectives. The principle of social statehood is the redistribution of national income in the interests of society as a whole, in particular, in favor of the socially weak. S.g. - this is a characteristic of only one of the sides of the modern state, which in general should be considered as a social legal state - a historically new type of state, in whose activities the principle of legal statehood (rule of law, formal equality) competes with the principle of social statehood. Postindustrial society is objectively capable of providing universal high level consumption while maintaining a relatively high profit of the owners of the means of production. In such a society, social regulation based on the principle of law, without the redistribution of national income in favor of the socially weak, becomes impractical from the point of view of economic development. After World War II, new political elites came to power in most developed countries, implementing some of the ideas of social democracy, Keynesianism and neoliberalism, agreeing with limited state intervention in affairs civil society... In these countries (primarily in Western Europe, to a lesser extent in the USA), a social and legal state is emerging - the state of a post-industrial society, which not only guarantees freedom, security and property, but also ensures social peace and economic growth, creates social guarantees (especially in the spheres of employment, education and health care), allowing the majority of members of society to more effectively achieve well-being through self-activity. V legal sphere this is expressed in the formal recognition by the state and the guarantee of its real policy of the so-called social, economic and cultural rights a person and a citizen, or human rights of the second generation (this includes the rights to a minimum wage that ensures a dignified existence, to labor protection and protection from unemployment, to rest, family support, social security due to age or disability, to free or social housing, to free or affordable education and health care, etc.). The recognition of some of these "rights" in the most developed countries begins in the first half of the 20th century, and after the Second World War they are included in the number universally recognized rights person. This state also solves general social problems: through a flexible tax policy, it supports competition and promotes the development of lagging sectors of the economy, stimulates the restructuring of the national economy; finances social programs aimed at improving qualifications work force, the growth of the educational level, the preservation of the physical and spiritual health of the nation, etc. Lit .: State law Germany. M., 1994. T. I; Dzoaziev V. Problems of the formation of a democratic state in Russia. M., 1996. VA. Chetvernin

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

The functions of the welfare state are the main areas of activity that express its essence. In contrast to the social functions inherent in any state, which in the early stages of development state forms act as general principles state activities (for example, the redistribution of wealth, regulation labor activity) or in the form of economic functions, the functions of the welfare state appear in the course of the evolutionary development of the state. Their appearance is associated with the change in the dominance of state-society relations to state-person relations. Moreover, social functions appear in the state only at certain stages of development of production relations, with a change in the place of a person in the structure of productive forces, with the emergence of a new evolutionary type of industrial state, which does not occur earlier than the first third of the 19th century.

The emergence and development of social functions of the state is characterized by a dual process. On the one hand, there is a quantitative increase in social functions at higher levels of development of the state, and on the other hand, the inclusion of social functions in complex functional systems on a par with legal, political and economic functions. Only the welfare state sets the satisfaction of social needs as its goal, developing a social market economy.

The welfare state, unlike others, has a number of features, which include:

a) legal basis social policy;

b) the presence of the system social insurance;

c) the existence of budget social payments;

d) the existence of state systems social protection, social security and employment;

e) the availability of social support to all, without exception, needy members of society;

f) acceptance by the state of responsibility for the level of well-being of citizens;

g) the existence of civil society institutions.

The welfare state is designed to: create and maintain legislative and legal prerequisites for effective economic basis for the development of society in order to maximize the satisfaction of the material and spiritual needs of members of society; ensure compliance between the natural rights and obligations of a member of society and his remuneration. In accordance with this set of features, the welfare state, pursuing state social and economic policy, implements the following social functions:

Provision of employment and constant growth of incomes of the population;

Providing social insurance for all members of society;

Ensuring the availability of education, health care and spiritual and cultural development;

Social protection of the needy categories;

Smoothing social inequality in society, creating decent living conditions through the redistribution of benefits;

Provision of social services.

Each of these functions is mandatory for the welfare state, but can be expressed with varying degrees of intensity. The formation of these functions does not occur simultaneously. The functions of the welfare state have a definite focus on achieving both social and economic goals. Equalizing living conditions, smoothing social inequality, increasing the level of personal consumption, along with social tasks, solve economic problems - motivating an increase in labor productivity, increasing consumer demand, preventing social conflicts and taking into account the changing role of a person in production.

The modern Concept of the welfare state brings to the fore the relationship between the state and the individual in a free market economy. Even A. Smith, J. Mill, B. Constant, J. Locke proceeded from the assessment of freedom as the highest value that the state is obliged to guarantee to each individual. They proclaimed the main principles of the welfare state in the socio-economic sphere economic freedom, the autonomy of the individual in the economic sphere, while not recognizing the state's social functions.

J. J. Rousseau supplemented the relationship between the state and the individual with the duty of the state to promote the provision of socio-economic rights, or, in other words, human rights of the second generation.

This or that form and measure of state influence on economic life is always necessary, because without its active assistance it is impossible to exercise the so-called rights of the "second generation" (the right to work, to fair wages, labor protection, the right to rest, social security, etc.). The question of maintaining a balance between a free economy and the search for ways and means of eliminating the injustice generated by market relations remains fundamental. How to determine the limits of state intervention in the economy so that it does not become a brake on its development, on the one hand, and ensure social protection of citizens, on the other? From these limits, as the laureate noted Nobel Prize Friedrich von Hayek, it depends, "Is it determined by a government decision EVERYTHING that EVERY person ALWAYS receives, or only SOME things that SOME people sometimes receive on SOME conditions ...". This brilliant formula clearly expresses the difference between the "socialist" understanding of the welfare state and its true essence, or, as F. Hayek himself writes, between a totalitarian and free economy.

Complete and general harmonization of the principles of freedom and equality in the implementation of the social and economic function of the welfare state is hardly possible. However, only their coexistence can be the fundamental basis for the formation and development of the welfare state. The noted function of the welfare state is to eliminate the sharp difference in the property status, to increase the social status of the individual. This problem is solved in modern states with a market economy, by influencing economic processes through the budget, a flexible taxation system, and social programs. A socially oriented state has to constantly take care of maintaining a balance between market freedom and its impact on the economy, because the implementation of large social programs is associated with increased taxation, and this eventually becomes a brake on the development of production.

Today, both the social and economic functions of the welfare state are increasing. In the social sphere, the state is increasingly acting not as an institution of power, but as a nationwide authoritative corporation with appropriate initiative-private organizations.

And the signs of it. Also from this article you will learn what models of the welfare state exist. Let's say a few words about the peculiarities of its development. What is a welfare state, the concept and features of which we are interested in? This is a principle (characteristic) that refers to the constitutional and legal status of a state.

The principle of the welfare state

This principle presupposes the constitutional guarantee of the social and economic rights and freedoms of the citizen and the duty of the state, which must serve society. It seeks to minimize and, if possible, completely eliminate unjustified social differences.

Functions to be performed by the welfare state

The concept and features of the welfare state are closely related to its functions. Considering the latter, the following should be borne in mind:

a) it has traditional functions due to its nature as a state;

It is possible to single out, within the framework of a general social purpose, specific areas of activity, that is, specific functions that a welfare state has, the concept and characteristics of which we describe. These features include, but are not limited to:

2) protection of health and labor of people;

3) support for motherhood, fatherhood, family and childhood.

Also, the state should take care of the preservation of peace. What other functions are included in its concept? The signs, the social purpose of the state, suggest that the smoothing of inequality should be carried out through the redistribution of income between different strata of society. This is implemented through taxation, special social programs, and the state budget.

The welfare state is a rather voluminous concept. The concept and signs, functions - all this can be talked about for a very long time. Among the latter, it should also be noted that the state encourages charitable activities (including through the provision of tax incentives to the entrepreneurial structures that carry out it). We need to support and fund cultural programs and basic scientific research. Describing the welfare state (concept and features) briefly, it must be said that it should provide employment for the population, the payment of benefits. Its functions also include finding a balance between market economy and the impact of the state on its development. The purpose of such an impact is to ensure a decent life for the citizens of the country. The welfare state must also participate in the implementation of interstate social, cultural and environmental programs, as well as solve common human problems. The concept and signs, functions, types - all this determines its main features.

The main features of the welfare state

From the above, we can conclude that the welfare state always strives to ensure social security of citizens, decent conditions for their existence, the opportunity to participate in production management. Ideally, it should aim to create approximately equal life chances for everyone. The activities of such a state are aimed primarily at the common good, at the establishment of social justice in society. It smooths out inequality (property or otherwise), helps the disadvantaged and the weak, takes care of providing citizens with work or other source of livelihood, ensures the preservation of peace, the formation of a prosperous living environment for a person.

Conditions for the existence of a welfare state

The formation of such a state is not only a political and economic process, but also a moral one, which requires a "human" dimension. Taking into account the above, it can be concluded that the characteristic features and conditions of the existence of the social state are:

1) democratically organized government;

2) a high level of morality officials and for all citizens;

3) great economic potential, which allows you to redistribute income without prejudice to the position of the owners;

4) the structure of the economy, socially oriented, which is manifested in the presence different forms property, as well as a significant share of state property in the necessary areas of the economy;

5) development of the state in the legal sphere;

6) the existence of a civil society, for which the state is an instrument for pursuing a socially oriented policy;

7) the social orientation of the policy, manifested in the development of various social programs, as well as the priority of their implementation;

8) the presence of the goals of establishing the common good, social justice;

9) the presence of social legislation;

10) consolidation in the constitution of the country of the formula "welfare state".

Welfare state activities

We can say that the welfare state implements its principles and goals in the form of legal statehood. It follows the path of humanizing society, that is, strives to expand the rights of the individual, to fill with more just content legal regulations... The state is also called upon to ensure the welfare of the individual: material conditions for a dignified existence and freedom of each person, social security... It should deal directly with distribution, but not undermine the foundations of the market economy, such as competition, private property, individual responsibility, enterprise, etc., should not contribute to mass social dependency.

Liberal model

It is based on the liberal principle, which provides for the personal responsibility of all members of society for the fate of their families and their own. In this model, the role of the state is insignificant. Social programs are primarily funded by private insurance and personal savings. The task of the state is to stimulate the growth of incomes of citizens. Social states using this model are, for example, the USA, Canada and Australia.

Corporate model

Another model is corporate. It assumes the existence of a mechanism of responsibility of organizations (corporations) and enterprises for the fate and financial situation of their employees. The corporation provides the employee with social guarantees, including retirement benefits, as well as partial payment for educational, medical and other services. The social states built on this principle are France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Austria, etc.

Conservative model

Its main task is to ensure equal starting conditions, as well as development opportunities for all citizens. The idea of partnership between the private sector, government, charitable and public organizations is the foundation of a conservative policy. The principle of a mixed economy is dominant in the economic sphere; a social market economy is being created. The social states oriented towards this model are Japan and Great Britain.

The models described above are ideal types that hardly exist anywhere in their pure form. In each specific state, in reality, there are elements of various models. However, at the same time, one or another of them dominates, due to which it is possible to determine what kind of social states these or those countries are.

The most common welfare state model

The most common model is one based on the responsibility of society as a whole for the fate of each of its members. The basic principle is the condition that the young pays for the old, and the rich for the poor. The state redistributes tax payments that go to it through the budget, social programs, insurance funds, social service system. Non-state institutions (programs, funds, etc.) play a supporting role.

Internal contradictions of the welfare state

Considering the topic "Welfare state: concept, essence, features", it should be noted that it has internal contradictions. The welfare state goes through certain stages of development and stages of formation. A reflection of these problems and contradictions was the broad discussion that unfolded in foreign political and scientific science in the 80s - 90s about its future and its crisis. The basis of the processes that caused the exacerbation of the problems existing in the welfare state are the unevenness and cyclicality of economic development, as well as the susceptibility of the social sphere and the economy to the impact of events of internal and foreign policy... The illusion of harmony between economic growth and the expanding practice of state distribution of socio-economic benefits was destroyed by the world economic crisis. He showed that there are serious monetary problems, that it is impossible to endlessly exploit imported cheap raw materials.

The discussion about the prospects and the crisis of the welfare state intensified again when socialism in the states of Eastern Europe was destroyed, when the FRG faced economic difficulties associated with the development of the lands of eastern Germany, when the enlargement of the European Union took place. All these global economic and geopolitical shifts have revealed the complexity in the relationship between the state and society.

Social and legal state

What else can you tell about, revealing the topic "Welfare state: concept, features, functions"? Note that the modern welfare state is a stage of development that follows the paternalistic state. The welfare state is not a stage of legal development. Nevertheless, only the rule of law can become a social state, that is, one in which the mechanisms of the rule of law are already sufficiently developed.

Social politics

Social policy is one of the main tools for the implementation of the social state. The relationship between them is manifested in how deeply and fully the welfare state pursues social policy, as well as in the extent to which it expresses the interests and needs of its citizens.

Social policy is aimed at achieving results and goals related to improving social and material well-being. Its goal is also to improve the life of the entire population, to prevent the emergence of social tension.

The essence of the social policy of the state, which has set itself the goal of becoming a social state, should be to ensure a high standard of living of the population, conditions for increasing welfare. The task of implementing an effective, strong social policy in such a state comes to the fore.

So, we talked about what a welfare state is. The concept, essence, signs and models of it were described by us. Each state should strive to implement its principles as much as possible. The Russian Federation is also a social state. Its concept, signs, functions are enshrined in the Constitution of our country. It was adopted in 1993. Since then, Russia has been officially - the social is engaged in their study) it is used in the policy pursued by Russia. However, in fact, the formation of the welfare state in our country is still at an early stage.

The topic "Welfare state: concept and features" is very relevant today. Presentation, abstract or course work on it can be made based on the material from this article.

What is a welfare state

SOCIAL STATE- characteristic (principle) related to the constitutional and legal status of the state, implying a constitutional guarantee of economic and social rights and freedoms of man and citizen and the corresponding duties of the state. Indicates that the state serves society and seeks to exclude or minimize unjustified social differences. For the first time, the social character of the state was proclaimed in the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. The Constitution of the Russian Federation (Article 7) proclaims: "The Russian Federation is a social state, the policy of which is aimed at creating conditions that ensure a decent life and free human development."

From this general position the following constitutional obligations Russian state:

a) to protect the labor and health of people;
b) establish a minimum guaranteed wage;
c) provide state support to family, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood, disabled and elderly citizens;
d) develop the system social services;
e) establish state pensions, benefits and other guarantees of social protection.

Formation of the welfare state

By the middle of the XIX century. the increasing role of the social functions of the state became so obvious that it became necessary to fix this new quality. The concept of "welfare state", introduced into scientific circulation by Lorenz von Stein in 1850, contains the attributes inherent in this phenomenon. The definition of the welfare state, proposed by L. von Stein, contained a number of fundamental provisions that expanded the traditional understanding of the responsibilities of the state. In particular, he noted that the welfare state must "maintain absolute equality in rights for all different social classes, for a separate private self-determining individual through its power. It must contribute to the economic and social progress of all its citizens, for ultimately the development of one is a condition development of the other, and it is in this sense that the social state is spoken of. " This definition, in fact, overcomes the sociological approach to the state (as to the arena of class struggle). As one of the features of the welfare state, the equality of all people (individuals) is singled out, the dominance of the "personality-state" dichotomy is recognized instead of the previous "state-society", and the main goal of the state is economic and social progress. This interpretation of the concept of the welfare state was further supported by J.Ofner, F. Naumann, A. Wagner.

Thus, the initial criterion for distinguishing the social state as a special type was state paternalism, directed at all members of society, regardless of their social affiliation. It is noteworthy that the recognition of the equality of all citizens without exception was a consequence of not only and not so much the spread of the ideas of egalitarianism, but a change in the role of an individual, personality in production and in society. In the words of O. Toffler, "the most significant step in economic development our era was the emergence new system obtaining wealth using not physical strength man, but his mental capacity. "

The emergence of the term "welfare state" actually marked the recognition of the changed nature of statehood. This concept reflected the accomplished transition from a "police" state, a "social contract state", "a state as higher form authorities "to the state performing social functions. This means that it takes responsibility for the well-being of citizens, ensures the availability of social support to all members of society, creates state systems social security and social protection, introduces budget financing of social programs and new mechanisms of social policy in the form of state social insurance, becomes the dominant subject of social functions in society.

One cannot agree with the opinion of a number of authors that the fulfillment of all these functions by the state was the result of the implementation of socialist ideas. In time, two objective, relatively independent processes coincided - the formation of the social functions of the state, conditioned by the development of productive forces, a change in the role of the individual (in production, in society), and their ideological awareness. However, given that the new properties of the state largely correspond to the socialist idea, it seems possible to identify the first stage in the formation of the welfare state, dating from the 70s of the XIX century. until the 30s of the XX century., as socialist.

First third of XX century was marked by an avalanche acceptance social laws and the incorporation of the principles of the welfare state into the politics of many countries. Laws related to social and health insurance, pensions, unemployment benefits, family benefits and accident insurance were adopted during these years in Austria, Australia, Denmark, Canada, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, USSR, USA, France , Sweden, etc. Social legislation has become not just a sector of the legal field, but has begun to exert a powerful influence on the legal content of the entire regulatory framework states. In 1930, G. Geller introduced the concept of "social state based on the rule of law", which emphasizes the right of a citizen to social guarantees from the state.

The statement of the legal nature of the welfare state actually assigned the state its social functions. The social functions of the latter are not simply acquired legal basis, but became leading for the state, transforming, in turn, legal framework the state. Personal human rights have become the cornerstone of all legal system states, defining through suffrage power, through civil rights - the political nature of the state and its social responsibilities, through social rights - its social functions. The legal foundation made social functions mandatory. Social functions have become an integral part of the functional structure of the state. The final transfer of social functions from society to the state took place.

The definition of the welfare state as a legal state was fundamental for the definition of a new social quality of the state. For the first time in history, the eternal opposition of freedom and equality - "for centuries people have strived for freedom and equality as one of the primary goals of human life, but complete freedom for the strong and talented is incompatible with the right to a decent life for the weak and the poor" - was filmed through compromise, it became possible to restrict freedom "for the sake of social welfare, in order to feed the hungry, shelter the disadvantaged ...".

The legal foundation of the welfare state has finally formalized the principle of natural social human rights. On the basis of this, a completely new legal conflict arose, consisting in the asymmetry of rights and obligations. For the theory of law this situation was so significant that some authors, for example E. Forsthoff, reject the very possibility of combining the legal and social state or state their fundamental contradiction. However, it is precisely the asymmetry of the social rights and responsibilities of the individual that gave rise to the state's special status as a monopoly subject of social activity. The state has become a mediating link between the entire set of rights and obligations, leveling and making them proportionate through social policy. In this capacity, the state received special rights to redistribute benefits and thus acquired a specific function of real ensuring the formal equality of people.

Thus, the second period of the formation of the social state, which lasted from the 30s to the end of the 40s of the XX century, can be designated as the stage of the legal social state.

The next stage in the development of ideas about the social state began with the famous report of V. Beveridge "Full employment in a free society", which he delivered in the English parliament in 1942. It outlined the basic principles of the "welfare state", for the first time put forward the idea of a guaranteed single national minimum income, emphasized the close relationship between social policy and state economic policy aimed at ensuring full employment. Since that time, the term "welfare state" - has become synonymous with the welfare state in English-speaking countries. (Other names are welfare state, welfare state, providence state.)

The period up to the 60s was marked, on the one hand, by the deepening of the theory of the social state or the welfare state, on the other - practical implementation ideas of a welfare state at the national level. One of the leading manifestations of social functions at this stage is the provision of social services by the state.

Allocation of the period of the formation of the welfare state from the mid-40s to the 60s of the XX century. at a special stage, which can be designated as the stage of social services, is associated with the implementation by the state of fundamentally new social functions (provision of employment, social patronage, the formation of a living environment for people with disabilities, rehabilitation programs for certain social groups, government programs support and create the necessary living conditions for selected categories people and regions).

A feature of social services provided by the state is that they not only compensate a person for the "gap" between his material capabilities and a certain standard of life, but actively form the conditions for achieving the latter. At the same time, the state is responsible for ensuring equal social opportunities for all social groups. The essence of the stage of social services is the transition of the state from passive to active social policy.

Despite the substantial similarity of the concepts of "welfare state" and "welfare state", each of them changes over time.

The period from the late 1950s to the mid-1980s can be described as the stage of the welfare state. The idea of a welfare state arose due to a sharp increase in the standard of living in developed countries in the 50s and 60s, when the social risk insurance system almost completely compensated for the uncertainty of the future. The welfare state was best at ensuring social cohesion and the realization of basic social principles... Taking upon itself a function of ensuring a high standard of living for all members of society, a new function in comparison with the previous period, the state made this function dominant.

It should be noted that the high level of socialization of social insurance during that period significantly transformed other social functions. For example, most social services: unemployment insurance, health insurance, retirement benefits. By the end of the 1980s, most countries moved away from individual contract insurance of corresponding risks, "drifting" towards social assistance, including social groups that do not pay social contributions. Characterizing this stage as a period of maximum development of insurance principles, it should be emphasized that the principle of solidarity has become the determining factor for the welfare state. It is they who determine the universality of social support, the orientation towards universal indicators of the quality of life and the predominant use of risk insurance financing mechanisms on a solidary basis.

In theoretical terms, the transition to the welfare state meant a rejection of the Bismarckian model of the welfare state, built on the principles of solidarity, commutative justice, and the transition to the implementation of the principles of "redistributive justice". Commutative justice consists in equality of rights ("formal"), it is based on the principle of reciprocity and corresponds to the maxim "give everyone what he deserves"; correlates with the “fair remuneration” ideal, which assumes that everyone receives according to their contribution (for example, the payment of benefits is treated as a reimbursement of contributions). Distributive or corrective justice is aimed at economic equality ("real"). Such justice is based on the principle of redistribution of benefits between rich and poor and corresponds to the maxim "to each according to his needs." If commutative justice can be carried out without the mediation of politics (on the principle of a contract or insurance), then redistributive justice requires the intervention of some government body... The social insurance system of the welfare state identifies the principle of equality and the mechanism of redistribution through an exaggerated understanding of solidarity, elevating it to a dogma. Solidarity as a goal of society made the function of redistribution main function the state.

The development of national models of the welfare state contributed to a deeper understanding of the essence of the welfare state, making it possible to isolate its invariant, system-forming properties. It was at this stage that the understanding of the welfare state was established as a generic concept that fixes the fundamental social qualities of the state that are in development, manifested in different ways in different countries, but based on a single set of principles.

Understanding of the nature of the welfare state was also facilitated by the development in the same period of its other models that did not fall under the definition of "the welfare state." One of such models, which P. Rosanvallon called "the society of universal compensation for losses", is presented in the USA.

Historically conditioned emphasis on the liberal values of Protestant morality, absolutization civil rights and freedoms have led to the priority of the principle of reparations over the principle of solidarity. In this case, justice is understood as compensation and damages; social risks are replaced by the concept of "victim". Only after achieving recognition as a victim, a person is entitled to compensation. Implementation practice this principle led to the emergence of a tendency to reorient the individual approach in social support on the group. By presenting themselves as victims, certain social groups seek social assistance and budget transfers. At the same time, the practice of an expanded understanding of the damage is widespread, which may include injustice committed in relation to past generations.

Since 1989, this principle has been widely implemented in Russian social legislation, entering into complex conflicts with the social protection system based on the principles of solidarity, and undermining it.

From the point of view of the functions of the state, both the principle of solidarity and the principle of compensation for damage are equally implemented through the state taking on a certain social responsibility. However, the different nature of this responsibility and, accordingly, different ways of redistributing social wealth determine the dissimilar mechanisms of social policy and can cause an opposite attitude in society.

Since the late 70s of the XX century. criticism of the welfare state begins to grow, which in the mid-1980s becomes an avalanche and multifaceted. Both the practice of the welfare state and its theoretical and ideological foundations were criticized.

The focus of the welfare state's efforts on ensuring a constantly increasing standard of living for all members of society has faced economic, demographic and civilizational constraints and a crisis of the insurance mechanism.

In general, this - the fifth - stage of development (from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s) can be designated as the period of destruction and crisis of the welfare state.

The effectiveness of the existing system of redistribution of benefits is being questioned; the solidarity principle of social insurance loses its universality and ceases to be effective for a number of risks; new significant social risks appear, requiring new methods of compensation; the traditional concept of social rights is being revised, new mass social categories appear that require protection; a new ideology of social assistance is being formed; the role and social functions of the state are changing.

The crisis of the solidarity insurance system that underlies the welfare state lies in the fact that the principles of solidarity and justice are based on the idea of randomness and equal probability of all kinds of risks for all citizens, which does not correspond to modern realities.

Insurance realized through the socialization of risks cannot be applied to the risks of disasters (floods, earthquakes, droughts, major man-made accidents, etc.) and to the risks that a significant part of society is exposed to (long-term unemployment, pension benefits, etc.). The growing differentiation of society led at the end of the XX century. to the segmentation of the insurance system, the development of corporate and social and professional interests that undermine the principle of solidarity. The increased role of vertical redistribution between groups of citizens with different incomes, despite the horizontal redistribution originally laid down in insurance and the break in the relationship between the value of contributions and the level of social benefits, as well as the provision of benefits to groups of the population that did not pay social contributions at all, gave rise to a negative attitude towards the principles of social insurance. The deterioration of the economic and demographic situation, the desire of the state to stimulate the economy by reducing compulsory social contributions leads to an insufficiency of social insurance funds, the filling of which in a critical situation the state is forced to take upon itself, which leads to a distortion of the principles of financing social payments and the replacement of the principle of solidarity with the principle of compensation for damage.

It is increasingly recognized that solidarity insurance is losing its universality; moreover, some authors have concluded that insurance is nothing more than a myth.

Since the mid-90s, new ideas have begun to take shape about the welfare state as a mechanism for removing the contradictions between the laws of the market and social goals.

Unlike the welfare state, the modern welfare state seeks to abandon its paternalistic role, focuses on the elimination of dependency and the creation of favorable social conditions primarily through the formation of a socially oriented market economy.

The stage of development of the welfare state that began in the mid-90s can be designated as the period of the liberal welfare state.

Signs of a welfare state

The formation of a welfare state is not only an economic and political process, but also a moral process that requires a “human” dimension.

Taking into account the foregoing, we can conclude that the conditions for the existence of a welfare state and its characteristic features are:

1. Democratic organization of state power.
2. A high moral level of citizens and, above all, of state officials.
3. Powerful economic potential, allowing the implementation of measures for the redistribution of income, without significantly prejudice to the position of the owners.
4. Socially oriented structure of the economy, which is manifested in the existence of various forms of ownership with a significant share of state ownership in the required areas of the economy.
5. Legal development state, the presence of his qualities the rule of law.
6. The existence of a civil society in whose hands the state acts as an instrument for conducting socially oriented policies.
7. A pronounced social orientation of the state policy, which is manifested in the development of various social programs and the priority of their implementation.
8. The state has such goals as the establishment of the common good, the establishment of social justice in society, ensuring every citizen:
- a) decent living conditions;
- b) social protection;
- c) equal starting opportunities for personal self-realization.
9. The presence of developed social legislation (legislation on social protection of the population, for example the Code of Social Laws, as is the case in Germany).
10. Consolidation of the "welfare state" formula in the country's constitution.

Functions of the welfare state

welfare state constitutional

Speaking about the functions of the welfare state, the following circumstances should be borne in mind:

a) it has all the traditional functions due to its nature of the state as such;
b) the content of all functions of the welfare state is imprinted by its general social purpose, that is, traditional functions are, as it were, refracted through the prism of the goals and objectives of the welfare state, and in this regard, we can talk about the presence of a general social function (general social purpose);
c) within the framework of the general social function, specific areas of activity of the social state can be distinguished - specific functions.

The latter, in particular, include:

1.support of socially unprotected categories of the population;
2. labor protection and human health;
3. support for family, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood;
4. smoothing out social inequality by redistributing income between different social strata through taxation, the state budget, special social programs;
5. Encouragement of charitable activities (in particular, by providing tax incentives to entrepreneurial structures carrying out charitable activities);
6. funding and support for fundamental research and cultural programs;
7. fight against unemployment, ensuring employment of the population, payment of unemployment benefits;
8. search for a balance between a free market economy and a measure of state influence on its development in order to ensure a decent life for all citizens;
9. participation in the implementation of interstate environmental, cultural and social programs, solving common human problems;
10. concern for the preservation of peace in society.

Constitution Russian Federation in st. 7 enshrines the principle of sociality of the state: “1. The Russian Federation is a social state, the policy of which is aimed at creating conditions that ensure a dignified life and free human development. 2. In the Russian Federation, the labor and health of people are protected, a guaranteed minimum size wages provided governmental support family, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood, disabled and elderly citizens, the system of social services is developing, state pensions, benefits and other guarantees of social protection are established. " However, so far Russia can only be called a country in transition to a social state, and the above provision of the Constitution can be regarded as a programmatic setting.

Problems of creating a welfare state in Russia

We can name some of the problems of creating a welfare state in Russia:

1. Russia has not yet found support in law, in human rights, and the welfare state in Russia cannot rely on the foundation of a rule of law: the creation of a social state in our country is not a new stage in the development of a rule of law (as was the case in the West);
2. Russia has not created a "middle stratum" of owners: the overwhelming majority of the country's population did not get anything from the spontaneously privatized party-state property;
3. there is no powerful economic potential that would allow the implementation of measures for the redistribution of income without significantly infringing upon the freedom and autonomy of the owners;
4. monopolies in the most important types of production and sales have not been eliminated, which leads to the absence of real competition;
5. there is no developed, mature civil society;
6. the level of morality in society is reduced, the usual spiritual guidelines of justice and equality are practically lost. In the public consciousness (not without the help of "professional" ideologists and politicians, as well as the media), a harmful idea of the incompatibility, on the one hand, of morality, and, on the other hand, of politics and economics ("politics is a dirty business");
7.existing political parties Russia does not have clear social programs and ideas about ways to reform society;
8. the society lacks clearly defined real goals, scientifically verified models of life;
9.In the process of liberating Russian society from the total intervention of the state by inertia, the social role of statehood has been reduced, that is, Russian state went to the other extreme, leaving the citizen alone with the elements of the market.

And nevertheless, despite the listed difficulties, the development of social statehood is the only possible way for a free society, which Russia wants to become.

Bibliography

1. Main problems social development Russia - 78 / Analytical Bulletin of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. -2004. -No. 15 (235). S.V. Kalashnikov, Director of the Department of Social Development and Protection environment Government of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Economics.
2. Internet