The Demise of the Driving Forces behind the Liberal and Social Democratic Welfare State

The European welfare state is in a state of crisis. On the surface it faces severe fiscal and political challenges. More fundamentally, however, it is a crisis of identity. The driving forces and conceptual framework that led to the growth of the European welfare state were very much products of socialist and liberal notions steeped in the modern era. If it is the case—as this text argues—that these ideas and ideals are becoming obsolete, then the welfare state is in need of a new justification.