Sociology Theory

It is the intention of this essay to evaluate the history and development of the british welfare state then evaluate it according to the 4 main theories surrounding it? I will begin by brifly going over the history of the welfare state and listing the main historical developments it has experienced.

The welfare state was first introduced in 1601 as a result of the first state intervention. It came in the form of the poor law this was designed to help those in poverty. The poor law was amended in 1834 known as the poor law ammendment act this meant the introduction of the workhouse system????

The next main historical development was the liberal reform this was when the liberal parties saw the need for intervention with aspects such as education, this was a direct result of the liberals coming in to power. The next and perhaps most influencial development was the the government report of 1942: the beveridge report. In this report William Beveridge identified �the five giant or social evils’ these consisited of want, ignorance, disease, squalor, idleness. He also suggested our society should provide care from the cradle to the grave regardless of class or income. At this time it was a radical concept.

Following this was something called the post war consensus, a time when both main political parties believed the welfare state was a good thing, this lasted until the election of Mageret Thatcher in 1979. This was important as it enabled the creation of british welfare state and the national health service.

Finally, Modernity, this is when margeret thatcher was elected into power and began to introduce the idea that briitain had become a �nanny state’ this meant society was relying to heavily on the state to live. This brang about the end of the post war consensus, thatcher began rolling back the welfare state by closing the workhouses and stopping benefits in the hope people would become more independent.

i will now evaluate the modern british welfare state from the prespective of these four main theories:

Social democrat

The social democrats believed in a bit by bit approach, and the notion that we should deal with the state we are in gradually, they believed in the need to change the five giant evils beverage described, this is no surprise as beveridge himself was a social democrat. They recognise that extremes in poverty directly link to crime and alienation something which will enevitably damge society, they feel that this is an innafective use of the poor and so seek to provide assistance.

The welfare state is successful in social democratic terms because ??? services such as the nhs provide free medical assistance for every citzen regardless of class or wealth and therefore combating one of the social evils, disease, benefits and schemes such as jobseekers allowance and new deal provide assistance in getting into paid work and in the mean time provide financial assistance for every citzen. This therefore combats another of the social evils, idleness and want, another example of how the welfare state has succeeded in social democratic terms is the states mandatory free education system up to the age of 16. this ensures all british citizens are given the same oppertunitys from birth regardless of social circumstance, this is solution to the evil of ignorance. Finally the council housing scheme puts a responsibility on the local council to provide affordable safe clean accomadation for all. This has almost eradicated the evil of squala.

Feminist approach:

This approach is concerned with the role of women in society and is constantly striving to cloase the gap of inequality between male and females. This approach feels that women