福利国家溯源

The Origin of Welfare State

(一) "福利国家"一词最初是英国约克大主教威廉·坦普尔在战前提出的。战后,工党政府首相艾德礼于1948年宣布,英国已经建成了福利国家。其后,斯堪的纳维亚和西欧大陆一些国家也相继建成福利国家。但是,何谓福利国家,国内外说法都很不一致,没有一个统一的定义或界说。例如,社会学家威廉·罗布森在他的名著《福利国家和福利政策》中说,"其公共政策主要为国民福利而设的国家"就是福利国家。大英百科全书则说得详细些。

By welfare state, it means the following countries in Western Europe: Britain, Scandinavian countries, and Continental countries like France, West Germany, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg and Italy. One of their characteristics is that they all have a series of comprehensive social security systems. There are, of course, various historical reasons for the birth and growth of welfare state in West Europe, however, the long-term peaceful environment in postwar Europe has provided the necessary condition for the establishment of widespread social welfare systems. If the previous welfare policies were the concessions to the labouring people made by the ruling class, the present ones are no longer the case as the functioning of these bourgeois states has expanded into the social fields. As a result, social contradictions have been eased up to a certain extent while the heavy economic burden was taking shape in these countries. This is the common problem shared by welfare states at present.