A welfare state is a form of government in which the state or a well-established network of social institutions protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity , equitable distribution of wealth , and public responsibility for citizens unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life.
There is substantial variability in the form and trajectory of the welfare state across countries and regions. Early features of the welfare state, such as public pensions and social insurance, developed from the s onwards in industrializing Western countries.
The term welfare is much older than the term welfare state. In enlightened absolutism , the ruler had an unlimited position of power, which he was to only utilize to the extent necessary for the "welfare" of his subjects. The content of the "welfare" or "good police", which limited the ruler's legitimate exercise of power, was defined by the authorities at their own discretion. This is also referred to as "welfare absolutism".
The term welfare state is used in connection with princely absolutism, this is usually in conjunction with attributes such as absolutist , mercantilist or pre-modern. The German term sozialstaat "social state" has been used since to describe state support programs devised by German sozialpolitiker "social politicians" and implemented as part of Otto von Bismarck 's conservative reforms.
Today the term is used almost entirely for the "modern" welfare state, which emerged in the 19th century in the course of the socio-economic upheavals caused by industrialisation , the formation of nation states and democratization. The literal English equivalent "social state" did not catch on in Anglophone countries. Members of Young England attempted to garner support among the privileged classes to assist the less fortunate and to recognize the dignity of labor that they imagined had characterized England during the Feudal Middle Ages.
