ABSTRACT
At its most basic level, the term "welfare state" refers to a state's use of its policy-making authority to guarantee some minimal level of material well-being to its citizens. Welfare states seek to attain this goal through various means, such as direct redistribution through progressive taxation, state-administered social insurance programs, regulation (of wage levels, working conditions, etc.) and state provision of services such as health care. Although the welfare state is generally understood to be a defining characteristic of Western democracies in the period after World War II, its origins actually date to the late nineteenth century.
