Introduction

This chapter shows that some appreciation of the beneficial involvement at crucial junctures is essential for understanding, inter alia, the conditions under which welfare states emerge and enjoy dramatic spurts of growth, the particular shapes that these programmes take, and the circumstances under which they will come under successful and unsuccessful attack. The welfare state – or, more precisely, the set of programmes and policies that make up the welfare state – can serve many purposes. Insurance programmes are sometimes justified as 'redistribution over the life cycle', transferring resources from a person's richer years to that same person's poorer years. Redistribution as an aim may derive from more fundamental concerns, such as the promotion of equity or social justice, or the exercise of charitable compassion. The chapter also provides an outline of this book.