ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the characteristics of the Welfare Pentagon by contrasting it to “the simplistic dyad” as inspired by economistic thinking and “baseline triangle” that may be constructed on intuitive grounds. It argues that social protection policy has to be (re)defined as the social management of risks. The chapter describes the concepts of needs and risks in order to round up with the discussion of how strategies and policy instruments in social protection policy are analyzed within risk management framework. Public authorities are missing from the Baseline Triangle and should be added to it to complete the analytical framework. Very few societies, function without some form of centralized legitimate authority taking up some responsibilities in the production and distribution of social welfare. There are various types of risks potentially affecting different parts of the population and having potentially incidental, lifetime or even intergenerational effects. Social protection policy intends to reduce the risks and their effects.
