ABSTRACT
The welfare state has served as the major peace formula of advanced capitalist democracies for the period following the Second World War. The contradiction is that while capitalism cannot coexist with, neither can it exists without, the welfare state. A major aspect of the socialist critique of the welfare state is to demonstrate its political-ideological control function. A political force that could bring about such dramatic changes is nowhere visible as a significant factor, Right-wing middle-class populist movements that occasionally spring up in some countries notwithstanding. The welfare state has been celebrated throughout the post-war period as the political solution to societal contradictions. Historically, the welfare state has been the combined outcome of a variety of factors which change in composition from country to country. The welfare state apparatus imposes a burden of taxation and regulation upon capital which amounts to a disincentive to investment.
