ABSTRACT
This chapter considers a problem about the welfare state. It is commonly supposed that the welfare state has something to do with intervention in the market to achieve a particular objective, i.e. to meet needs. Evidence of the weakness of welfare is easy to come by. Theoretical approaches to the welfare state may be divided conveniently into consensus and conflict theories: the former stress a political integration which effectively neutralises, or at least maintains a balance between, power divisions; the latter claim that the political system reflects irresolvable conflicts of interest in society. Political conflict approaches have often been confused with some brands of Marxism by writers on social policy. The Marxist perspective claims that people who constitute a market-capitalist society will tend to perceive their interests in a particular way. The various theories justifying intervention in the common interest may be understood and advanced in different ways and to differing degrees, but will inevitably conflict with market ethics.
