ABSTRACT
All activities of government in a democracy must in a general way be expected to add to the welfare of citizens — that is, to be conducive to good fortune, happiness or well-being — since it would be perverse to elect to the service of government those who would reduce the welfare of electors. There are obvious exceptions to the generalisation: electors may be mistaken about the likely results of the policies they are offered, and be unable to correct the mistake until there is another election; governments may be mistaken in their assessment of external forces and events; particular measures may advance the welfare of some citizens but subtract from that of others; the losers may be a majority, if for some reason the gainers have political clout. But such exceptions do not affect the conclusion that there is no need to hijack the word 'welfare' to apply only to what is described in Chapter 1 as the conventional core of 'the welfare state'. That core consists of social security payments, health, education and housing, but there is no firmly drawn boundary line even in conventional usage. These activities compete for attention with others which claim to add to the general welfare of citizens. Choices have to be made.
