ABSTRACT
Consideration has been given to the ways in which various theories of the state and society are reflected in the social welfare literature, and particularly in that literature which focuses on the development and functions of welfare state policies. The idea that state intervention in welfare was intervention of a residual nature which would underwrite equality of opportunity in post-capitalist society was, as we have seen, based on a number of claims. Reformist writers on welfare have constructed a model of state social welfare which is rooted in social democratic political philosophy and suggests that social policies are inherently benevolent as well as irreversible. The state provision of welfare and of much else has been characterized by the radical right as the source of many of Britain's social, economic and moral problems. State welfare has functioned to limit individual freedom severely and also to place an economic burden on the British economy which has ultimately led to a fiscal crisis.
