ABSTRACT
Whether and why the state should provide support to people 'in need' is a topic which currently absorbs both policy-makers and academics in the fields of social policy and political theory. 1 This preoccupation with the normative basis of state welfare reflects the disappearance of the consensus that existed in post-war Britain, and until fairly recently, as to the necessity and value of a collectively-financed 'welfare state'. In the absence of a shared ideology of welfare the pursuit of logically-defensible principles is inevitable - and invaluable.
