Today you can often hear declarations that this or that country is a social state. And the question arises: what is a social state? What is its specificity? Is every state social?
The concept of a welfare state
In the very general view a social state is a state whose main principle is the desire for a fair distribution of benefits in the country. Its policy is being implemented in an effort to reduce the severe consequences of the material stratification of society; the main emphasis is on helping disadvantaged representatives of the needy strata. The concept of a welfare state is closely related to the phenomenon of social security. In such systems, the state undertakes obligations to maintain a decent standard of living for needy citizens by withdrawing part of the income from people who have achieved a high level of material security.
Thus, the essence of the welfare state is the existence of guarantees of providing disadvantaged groups with a decent standard of living. Moreover, the resources for such material support are drawn from the tax burden falling on the shoulders of wealthier fellow citizens.
A little history
The social system of the state was first declared by the German economist Lorenz von Stein back in the mid-19th century. He conducted a deep analysis of the process of formation of capitalism in Germany and came to the conclusion that the state should be built on the ideas of equality and justice, that it should strive to raise the standard of living of the lower strata to the middle and higher levels. The social state in its interpretation is a system that ensures social progress.
The development of Stein's views was presented by Friedrich Naumann, who promoted liberal views on economics. The socio-political state, in his opinion, through active intervention in the economic system, must establish an order in which not only the protection of property and the law, but also social reforms in the name of justice will be a priority.
Such ideas became the platform for the formation of the social democratic movement, which gained strength in Germany at the end of the 19th century. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in the country, under pressure from the popular labor movement, the protection of socially disadvantaged classes was enshrined in law. These ideas became the impetus for reforms in Germany, in particular, for the first time, a pension insurance system and financing of medical care for employees at the expense of the employer appeared. The ideas of the social structure of the state also penetrated into France and England, where, under the influence of trade unions, measures appeared to regulate social relations on the part of the state.
In the USA, the ideas of a welfare state found strong support during the economic crisis of the 30s of the 20th century. President Roosevelt legislated the right of workers to create trade unions that defend their rights, he reduced the working day, and banned the exploitation of child labor. In Great Britain, a significant role was played by the Beveridge report, which spoke of a welfare state, essentially synonymous with a welfare state.
The emergence of the Soviet state made a new splash in the development of the concept of a social state, as it legislated the social orientation of its policies.
After World War II, the German government for the first time enshrined in the country's Constitution the name of the state as a social one. After that it's all large countries The West is beginning to declare the principles of social justice as the main postulate of statehood. The growth in popularity of these ideas continued until the mid-70s, when the concept had many opponents and it began to transform. The economic crises of the late 20th and early 21st centuries cast doubt on the rationality of this concept, although Western countries are in no hurry to officially abandon it.
Conditions for the existence of a welfare state
Not every country can call itself a social state. For its formation, a number of conditions must be met. A welfare state is a model that is possible when certain conditions are created:
- High level of moral development of citizens. A welfare state is characterized by the predominance of moral values over all others; all members of society, especially management, must adhere to the ideas of equality and justice.
- Democratic system. To implement the principles of social security in the state, the principles of freedom must be implemented.
- High level economic development states. In order to be able to provide social security to the poor, the state must have large reserves.
- Socially oriented type of economy. In order for the state to be able to regulate economic processes, it must have a large number of different enterprises with its participation. This makes it possible to regulate employment and redistribute income in favor of the disadvantaged.
- High level of legal development. An obligatory companion of the social state is high level development of legislative and civil initiatives. Civil society and the rule of law are a platform for pursuing socially oriented policies.
- Social policy of the state. Priorities public policy must be social projects on leveling the consequences of inequality and various support for the poor. The state must strive for universal justice and set itself the goal of achieving prosperity for all members of society. Among these goals are the creation of equal starting opportunities for people of all classes, social security of all citizens of the country, decent living conditions for everyone, including the disadvantaged.
- Reinforcement in legislation. The term “welfare state” must be fixed in the constitution of the state.
Characteristic features of a welfare state
A social state can be recognized by the following characteristics:
- Fair wages. The state guarantees decent wages for all working citizens, regardless of their position.
- Satisfied consumers. Residents of a welfare state have a high consumer level; they can satisfy not only the primary needs for food, housing, and security, but also choose high quality items that satisfy these needs. In addition, the population must be able to implement plans for self-realization and satisfy social and spiritual needs.
- Adjusted social protection system. The population's satisfaction with their life depends on the state's social policy; it must create a system that helps people with limited resources satisfy their needs at a decent level. A sign of a social state is a well-functioning institution of assistance to those who cannot provide for themselves: the disabled, pensioners, children, large families, unemployed.
- Leveling social differences. In a social state by various types assistance should reduce the gap in living standards between rich and poor through income redistribution. The emphasis is on bringing the poor to a decent standard of living. The gap between the incomes of the top and bottom strata of the country's population should be approximately six times.
- High-quality socially significant service industries. For a social state, it is extremely important to establish effective work in such areas as medicine, education, housing construction, transport. Social services provide a decent level of living and satisfaction for the population.
- Legal resolution of conflicts. The welfare state is characterized by low level social conflicts, but if they arise, they are resolved peacefully through the instruments of civil and legal society.
- Embodiment of the principles of social justice. The distribution of the country's wealth, ensuring opportunities for everyone to satisfy not only their primary needs, must be based on the interests of all residents of the country. Each citizen receives from the country as much as it gives.
- The primacy of moral principles of behavior. In a social state, the moral standards of behavior are charity, mutual assistance, altruism, and mercy. Moreover, they are characteristic not only of government policy or certain groups of people, but also of the majority of citizens of the country.
Social functions of the state: reality and declaration
Like any other state, the social one performs all traditional functions: political, economic, social, law enforcement, environmental and many others. However, the emphasis in their implementation is always placed on the social security of the population. At the same time, there are specific social functions of the state, these include:
- Support for vulnerable groups of the population. It can be material in the form of subsidies for the unemployed, disabled people, pensioners, and socio-psychological, in the form of various consultations, trainings, courses on psychological relief and correction of depressive conditions.
- Occupational safety and public health. The state creates decent conditions for performing any work and monitors compliance with norms and laws. Also provides regular medical service at a qualitative level, with an emphasis on disease prevention.
- Encouragement and stimulation of charity. The state has tax mechanisms that can make charity not only a socially approved activity, but also economically profitable.
- Support for motherhood and childhood. The state creates institutions to help parents raise their children, regardless of income level. It provides quality medical care and system educational services, and also develops mechanisms for material support for families in need.
- Smoothing out the consequences of social stratification in society, by redistributing income, the state reduces the gap between rich and poor.
- Providing employment for the population. The state creates conditions so that every person can find a job according to their abilities and capabilities, stimulates entrepreneurship to create jobs, and supports low-paid but socially important industries.
- Caring about the solution environmental problems, about preserving peace.
- Support for various projects, initiatives and programs in the social, cultural and educational spheres.
Thus, the social state is a complex system institutions and mechanisms to support the population and create a quality standard of living for citizens. No state has yet managed to fully implement these functions, but there are countries that are significantly closer to the ideal.
Types of welfare states
The socio-economic development of the state can proceed in different ways and leads to the emergence of different types of social states. Researchers identify such varieties as:
- Positive social welfare state. A type built on the desire to create a society of equal opportunities. The United States is an example of this type.
- State social security. In this type, social protection requirements are added to ensure stable income all citizens are at least the minimum subsistence level. Sample - Great Britain.
- Social welfare state. The state strives to equalize the level of income and opportunities for all residents. Example - Sweden.
There is also an attempt to build a classification depending on the dominance of market or social requirements in state policy. In this case, conservative, liberal and social-democratic types of welfare state are distinguished.
Implemented projects
The concept of a welfare state in several different types has taken root in many countries. Thus, social states are Western countries, as well as Australia, Canada, and Japan. They implement various models, all of them are based on moral principles and the professing of liberal ideas. A slightly different format of the welfare state is being implemented in countries where the source of wealth is oil production, this United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, where national income is distributed according to local ideas of fairness.
Russian reality
The question naturally arises: is Russia a social state? Despite the fact that social priority in politics has been legislated in the country since 1993, there are still doubts about the reality of this declaration. Social protection institutions exist in Russia, but the gap between rich and poor is too large, and the healthcare and education systems are far from the high standards of civilized countries. Therefore, it is not yet possible to say with certainty: Russia is a social state.
Difficulties in building a social state
The social development of the state faces many problems, the main of which are:
- Instability of the world economy. Crises recent years showed that not all states can afford social orientation due to falling incomes.
- Ignorance of citizens. The welfare state is faced with the fact that some segments of the population turn into dependents and strive to receive benefits without giving anything. This problem is especially exposed by the migration crisis in Europe, when thousands and millions of citizens begin to apply for benefits and the state is not able to provide for everyone with dignity.
Thus, the social state and society have not yet become the dominant type in the world order.
Criticism of the welfare state
The concept of a social state has many opponents and critics, who have become much more numerous due to the protracted financial and political crises. The population of European countries is accustomed to receiving more than giving, which leads to an increase in social discontent, especially in a situation of lack of resources to fulfill social guarantees. Critics say that today the concept of a welfare state, if not outdated, then requires significant revision.
Welfare state(welfare state, general welfare state) is a political system in which every citizen is guaranteed a decent standard of living and a wide range of social benefits: employment, housing, health care, education, pension, etc.
Signs of a welfare state.
The formation of a welfare state is not only an economic and political process, but also a moral process that requires a “human” dimension.
1. Democratic organization state power.
2. High moral level of citizens and, above all, - officials states.
3. Powerful economic potential, allowing for the implementation of measures for the redistribution of income without significantly infringing on the position of the owners.
4. Socially oriented structure of the economy, which is manifested in the existence various forms property with a significant share of state ownership in the necessary areas of the economy.
5. Legal development of the state, the presence of the qualities of a rule-of-law state.
6. Existence civil society, in whose hands the state acts as an instrument for carrying out socially oriented policies.
7. A clearly expressed social orientation of the state policy, which is manifested in the development of various social programs and the priority of their implementation.
8. The state has such goals as establishing the common good, establishing social justice in society, providing each citizen with:
a) decent living conditions;
b) social security;
c) equal starting opportunities for personal self-realization.
9. Availability of developed social legislation (legislation on social protection of the population, for example the Code social laws, as is the case in Germany).
10. Consolidation of the “welfare state” formula in the country’s constitution.
Functions of the welfare state.
When talking about the functions of the welfare state, the following circumstances should be kept in mind:
a) it has all the traditional functions determined by its nature as a state as such;
c) within the framework of the general social function, specific areas of activity of the social state can be identified - specific functions.
The latter, in particular, include:
1. Support for socially vulnerable categories of the population;
2. Occupational safety and health;
3. Support for family, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood;
4. Smoothing social inequality by redistributing income between different social strata through taxation, the state budget, and special social programs;
5. Encouragement of charitable activities (in particular, by providing tax benefits to business structures carrying out charitable activities);
6. Financing and support of fundamental scientific research and cultural programs;
7. Combating unemployment, ensuring employment of the population, paying unemployment benefits;
8. Finding a balance between a free market economy and the state’s influence on its development in order to ensure a decent life for all citizens;
9. Participation in the implementation of interstate environmental, cultural and social programs, solving universal human problems;
10. Concern for maintaining peace in society.
Types of welfare state:
Primary welfare state;
State Social Services;
Social Welfare State;
Social state.
Periodization of the development of the social state:
The first stage (from the 70s of the 19th century to the 30s of the 20th century) is socialist;
The second stage (from the 30s of the twentieth century to the end of the 40s) - a legal social state;
The third stage (from the late 40s to the 60s of the twentieth century) - the state of social services;
The fourth stage (from the late 50s to the mid-80s) is the welfare state;
The fifth stage (from the early 80s to the mid-90s) - destruction and crisis of the welfare state;
The sixth stage (from the mid-90s of the twentieth century to the present) is a liberal social state.
The first type of welfare state is the primary welfare state was associated with the emergence of the state functions of social security, social protection, public health care and education based on the prevalence of these functions for everyone, their legal basis, the availability of a social budget and specialized social structures. This type corresponds to the first (“socialist”) and second (“legal”) stages of development of the social state . This is the first form of a social state, in which the presence of a legal framework, a social budget and specialized social structures gives rise to specific functions that are not characteristic of other states.
At the third stage of development, designated as state social services, there is a transition of the state to active social policy, expressed in the emergence of such functions as the provision of social services and employment.
For the second type of state - the state of social services It is characteristic not only to satisfy individual social needs for social protection, to minimize social risks, etc., but also to an active social policy of creating a socially comfortable living environment, satisfying social needs not regulated by the market, and creating benefits for the entire state.
The state becomes the subject of satisfying human social needs, a state that serves society and the individual. To the state of social services today include many countries in Europe and America and some countries in Asia and Africa. They are characterized by the presence of the entire complex of functions of the primary social state, the provision of social services by the state, efforts to ensure full employment and active (preventive) social policy.
The third type is the welfare state.
The acceptance by the state of responsibility for the level of well-being of all citizens, the desire to achieve equality in a high standard of living determine the emergence of such functions as state regulation and the necessary replenishment from the budget of insurance funds, provision of social assistance in case of insured events, protection from non-insurance risks, total redistribution of income, stimulation of the social orientation of the economy.
The last identified stage of development of the social state was designated as the stage of the liberal social state, and the transition to this stage was due to the ineffectiveness of the mechanisms social insurance and as a consequence, the destruction of the principle of solidarity, technological progress and contradictions between market and state regulation of the economy. Main feature This stage is the emergence of the function of carrying out social policy in the welfare state.
Fourth Type of Welfare State, formed at this level, contains all the signs of such a state and can be designated as the actual social state. Only in such a state do social goals and mechanisms for achieving them coincide, the basic principles of a social state are developed, its main functions are realized, and the forced contradictions existing in previous, transitional forms are removed.
Modern ideas about the essence and policy of the welfare state. Liberal, corporate, public (social democratic) model of a welfare state. Civil society and its relationship with the social state: lessons from developed countries.
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1. Socialstate:conditionsemergenceAndstagesdevelopment
A social state is a higher level of statehood. Based on the term, it can be defined as a state that serves the interests of society. Today, the Scandinavian countries, more than others, embody in practice the model of the state that was discussed.
The first thing that comes to the mind of an ordinary citizen when the term “welfare state” is mentioned is the social protection of such categories of citizens as pensioners, disabled people, and the poor. Powerful social protection is possible only when there is the necessary material potential for this. That is why, among the characteristics of a social state, first place should be given to those that relate to citizens who create the wealth of society, namely those who are able to work.
The idea of social statehood was formed at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. the result of objective socio-economic processes occurring in the life of bourgeois society, when two of its most important principles came into conflict - the principle of freedom and the principle of equality. Theoretically, two approaches to the relationship between these principles have emerged. Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Benjamin Constant, John Locke and others defended the theory of individual human freedom, charging the state with the primary duty of protecting this freedom from any interference, including the interference of the state itself. At the same time, they understood that such freedom would ultimately lead to inequality, but they considered freedom to be the highest value.
Another approach is personified by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who, without denying the importance of individual freedom, believed that everything should be subordinated to the principle of equality, which is the task of the state to ensure.
The principle of individual freedom, which liberated the initiative and initiative of people, contributed to the development of private entrepreneurship and a market economy, thus had an economic basis during the period of consolidation of the economic power of bourgeois states. However, by the end of the 19th century. As wealth developed and accumulated, the property stratification of bourgeois society began to occur, its polarization, fraught with a social explosion. And in this situation, the principle of individual freedom lost its relevance and gave way to the principle of social equality, requiring the state to move from the role of a “night watchman” to active intervention in the socio-economic sphere. It is in such a historical and political situation that the concept of a social state and an understanding of its special qualities and functions begin to take shape.
Subsequently, the idea of a social state begins to receive increasing recognition and is embodied in the practice and constitutions of modern states. The state was first called social in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. One way or another, the principle of sociality is expressed in the constitutions of France, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, Spain, Greece, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Japan and other states. The teachings of the English economist J. Keynes were of great importance for the theory and practice of the social state, under the influence of whose views the concept of a welfare state was formed, based on the increase in the social function of the state.
It should be noted that undoubtedly the catalyst for the development of the idea of a social state and its implementation in the West was the emergence of the Soviet state, which constantly declared in its Constitutions and other legislative acts the social orientation of its policies. And, although the political theory and declarations of socialism were in conflict with the realities of the absence of democracy, civil society, the rule of law and private property as economic basis these institutions, one cannot deny the real achievements in the social policy of socialist states. Of course, in the above-mentioned socio-economic conditions, the socially oriented activities of the socialist state could only have a paternalistic (paternalistic) character associated with the establishment of wretched equality.
Stages of development:
the first stage (from the 70s of the 19th century to the 30s of the 20th century) - socialist;
the second stage (from the 30s to the end of the 40s of the twentieth century) - a legal social state;
the third stage (from the late 40s to the 60s of the twentieth century) - the state of social services;
the third stage (from the late 50s to the mid-80s of the twentieth century) - the welfare state;
fifth stage (from the early 80s to the mid-90s of the twentieth century) - destruction and crisis of the welfare state;
sixth stage (from the mid-90s of the twentieth century to the present) - a liberal social state.
2. ModernrepresentationOWithfeatures of the welfare state
Essence is the main thing, the main thing in a concept or phenomenon. To reveal the essence of the state means to identify the main thing that determines its objective necessity in society, to understand why society cannot exist and develop without the state. The essence of the state is the main thing in this phenomenon that determines its content, goals, and functions. And such a fundamental thing is power, its affiliation.
There are two main approaches to the essence of the state:
class;
general social.
With the class approach, the state can be viewed as an organization of political power of the ruling class, in which class contradictions arise and are resolved through violence. The class essence of the state is clearly expressed in non-democratic, dictatorial states.
In the general social approach, the state is viewed as an organization of political power. In developed democratic countries, the state is an effective mechanism for eliminating social contradictions by achieving public compromise. In them, the class essence recedes into the background.
When considering the state in development, a pattern of gradual transition from the class essence of the state to the social one can be traced.
Along with these two approaches to the essence of the state, one can also distinguish national, religious, racial, etc. Depending on various conditions one or another interest may dominate.
Many scientists have interpreted the essence of the state in different ways. Some believed that the state is a political phenomenon inherent in any class society.
Some scientists reduced the essence of the state to a type of governing body of society.
IN modern period There is a widespread point of view that the state is a social organism, a political way of existence of civil society.
One of important reasons the emergence of the state, there was a need to consolidate and protect forms of property, primarily those means of production and wealth that appeared in a small but very influential part of society.
In modern civilized societies, there is a narrowing of the coercive functions of the state, expansion and enrichment of social functions, which brings the state closer to developing into an organization of the entire society, into a completely legal state (for example, in some advanced Western countries).
Based on the above, when defining the concept of a state, it is necessary to take into account both class elements and corresponding characteristics, as well as universal, non-class features and characteristics.
The fundamental significance of the essence of the state is that:
~ this territorial organization of people;
~ it overcomes tribal (“blood”) relationships and replaces them with public relations;
~ a structure is created that is neutral to national, religious and social characteristics of people.
Socialappointmentstates
It is important to understand the essence of the state to understand its goals, objectives and social purpose. Plato and Aristotle believed that the state exists for the sake of establishing moral standards, achieving the common good of people and justice. Plato believed that the state creates the needs of people and it is useful. According to Aristotle, the state is the political communication of citizens. It ensures a life in accordance with virtue. Modern Western political scientists believe that the state exists for the sake of creating a variety of social benefits for all members of society and the fair distribution of these benefits (Rostow et al.). All this captures only certain aspects social essence states. The main thing in the social essence of the state is that it is an organizational form of society, its unity and functioning on generally recognized principles and norms.
3. Principlessociallyth states and their rationale
A social state is a legal one Democratic state, which proclaims the highest value of a person and creates conditions for ensuring a decent life, free development and self-realization of the creative (labor) potential of the individual. A person’s decent life is understood as his material security at the level of the standards of a modern developed society,...
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SG is a state whose policy ensures the welfare of all members
society (Kholostova).
SG is a legal, democratic state whose policy is aimed at
self-development and self-realization of all members of society, ensuring social
justice and social protection that minimizes social risks,
ensures the full realization of human rights and freedoms.
Areas of activity of the SG: Social protection, Social security,
Social insurance.
Signs of SG: Legal basis of SG, Availability of a social insurance system,
Availability of a system of budget and social payments, Availability state system
social protection, social security, employment, Provision
social support for all those in need, without exception, Acceptance by the state for
themselves responsible for ensuring (the level of) well-being of citizens, Availability of a system
institutions of civil society.
Functions of the SG (these are the areas that the state implements): Providing
employment and constant growth of incomes of the population, Providing social insurance
for all citizens, Ensuring access to education, healthcare, spiritual
cultural development, Social protection of the population (system of measures and institutions for
realization of the rights of the needy segments of the population), Provision of social services,
Smoothing social inequality, creating favorable conditions affordable
distribution of benefits, Creating conditions for upward social mobility.
SG principles: Priority of human rights and freedoms; Solidarity (any members
of any society are interconnected, responsible for each other, therefore
solve social risks better with common effort, that is, various unions
and organizations); Subsidiarity = support (the state takes responsibility
for creating favorable conditions for citizens, for social protection and support, for
a means of unions and associations, people are an active subject).
Methods, means of implementing the functions of the SG: Creation legislative framework,
contributing to the solution of social problems; Mandatory preliminary scientific
and public examination of laws and other regulations for their compliance
social requirements; Strengthening public control over the activities of all
government agencies related to solving social problems; Active
activities of trade unions to ensure compliance labor legislation; Activation
economic behavior of people, through providing employment, promoting
employment and entrepreneurship; Organization of the public service system
social work and assistance that are designed to adapt people to new market conditions
conditions.
The concept of “welfare state” was introduced into scientific circulation by Lorenz von Stein
in 1850. He noted that the welfare state must “maintain absolute
equality in rights for all different social classes, for individual private
self-determining personality through its power. It must contribute
economic and social progress of all its citizens, because ultimately
the development of one acts as a condition for the development of the other, and it is in this sense that it is said
about the social state."
6 main stages of SG development:
1. 70s of the 19th century to the 30s of the 20th century. Socialist stage: state paternalism, its
The goal is to create absolute equality. The state is the main guarantor of welfare
2. 30s to 40s 20th century. Social-legal state: formation of legislative
bases in the social sphere (social insurance, pension insurance, and accidents). Statement of the legal nature of the SG, that is, the formation
social regulatory framework. In 1930, G. Geller introduced the concept of “social
constitutional state"
Which emphasizes the citizen's right to social guarantees
from the state.
3. 1940-1960 stage of social services, associated with the implementation by the state
fundamentally new social functions (employment provision, social
patronage, formation of a living environment for people with disabilities, rehabilitation programs for
individual social groups). Transition from passive measures to active social
politics.
4. Late 50s to mid 80s 20th century. Welfare state stage.
The principle of solidarity. The social risk insurance system is almost completely
compensated for the uncertainty of the future. Welfare State
the best way ensured the cohesion of society and the implementation of basic
social principles. Taking on a new one compared to the previous period
the function of ensuring a high standard of living for all members of society, the state has done
this function is dominant.
5. Beginning of the 80s to the mid-90s of the 20th century. The stage of crisis of the universal state
well-being (destruction stage). Complete denial of the principle of solidarity
social insurance, therefore each individual must independently
minimize the consequences of social risk.
6. Mid-90s to present. Liberal welfare state.
Complete refusal from state paternalism in the social sphere, inclusion of others
subjects in solving social problems. Preventing and eliminating dependency.
The transition to a market economy is a complex process, and the SG is designed to smooth it out.
Paternalism is a state policy towards its citizens, aimed at
comprehensive development and well-being of all citizens. System of additional benefits,
subsidies and payments at enterprises at the expense of entrepreneurs in order to consolidate
personnel, increasing productivity, mitigating tension.
The Constitution of the Russian Federation proclaims the priority of the interests of the individual over the state,
the highest value is the person, his rights and freedoms, and Russia is defined as
social state, whose task is to create conditions that ensure
decent life And free development person.
Prerequisites for the development of SG in the Russian Federation: The experience of many European countries that have embarked on
SG path and already had good results(Germany); Many international documents
which the Russian Federation ratified, required the creation of conditions for the implementation of rights and freedoms
citizens (universal declaration of human rights, pact on social, economic,
cultural human rights, etc.).
The concept of social statehood emerges at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. It is worth noting that it means the emergence of new qualities that the liberal legal state did not have. What are the reasons for such an enrichment of its properties? Was this a denial of the most important principles of the rule of law, or was the emergence of social functions a new stage in its development in changed historical conditions?
The formation of the rule of law is one of the great achievements of human civilization, inextricably linked with the emergence of the “first generation” of human rights - civil and political. At the same time, an important property of a developed state that recognizes the equality of individuals will be its dynamism and ability to respond to problems arising in society. New processes in the sphere of economic, political, moral relations require a search for new parameters of the relationship between the state and the individual.
The question of the relationship between the state and the individual in the conditions of a free market economy was initially at the center of the confrontation between representatives of various currents of economic and political-legal thought of bourgeois society, since it affected its most important principles - freedom and equality. As is known, two approaches to the problem have emerged: the priority of equality and the priority of freedom. Proponents of the theory of individual human body put it above equality. It is worth noting that they considered the main duty of the state to guarantee this freedom from anyone, incl. and against his intervention, economic freedom was valued above all else, and political rights were considered exclusively as a means of protecting the independence and individual freedom of the individual. Proponents of this approach (A. Smith, S. Mill, B. Constant, D. Locke and others) understood that such freedom ultimately gives rise to inequality, that equality and freedom can contradict each other, but they considered freedom to be the highest value, ensuring the development of individuality and diversity of personality, eliminating the “similarity” of people to each other. The main condition for ensuring such a “negative” flow is state non-interference, distancing the state from the economy.
Along with this, a theory arose that did not deny the importance of individual freedom, but sought to combine it with the participation of the state in ensuring the equality of individuals.
It is worth noting that the founder of this concept was Rousseau, who believed that everything should be subordinated to the principle of equality, including power, whose task is to ensure equality. In this approach, not only a negative understanding of freedom (from state intervention) clearly emerges, but also its positive understanding as the right of a citizen to count on certain actions of the state.
The liberation of individuals from the strict tutelage of the state developed the initiative and initiative of people, contributed to the development of private entrepreneurship and a market economy, ensured the rapid development of productive forces, the creation of new technologies and, ultimately, the growth of national wealth, strengthening the economic power of bourgeois states. Everything confirmed the high value of classical liberalism of the 18th century. with his ideas of freedom and the principle of laissez-faire.
Moreover, already at the end of the 19th century. Negative consequences were also clearly revealed, which were the result of the implementation of the ideas of liberalism and individualism, the principle of “negative” freedom, “freedom” (any intervention, influence, etc.)
During this period, class contradictions in society began to become more and more pronounced, a sharp polarization between wealth and poverty, which could lead to a social explosion. Individualism, which occupied such a prominent place in the doctrines of classical liberalism, began to reveal “selfishness and narcissism” (F. Hayek). This largely contradicted the original meaning that was given to this concept by liberal doctrines. In the interpretation of representatives of liberal movements, individualism was associated primarily with highly appreciated identity of the individual. “The main features of individualism... were respect for the individual as such, that is, recognition of the absolute priority of the views and preferences of each person in his own sphere of activity, no matter how narrow it may be, as well as the belief in the desirability of developing individual talents and inclinations”1. According to F. Hayek, a consistent supporter of liberal market concepts, it is precisely this kind of individualism, which grew out of elements of Christianity and ancient philosophy, first fully formed during the Renaissance, grew into Western European civilization.
As bourgeois society developed, the concept of individualism became impoverished and became associated with willfulness and selfishness. Hyperbolization of individual needs and preferences invariably leads to moral and social deformations of society, sharp opposition and confrontation of interests of its various layers and groups. The sense of their interconnectedness, responsibility and solidarity disappears.
The crisis of the ideas of extreme individualism and classical liberalism began to be felt by representatives of liberal movements already at the end of the 19th and especially at the beginning of the 20th century. The increase in contradictions and tension in society determined the need for new ways for the state to respond to the emerging situation, the purpose of which was to prevent social cataclysms. The preconditions for social tension were formed under the influence not only of the sharp polarization of society and the increasing degree of actual inequality of people, but also of the widely disseminated and recognized Marxist doctrine, which oriented toward a socialist revolution, the overthrow of the bourgeois system and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Sensitively capturing these processes, neoliberal theorists put forward a new, “positive” understanding of freedom, meaning the state’s obligation to provide socially oriented policies and level out “social inequalities.” The new, “positive” understanding of the law represented, according to P. Novgorodtsev, “a whole revolution of concepts, which marks a new stage in the development of the rule of law”2. Setting up a socially oriented policy implied:
1Haisk F.A. Road to slavery // New world. 1991. No. 7. P. 183. 2 Novgorodtsev P. The crisis of modern legal consciousness. M., 1909. P. 340.
the increasing role of the state in influencing economic processes;
"the derogation of the individualistic doctrine" and the duty of rulers to use "the greatest power at their disposal for the cause of social interdependence. It is worth noting that they must not only abstain; they must act, and this duty is translated into a legal duty to provide training and guarantee labor"1;
an attempt at a “moral dimension” of economic processes, based on the desire to eliminate poverty and inequality, to establish social justice;
determination of the main vectors of social reform of society, which was created by the “second generation” of human rights - social, economic and cultural.
Based on all of the above, we come to the conclusion that new parameters were being established for the relationship between the state and the individual, related to the obligation of the state to take measures to help ensure the “new generation” of human morality. This is how the idea of a social state arises, which received widespread development and recognition in the second half of the 20th century.
At the same time, this idea has met and continues to meet sharp opposition not only from conservatives, but also among scientists and politicians of old liberalism. The social functions of the state, according to supporters of unlimited economic freedom, lead to a violation of the “fairness” of the free market, limit the rights of the individual, and create a layer of passive people who rely on the help of the state and do not want to actively participate in the competition of the free market. The market itself will be a way to establish true justice in relations in society, ensuring freedom and autonomy of the individual. The social orientation of the state is an attempt on freedom, since it inevitably entails its intervention in the economic sphere, a retreat from the foundations that were laid by bourgeois revolutions.
The movement that defended the need to “even out social inequalities” was, according to P. Novgorodtsev, the result of the collapse of old liberalism, which did not recognize any other equality other than formal legal equality, and proposed to transform the idea of freedom under the influence of the idea of equality.
1 Digi L. Social law, individual law and the transformation of the state. M., 1909. P. 72.
For the first time, Russian liberal thinkers V. Solovyov and P. Novgorodtsev put forward the idea of a human right to a decent human existence, the implementation of which was associated with the implementation of social reforms1.
Marxism actively joined the debate going on in the sphere of bourgeois liberals (classical and new) and conservatives, using for these purposes arguments that sharply do not coincide with either supporters or opponents of the reforms of bourgeois political and economic thought. At the heart of the struggle of Marxism with reformism was the idea that it was impossible to improve the situation of the working people while maintaining the bourgeois system. Marxism recognized the importance of the struggle of the working class in a capitalist society for democratic and economic transformations, but warned that such a struggle must prepare the ground for the proletarian revolution and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, since reforms within the framework of the bourgeois system cannot significantly change the situation of the working people.
History has refuted Marxist ideas to establish universal equality and justice through revolutionary violence. At the same time, in the modern world there is a polarization of opinions regarding whether the state should eliminate injustices generated by market relations, level out social inequalities that inevitably arise in the elements of the market, strive to establish justice through the implementation of social programs, optimal taxation, and distribution mechanisms.
1Novgorodtsev P. Decree. op. pp. 310-353.
Many bourgeois scientists, for example F. Hayek, M. Friedman, consider any state intervention in market relations in the name of justice and equality unacceptable, since it contradicts the principles and structures of the free market. Another modern trend - new egalitarianism - has clearly outlined a tendency towards equalizing the social status of people (J. Rawls, K. Jenkins) and mitigating social inequalities. “The “new egalitarianism” represents a kind of antipode to conservative models of capitalist development, so it is no coincidence that the most prominent American neoconservatives actively engaged in polemics with it”1.
These positions of bourgeois scientists go beyond the boundaries of purely scientific polemics; they directly influence the policies of states and the degree of their social orientation. Despite the opposition to the ideas of a social state on the part of representatives of conservative, monetarist concepts, the idea of a social state is becoming increasingly recognized, embodied in practice and enshrined in the constitutions of modern states.
In this regard, the experience of the Federal Republic of Germany is interesting, which constitutionally proclaimed itself a social legal state. His social functions began to take shape already in the first post-war years, when the institutional structures of the Bismarckian Empire period were borrowed. This concerned relations in the field of health care and housing.
It is worth noting that special mention should be made of the pension reform of 1957, which “is rightly considered a great socio-political act”2.
The principle of a welfare state is expressed in one form or another in the Constitutions of France, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, Spain, Greece, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and other states. It is worth noting that it is inextricably linked with social, economic and cultural rights. Moreover, regardless of whether they are enshrined in the constitution or not, developed states Western world cannot deny the importance of this category of rights, which are embodied in the most important international legal acts - the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The key principle of social and economic rights, around which their entire system is built, will be the provision formulated in paragraph 1 of Art. 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “It is worth saying that everyone has the right to such a standard of living as is necessary for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social services, and the rights security in case of unemployment, illness, disability, widowhood, old age or other loss of livelihood due to circumstances beyond one’s control.” This principle is developed in paragraph 1 of Art. 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It is worth noting that it obliges states to socially orient their activities, to ensure the “second generation” of human rights, without which at the end of the 20th century. normal development of society is impossible.
1 Maltsev G.V. Bourgeois egalitarianism. M., 1984. P. 186. 2 Wolmann G. How to explain the stability of the economic and political development of the Federal Republic of Germany // State and Law. 1992 No. 11. P. 134.
Among the socio-economic and cultural rights are the right to work, to fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value; working conditions that meet safety and hygiene requirements; the right to rest, leisure, reasonable limitation of working hours and paid periodic leave; right to social Security, including social insurance; the right to protection of family, motherhood and childhood; right to education; right to participate in cultural life; the right to use cultural achievements and a number of others. A simple list of second generation rights shows that their implementation is impossible without the active assistance of the state, and this is clearly stated in paragraph 1 of Art. 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: “It is worth saying that each State party to the present Covenant undertakes, individually and through international assistance and cooperation, in particular in the economic and technical fields, to accept maximum limits available resources, measures to ensure progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including, in particular, the adoption of legislative measures."
Based on all of the above, we come to the conclusion that the issue of the need for a socially oriented state and the gradual guarantee of the rights of the second generation is recognized international community. At the same time, not all states can actually protect all the most important rights of this group today. The main reason is the state of the country's economy. After all, the social function can be carried out in full only at a high level of economic development, which allows for the reasonable redistribution of funds and resources, preserving the integrity of market relations and entrepreneurship.
And here an important problem arises: how to determine the limits of state intervention in the economy so that it does not become a brake on its development, on the one hand, and ensure social protection of citizens, on the other. The complexity of this problem is due to the fact that the solution social issues requires an increase in production, "accumulation national wealth". “The very idea of major social reforms,” said P. Novgorodtsev, “could only appear in connection with the accumulation of national wealth, and without its progressive growth, social conditions cannot develop successfully.”1 Therefore, not only state measures for stimulating production, ensuring its continuous growth (such measures can and do lead to the accumulation of enormous wealth in the hands of a relatively small part of society), but also a flexible tax policy of the state, its managerial role, which could ensure a decent position for all segments of society. , we cannot talk about complete material equality; we need to search for ways that exclude mass impoverishment and ensure a continuous rise in the material level of all citizens.
In the practice of modern states, even highly developed ones, there are great difficulties associated with ensuring socio-economic and cultural rights. Suffice it to remember that in the conditions of private enterprise, in which the state does not dispose of labor resources, unemployment is inevitable. Therefore, the task of the state is to minimize its adverse consequences, achieve employment growth, and pay unemployment benefits.
It is worth noting that the implementation of any of the above rights requires constant attention and assistance from the state, but resolving these issues is extremely difficult. Therefore, the ideas of social statehood and the guarantee of socio-economic and cultural rights require long-term social programs and constant efforts of the state.
The formation of social statehood is a constant and continuous process, requiring a response to newly emerging situations in the economy, politics, and morality.
1Novgorodtsev P. Decree. op. P. 342.
The state's capabilities in carrying out social reforms are not unlimited. It is important to note that some social problems are too complex to be solved by legislation, others are too subtle and elusive, and still others depend too much on moral reasons.
The difficulties facing a socially oriented state are related to the fact that it must maintain a balance between a free economy and certain ways of influencing distribution processes in the spirit of justice, “evening out social inequalities.” Refusing the role of a “night watchman” and striving to provide all citizens with a decent standard of living, the state should not cross the line at which rude interference begins? ;in the economy, suppression of initiative and ϲʙᴏrestraint of entrepreneurship. Showing concern for improving the social status of citizens, it is extremely important for the state to observe measures that would prevent the individual from being freed from personal responsibility for their fate and the fate of their loved ones. In an effort to create a “welfare society,” the state cannot use administrative-command means. His task is to apply such economic methods, such as flexible taxation, budget, creation of social programs.
The experience of the development of social states in the West shows how difficult it is to achieve a balance between market economy and the impact of the state on the economy. Ensuring high social spending associated with increased taxation, which over time becomes a brake on the development of production. Under these conditions, the government is forced to temporarily reduce social programs. Then comes a period that requires an increase in social spending due to the growing insecurity of part of society.
The search for such a balance, which would allow combining the continuous growth of national wealth, the development of production with the expansion of the social function of the state, is one of the most important areas of social thought at the end of the 20th century, when new situations and humanitarian ideals cannot find support in pre-existing doctrines. Hence the extraordinary interest in this problem in modern science, where, along with a commitment to conservative concepts of relations between the state and the citizen in market conditions, approaches based on liberal aspirations to establish the principles of justice in society are clearly identified. The latter put forward a theoretical justification for the course of social reforms, social programs of the state, which would contribute to the humanization of life in modern bourgeois states.
Note that J. Rawls's theory of justice has attracted the greatest attention in modern foreign science. “She defends the idea of a “welfare state”, ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙnew prospects and social policy based on the redistribution of income, their equalization as much as possible, by means that are accepted by people consciously and voluntarily as a result of general consent, an agreement”1.
Let us note that conservative theorists, who deny the possibility of government intervention in the redistribution of income, accuse Rawls of being utopian and moralizing. It is important to note that, however, despite all this, the moral thrust of his theory of “justice as fairness” cannot be underestimated. It is worth noting that it focuses on a civilized solution to problems of inequality, appealing to the ideas of humanity and solidarity of members of society. The search for such ways to establish justice has a long tradition. One can recall the theory of social solidarity of Leon Duguit, who already at the beginning of the century believed that the time had come for a flexible and humane political system that protects the individual. This system must rest on two elements: the concept social norm, based on the fact of interdependence connecting members of humanity and, in particular, members of one social group, a norm binding on everyone, weak and strong, large and small, ruling and governed, as well as on the federalism of classes organized into syndicates that will be united with a central authority that has functions not related to control and supervision, but has positive responsibilities related to the provision of assistance, training, and unemployment insurance2.
1 A comprehensive analysis of the concept of J. Rawls is contained in: Malyshe G.V. Bourgeois egalitarianism. pp. 184-214.
2 See: Dyush L. Social law, individual law and transformation of the state. P. 72.
Let us note the fact that in modern conditions The question of the social role of the state is not only political, legal, but also moral. It is impossible to reduce all problems of relations between the state and the citizen to formal legal aspects.
The desire for a moral dimension to situations arising as a result of the laws of the market was characteristic of liberal theories that tried to orient society towards solidarity and interconnection. P. Novgorodtsev criticized the position according to which freedom is liberation not only from material, but also from moral bonds, and noted the importance of such a new principle as solidarity, which should complement the principles of equality and freedom1. A socially oriented state cannot completely distance itself from influencing the economy; its invasion into those areas that were previously outside the scope of its activities is inevitable.
As G. Wohlmann correctly notes, a high level of social security for citizens requires “more government”2.
Doesn’t the growing role of the state come into conflict with the original concept of the rule of law as an entity removed from the economy and limited to the role of a “night watchman”, endowed with exclusively protective functions in relation to the individual’s life? Wouldn't the emergence of social functions of the state, which streamline economic relations in order to eliminate sharp inequalities, deny the very essence of the rule of law?
In our opinion, when answering these questions, one should proceed from the essence of the rule of law in the unity of all its features - the priority of human rights, the construction of state and public life on the principles of law, separation of powers, mutual responsibility of the individual and the state. The “new generation” of human rights is included in the state’s system of priorities, obliging it to take measures to ensure these rights and influence economic processes based on the principles of law. The enrichment of the catalog of human rights gives impetus to the development of new functions of the state, new directions of its activities. The material was published on http://site
This is the priority of human rights as a system-forming feature of a legal and social state, as the main guideline of its activities. The material was published on http://site
Social reform is a new stage in the development of the rule of law, the desire to overcome the sharp polarization of various layers of society, to humanize social conditions of life.
1See: Novgorodtsev P. Decree. op. P. 373.
2 Wohlmann G. How to explain the stability of the political and economic development of the Federal Republic of Germany // State and Law. 1992. No. 11. P. 134.
It should be emphasized that social activities state (albeit to a limited extent) began much earlier than the emergence of the concepts of “welfare state” and “welfare state”. This is rightly noted by E. Schmidt-Asman: “The actual practice of the state in the 19th century was less restrained than its model required. In everyday life management activities the liberal rule of law did not discard the traditions of the welfare state; Here, too, new tasks for regulating social processes were put forward and set, for example, in urban planning or pension provision"1.
Therefore, a legal and social state are not antitheses, but a dialectic of the development of a state that recognizes the priority of human rights and determines, in harmony with the data, the forms and methods of its activities. The material was published on http://site
The formation of a welfare state is a long process, very complex and contradictory. Those who have already formed and entered into help keep it within certain boundaries, without infringing on the rights of some and without removing responsibility for their fate from others. real practice principles of the rule of law.
The initial stage of development of the social state is the responsibility for providing every citizen with a living wage. Thus, in Germany, legislation on the poor began in the mid-18th century. obliged communities to provide all great help those in need. In the 19th century this responsibility has moved from the municipal level to the national level2. The Code of Social Laws of the Federal Republic of Germany states that everyone who is unable to independently earn their own means of subsistence and does not receive any outside help has the right to personal and material support, which meets his specific needs, encourages self-help, ensures participation in public life, and guarantees an existence worthy of a person.
1 State law Germany. Volume. 1. P. 59. 2 See ibid. P. 67.
The state's obligation to provide a decent standard of living to everyone is practically translated into high levels of social spending in developed modern states. The share of social spending in Sweden is 1/3 of GNP, in Germany and Italy - 1/4, in the USA and Great Britain - 1/5. This level of spending, which allows for the implementation of social security, additional unemployment benefits, the right to education, housing, access to cultural values, must be based on a highly developed economy, the principles of law and justice, the desire to harmonize social relations and eliminate sharp inequalities. Moreover, even these conditions do not ensure the social well-being of all citizens. The development of the social state is not unilinear forward movement, but a complex and contradictory process, in which there are successes and failures, ups and downs. The level of sociality of the state is significantly influenced by the political orientation of governments (social democrats, conservatives), the balance of forces political elites society.
Based on the above, we can conclude that the basic principles of the social state are human dignity, justice, responsibility, overcoming actual inequality in order to eliminate sharp differences in the material status of individuals. The path to the implementation of these principles, as already noted, is long and, in fact, never-ending. P. Novgorodtsev narrated that, entrusting itself with the “noble mission of public service,” the state is faced with the need for reforms, which “are partly feasible immediately, but otherwise are either not feasible at all, or feasible only in the distant future and, generally speaking, immeasurable.” in this further development and complications"1.
1Novgorodtsev P. Decree op. P. 340.
The reasons for these difficulties are not only in the degree of economic development, but also in the eternal confrontation between the principles of freedom and equality. It is worth saying that complete harmonization of these principles is practically impossible. The condition for their implementation is a strictly balanced restriction of the freedom of economic activity (primarily by economic rather than legal methods) and the desire for a constant increase in people's living standards, with the understanding that absolute de facto equality is unattainable. This will be a consequence of the difference between people - their abilities, talents, initiative, hard work, physical and mental condition. Therefore, the goal of the social state is not to eliminate, but to “even out” inequality, overcome sharp differences in property status, and increase social status individual to provide all members of society with a decent standard of living.
At the same time, no matter how complex the role of the welfare state in modern society is, without it it is impossible to implement not only economic, social and cultural rights, but also the rights of the first generation - political and personal. When the social side of people’s lives is insecure, the entire structure of human rights and rights is deformed: political activity decreases, distrust in the state increases, legal guarantees of rights and rights (for example, the right to defense) are not always available. Social insecurity is often generated by the lack of basic civil (personal) rights - private property rights. Problems of material support often play a decisive role during elections to representative bodies, in the pre-election struggle for the presidency, etc. Therefore, a social state, whose task is to create conditions and responsibility for the implementation of the “second generation” of human rights, has the most direct impact impact on the implementation of the entire complex of human rights and freedoms.
The social state and the market economy must overcome antagonisms in the process of interaction. The concept of a socially oriented market economy is and will continue to receive increasing recognition and dissemination. This is the inevitable way to humanize public life, reduce confrontation in society, form the solidarity of fellow citizens, and improve the morality of all social groups and individuals. Modern states must not only protect freedom, but also take into account the irresistible desire of people for equality, which arose in ancient times and is indestructible by any laws of a market economy.
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