A Social State in the Countries of Central Eastern Europe and in Ukraine: Economic and Political Factors

Abstract

The subject of the research is the economic and political factors of the welfare state in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and in Ukraine. Methodology. The work used a comparative approach, which made it possible to study the development of social states in Central and Eastern Europe, in Ukraine, to identify their similarities and differences. The institutional approach made it possible to consider the problem as a multidimensional socio-political phenomenon, to highlight functionally and systemically important elements and to study their mutual influence. Results. The purpose of the article is to analyze the prospects of the welfare state in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Ukraine, the influence of political and economic factors on its development. To achieve this goal, the following research tasks were set: to consider the issue of the influence of democracy on economic and social development; analyze the role of the state in socio-economic processes; to study the experience of socio-economic reforms in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which began their reforms almost simultaneously with Ukraine, and to find out why the success of their reforms is much higher than those achieved in Ukraine; clarify the reasons for the failure of reforms in Ukraine. It is shown that democracy does not affect economic growth; at the same time, democracy is the guardian of economic and social stability. It is substantiated that the welfare state provides citizens with protection that they will never receive from the state: the “night watchman”. As world experience has shown, the market does not guarantee the protection of the economy from crises and is not a panacea for eliminating the consequences. Sometimes, the market can even pose a threat to society, for example in the field of ecology. Thus, the actions of market forces and the interests of society do not always coincide. It is argued that the idea of a stable causal relationship between the reduction in the state’s participation in the redistribution of national income and an increase in economic growth is erroneous. Failures of economic and social reforms in Ukraine are explained by the fact that their liberal version was chosen, the consequences of which can be characterized as catastrophic. The low level of professionalism of reformers and corruption also played a negative role.