Role of State and Welfare State: From Commons, Keynes to Esping-Andersen

Abstract

The welfare state system is a popular economic system nowadays. At least more than fifteen countries have the characteristics of a welfare state economic system with their respective character and features. Esping-Andersen divided the welfare system classification into three major groups, namely the conservative welfare state, socio-democratic welfare state, and liberal welfare state. This article attempts to link the idea and foundation of a welfare state system is two utmost significant economists, John Maynard Keynes and John Roger Commons. Based on history of economic thought, Keynes's thought about the system of welfare states can be seen and traced in the liberal welfare state system on Esping-Andersen classification. On the other hand, traces of Commons' thought can be seen in the socio-democratic state welfare system. Therefore, both Keynes and Commons can be categorized as the founding fathers of the welfare state system. Since their thought about the role of the state is the foundation of welfare state system, long before the United Kingdom began implementing the modern welfare state system in the 1980s. In addition, this study also attempts to undertake comparative analysis of economic systems and present the empirical data on the performance of welfare countries based Esping-Andersen classification in three categories: economic performance, quality & health performance, and level of accumulation of human resources. It is hoped that with the facts presented here there will be further discussion regarding the welfare state system.

Well-Being of Families with a Child with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities

“…This study also marks the first time the Beach Center FQOL Scale is used in the Netherlands, providing additional insights into the experiences of Dutch families with a child with a disability of their FQOL. While this was the first study to measure FQOL in the Netherlands, the outcomes of this study may be compared with studies performed in Flanders, which is culturally similar to the Netherlands, and Belgium is also a conservative welfare state (Nugroho, 2018). These studies also show that families are on average satisfied with their FQOL (Steel et al, 2011), and score lowest on emotional well-being (Vanderkerken et al, 2018).…”

“…Future studies may look for ways to encourage all family members to complete the questionnaire. Finally, this study took place in the Netherlands, a conservative welfare state with social support for families and affordable health insurance (Nugroho, 2018), which may positively affect FQOL.…”

“…The amount of support is likely to increase due to the shift (Dermaut et al, 2020) toward informal care in welfare states (i.e., a democratic free-market state where the government tries to guarantee acceptable living standards for its citizens through welfare programs; Delsen, 2016). For example, the Netherlands, which has welfare programs such as social support for families (Nugroho, 2018), is moving toward a “participation society” where a higher degree of social responsibility is expected from citizens (Delsen, 2016; Dermaut et al, 2020).…”