Welfare State and globalisation of the economic area

AuthorJosé João Abrantes
PositionNew University of Lisbon, Faculty of Law
Pages194-202
Welfare State and globalisation of the economic area
1
Professor Ph.D. José João ABRANTES2
Abstract
A “welfare State” is a concept of government in which the state pla ys a key role in
the protection and pr omotion of the economic an d social well-being of its citizens. It is
based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, an d
public r esponsibility for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal pr ovisions for a
good life. The genera l term may co ver a variety of forms of economic and social
organ ization. This ar ticle examines the concept of welfar e state in the context of legislation
adopted in recent years in P ortugal that wants to " provide greater flexibility" of the labour
market. This a rticle discusses the cr isis a nd the future of the Social State that is also,
accord ing to my view, an a ct of citizenship, a way of expressing our concern with the actual
status of the welfare State.
Keywords: labour law, welfar e sta te, " flexibility" of labour, globalisa tion, the financia l
crisis.
JEL Classification: K31
Preliminaries
The development of capitalism itself led to State interventionism, to the
welfare State a compromise between capital and work that occurred from the end
of the 19th century onwards and which appears especially as an effect of the 1st
World War and of the various contemporary social revolutions.
In those times there was a crisis of the liberal conscience all over Europe.
The liberalism could not (and it wanted not) to tackle social inequalities and social
injustice. The welfare State appeared has a way of responding to various problems
of society (e.g., work, education, housing, health and social security) and of
satisfying the needs of modern times, which the liberal order clearly no longer
satisfied. The welfare State was designed for the first time in the Mexican
Constitution of Querétaro (1917) and in the German Republican Constitution of
Weimar (1919) and signalizes the passage from libera l constitutionalism
concerned only with the personal autonomy of the individuals in relation to State
power , to the social constitutionalism promoting the intervention of the State
for purposes of solidarity and social justice. From thereafter, the new State is no
1 Text presented by the author in June 21st 2013 in Berlin in a Conference under the theme “The
welfare State - At the mercy of the financial markets?” organized by the MEDEL European
Judges for Democracy and Liberty, in cooperation with the Hugo Sinzheimer In stitute for Labour
Law and the Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft (ver.di).
2 José João Abrantes - New University of Lisbon, Faculty of Law, jose.abrantes@fd.unl.pt

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