THE WELFARE STATE AND POLITICAL PARTIES: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS AND INTERRELATIONS
Keywords:
welfare state; political parties; welfare regime; social policy; decommodification; party ideology; path dependency; populism; social protection; comparative political science.Abstract
This article is devoted to an analysis of the theoretical foundations of the interrelation between the welfare state and political parties. The aim of the study is to define the conceptual characteristics of the welfare state, to determine the role of political parties in shaping and transforming social policy, and to assess trends in the transformation of these relations in the contemporary geopolitical environment. The work draws on the methodology of comparative political science and examines the conceptual contributions of T. Marshall, G. Esping-Andersen, P. Pierson, and other leading scholars. It is concluded that the welfare state and the party system stand in a mutually constitutive relationship: parties shape social institutions, while those institutions in turn reproduce political interests and electoral coalitions. Globalisation, the rise of populism, and the fragmentation of party systems are placing the need to renew social protection mechanisms firmly on the agenda.
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