The level of success or failure of the welfare state depends on the nature of the political process, ethnic and social demographics, and the cultural ethos of the structure of policy implementation of the particular country. Given the criteria for success or failure, how have Europe and the United States fared with respect to the level of public acceptance and the political consequences of the implementation of the welfare state? Why does Europe have more of a tradition with the welfare state than does the United States? Why has the European model been more successful?
The welfare state had its beginnings in the mature stage of the industrial revolution. This stage was marked by conglomeration on the part of industrialists and the development of labor unions. In Europe, there was a tradition of collaboration between labor unions and parliamentary systems in trying to form a more comprehensive version of the industrial state, one that took into account the development of human resources. The economic disasters of the 1920's and 1930's instilled a desire in leaders of both the left and the right in Western Europe and in the United States to implement Keynesian economics as a way of smoothing out the fluctuations of the business cycle. This provided the rationale for the welfare state.
In the United States, implementation took three forms: judicial decisions, executive orders and legislative acts. Some major tenets of the welfare state were developed by Pres. John F. Kennedy in his New Frontier program. This program emphasized more government action to stimulate the economy; however, because of legislative setbacks, it was mainly rhetorical. Nevertheless, in April 1961, legislators passed administration-sponsored aid to economically depressed areas. In May, Congress approved an increase in the minimum wage from $1 to $1.25. This set the stage for further developments in the evolution of the welfare state. The Kenn...