modern welfare systems. The national integration of the United States lagged behind that of most European countries. The West Europeans through the mid-1970s distinguished their welfare states, based on a mix of Socialist and Christian Democratic convictions, from the more laissez-faire society in the United States, especially in relation to health care, labor practices, and unemployment benefits (Midgley, 1999).
A combination of traditional liberalism and statism best explains the emergence of the welfare state. The traditional European perspective of statism stresses the existence of states, as distinct from governments, that develop extensive capacities and a wide range of roles. Among other things, these states develop social policies to enhance social integration. Social liberalism underlies the case for state intervention. The strategy of welfare statism emerged in social democratic politics from the bases of statism and social liberalism in the twentieth century. Within the strategy of welfare statism, the state's role is proactive and egalit
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