The Last Bastion of the Social Democratic Golden Age: The Welfare State without its Class Basis

Abstract

The social democratic golden age is long gone; today its historical legacy is largely maintained by the European welfare state in its various continental, liberal and Nordic forms. But how long can the welfare state maintain its progressive content outside the social democratic era? Through a selection of the contemporary literature on the rise and fall of social democracy and the welfare state, this review article will argue that social democracy and its welfare state heritage are primarily based on the relative strength of the labour movement. Without this fundamental constraint on capital the welfare state's social democratic content has and will continue to come under threat. Due to the centrality of power relations in this analysis of the rise and fall of social democracy and the welfare state, the article will critique the ways in which the literature has portrayed reform as the product of seemingly objective changes within the economy and society external to class relations.The welfare state forms the fundamental legacy of the social democratic era. It has survived while other aspects of the social democratic 'golden age' have long since perished. But with the passing of social democracy's structural basis, how much longer can the welfare state maintain its progressive content? To answer this, the review will establish through the literature the extent and nature of welfare state reform across Europe and engage with its conceptualisation of the driving forces behind the rise and fall of social democracy and the welfare state.The review seeks to critique theory that places the causes of social democratic success and failure in economic and social change, which is seemingly removed from the power relation between the social classes.Wahl's historical materialism, power relations-centred account of the rise and fall of the welfare state will provide the theoretical basis for this critique.

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