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94 UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY interventionist state and actively from the rich to the poor, and by uses its considerable powers to preventing the concentration of designandimplementsocialpolicies wealth? for the betterment of society. (iii) Does the welfare state transform (ii) The welfare state is a democratic the economy in such a way that state. Democracy was considered the capitalist profit motive is made an essential condition for the subservient to the real needs of the emergence of the welfare state. community? Formal democratic institutions, (iv) Does the welfare state ensure specially multi-party elections, stable development free from the were thought to be a defining cycle of economic booms and feature of the welfare state. This depressions? is why liberal thinkers excluded (v) Does it provide employment for all? socialist and communist states from this definition. Using these criteria, Desai (iii) A welfare state involves a mixed examines the performance of those states that are most often described as economy. A ‘mixed economy’ means welfare states, such as Britain, the USA an economy where both private capitalist enterprises and state and much of Europe, and finds their or publicly owned enterprises claims to be greatly exaggerated. Thus, co-exist. A welfare state does not most modern capitalist states, even in the most developed countries, fail to seek to eliminate the capitalist market, nor does it prevent public provide minimum levels of economic investment in industry and other and social security to all their citizens. fields. By and large, the state They are unable to reduce economic sector concentrates on basic goods inequality and often seem to encourage it. Theso-calledwelfarestateshavealso and social infrastructure, while private industry dominates the been unsuccessful at enabling stable consumer goods sector. development free from market fluctuations. The presence of excess Desai then goes on to suggest some economic capacity and high levels of test criteria against which the unemployment are yet another failure. performance of the welfare state can be measured. These are: Based on these arguments, Desai (i) Does the welfare state ensure concludes that the notion of the welfare state is something of a myth. freedom from poverty, social A.R. Desai also wrote on the discrimination and security for all Marxist theory of the state. In these its citizens? writings we can see that Desai does not (ii) Does the welfare state remove take a one-sided view but openly inequalities of income through criticises the shortcomings of measures to redistribute income Communist states. He cites many Reprint 2026-27