Compare and Contrast two welfare ideologies with which you are familiar, concentrate your answer in respect of their understanding of the role of the state and the market in the provision of welfare.
Before an answer can be constructed it is important to first look at the role of the state and the market in the provision of welfare.
Firstly what exactly is the state? We hear the term used almost daily in the news and the media, but if you asked an individual to define this it can often mean different interpretations. The Oxford dictionary defines it as 'an organised political community under one Government' and from this perspective as we live in a democratic society, it is the widespread belief that the majority of the British public elect a government that is deemed fit to run the nation's state. Politically many annalists would question this belief because of how the system of voting is constructed, but the government is responsible for running the state both efficiently and effectively.
The market is a functional part of the state and is a system whereby commodities are produced and distributed within an economic sphere to generate money. However, in contemporary society the market has evolved and widened its scope so it not only works on local level but on a global level too. Within this system money is accumulated by the government in the form of taxes and NI contributions that is then in turn redistributed through the state in the provision of welfare in the form of benefits, running of the NHS. Other local amenities that are not provided by central Government but by local authorities are paid for through the system of community charge. The concept of how these resources are distributed is heavily influenced by dominant ideological...