Esping-Andersen om välfärdsstaten

Inledningen till The Welfare State and Redistribution av Gosta Esping-Andersen and John Myles:

Because it taxes and spends, the welfare state is by definition redistributive, but this does not automatically entail that it creates more equality. A quick historical glance at social reform will dispel of any notion that the welfare state was pursued for egalitarian reasons. Its foundations were typically laid by conservative reformers who, like Bismarck, sought primarily to reproduce, rather than to alter, prevailing social hierarchies.

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