Teoria social i estat del benestar

The authors review how social theory focus on the welfare state.
First, the attempts to formulate a normative basis for the welfare state
are emphasized. Then, they take an inventory of the most representative
hypothesis that try to explain the dimensions and nature of the welfare
state. The conlusion is that, in spite of the enormous progress in
comparative research, no results allow to secure the superiority of one
theory over the others. The authors recommend researchers to focus more
in the relations between different factors rather than to demonstrate the
superiority of one of them.