Building a sustainable welfare state

The conciliation of economic growth and social justice has been one of the most significant achievements of twentieth-century welfare states. Yet today it is the object of heated controversy. The 'conciliatory' capacity of the welfare state has been put in serious question, especially in the light of 'globalisation'. In this conclusion we consider first the relative influence of external versus domestic developments in generating welfare policy dilemmas and apparently unavoidable trade-offs between efficiency and equality, growth and redistribution, competitiveness and solidarity. Via an examination of employment, social security and health policy we then seek to identify the scope for new value combinations and institutional arrangements that are both mixed (in respect of their normative aims) and virtuous (able to produce advances on ail fronts). We conclude by considering how this agenda can be advanced in political and institutional terms.