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Self-Reliance Versus the Welfare State*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2009

Robert E. Goodin
Robert E. Goodin
Affiliation:
Senior Lecturer in Government, University of Essex.
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Abstract

Arguments for replacing the welfare state with more ‘self-reliance’ are morally questionable. Relying upon state assistance is importantly different from merely receiving it. Furthermore, ‘self-reliance’ as it is currently advocated amounts to reliance upon families. They must necessarily have discretionary control over needed resources in a way that state administrators of ‘welfare rights’ need not; and that makes those vulnerabilities morally more objectionable than equally heavy reliance upon state services.

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Journal of Social Policy , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , January 1985 , pp. 25 - 47
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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