The european automobile industry lobby against the european emission politics

Abstract or Introduction

The welfare state is an important part of the British state politics since its
establishment and development. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the modern
society processes like aging of population, rise of unemployment, declining financial
resources and their pressure over the welfare system structure. The rapid economic and
demographic changes after the Second World War are having a serious effect on the social
policy system of Britain. In recent years there has been an increasing interest among social
scientists in the examining and restructuring the welfare state system, particularly after the
conservative welfare state reforms of the 80’s. The issue of welfare retrenchment has been a
controversial and much disputed subject within the field of social policy. This paper will
focus on the question if further welfare state retrenchment is likely in the UK, critically
examining the politics of the National Health Service and the Politics concerning Disabled
People.
The first section of this paper will concentrate on the status of the welfare system in
the state and the main sources of influence for successful retrenchment policies. It will than
go on to the particular policy field of the Health services in the UK and outline its specific
position in the British welfare system. Finally, the essay will describe the special features in
the Disabled Politics in Britain and discuss if further welfare retrenchment in this area is
expectable.