Social Welfare in the Uk

Should the United Kingdom Scale Back Welfare Spending?

Issue and Significance

Democracy is a system of government in which the sovereignty of the state resides with the people. The people, in some capacity, choose the members of the government that rules them, through fair and frequent elections. The government abides by the rule of law, and does not pass or enforce laws arbitrarily, but rather rules through clear and fair laws.

There are many reasons why the United Kingdom should not scale back their welfare spending. Welfare serves as a buffer against poverty; helping to support those in poverty and to eventually lift them out of poverty. Welfare includes education, since education promotes the general welfare of individuals. The education system in the United Kingdom allows students and parents alike to save money from tuition to use for other purposes, which can help stimulate the economy. Finally, welfare promotes more economic mobility for the individual. Studies have found that in welfare states, a son's economic status is less dependent upon his father's status than it would be in weaker welfare states.

The laws determining the state of welfare in the United Kingdom are written and passed by Parliament, which is elected by the people. These free and frequent elections are the first measurement of a democracy, although there are numerous other factors that influence this. Another important measure of democracy, especially in terms of welfare, is the aspect of civic culture. The civic culture includes the sense of duty citizens feel for their fellow citizens. In a welfare state, this is incredibly important, since it is that civic duty that makes citizens feel that they are doing their civic duty by paying taxes that end up helping others in the form of welfare. The final important measure of democracy in this case is capitalism and affluence. Democratic societies are often measured in terms of capitalism and affluence. Without a strong welfare state,...