What is the meaning of welfare state? Make a comparison between the English and the Japanese welfare states.

The responsibility for the welfare of its citizens is one of the characteristics of the modern state. It regulates social and economic relations and works towards the social welfare of the people which is seen as the process of progressed. As opposed this, in the pre-modern period, the individual could only appeal to the Church or religious groups, family or the community when faced with poverty or illness. The causes of poverty were often seen either in fate or in individual failure. However, the modern state began to tackle the social problems that arose out of this through measures that grew in coverage both out of a strong sense of humanitarian concern as well as because of a fear of social unrest.

According to some historians, disinterested reform served class interests so that the ascendancy of a new class led people to think in terms of social legislation. With time, the European experience has become the norm against which to measure the progress of all states. However, the history and traditions of a country can act as equally important influences on the shape and character of welfare policies and the philosophy that underlies them.

There have been sharp and acrimonious debates criticizing state assistance for removing incentives for work as well as for placing an intolerable burden on the state exchequer. The help to the disadvantaged has been seen as a form of ‘reverse discrimination’. We find English and German social legislation showing the differing approaches and objectives and hence, it is important to bear in mind the diversity. Further, the history of social legislation in Japan shows how a non-western society that developed within the period of Western dominance was able to develop a welfare system that owed as much to the new doctrines and ideas coming from the west as to its own historical traditions. We can see the complex strands that have contributed to shaping the nature of welfare in the modern world by studying both Western and non-western countries.

It has been observed that Britain has had a long history of public assistance to the poor and private charity. During early times, the poor were wards of the Church, but by Elizabethan period in the 16th century laws were enacted to set up a national system of relief that provided legal and compulsory help to the poor. In 1597-1598, The Poor Laws were codified and they were re-enacted in 1601. This meant that the parish became the basic unit of administration to manage relief work. A compulsory tax was imposed on each household and this money was used to provide relief to the aged, the infirm. At the same time, social reformers and social legislation was concerned with discouraging dependence on charity that would lead to idleness. The basic principle of the poor laws was work for those that will labour, punishment for those that will not, and bread for those who cannot. Many schemes were devised to put idle poor to work. However, in 1766, Benjamin Franklin commented that the country offered a premium for the encouragement of idleness, and you should not now wonder that it has had its effect in the increase of poverty. Similarly, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote a Memoir on Pauperism (1835). He found that one-sixth of the inhabitants of this flourishing kingdom live at the expense of public charity. At the same time, he was astonished because English poverty was of a different type. This poverty amidst plenty had nothing to do with subsistence but the lack of a multitude of things causes’ poverty. In any case, England had transformed what was private charity oven out of a moral duty into a legal obligation.

Contrary to the European welfare policies that were marked by obligatory help on a long term basis, ideas of welfare in pre-modern Japan were based on an ideology of benevolent rule where the ruler helped to mitigate the suffering of his people through timely help. The cities set up relief shelters in the mid-17th century and provided temporary help after which the people were sent back to their villages. With time, these gradually became permanent facilities. During the late 18th century, a type of workhouse was started in Edo where the aim was to help those without a criminal background to learn new skills and become gainfully employed. These institutions were accompanied by ideas about how to tackle poverty and provide aid to the needy. We must remember that Japanese did not see the self as the individual but rather as the community. The Tokugawa Shogunate was overthrown and the Meiji Government established in 1868. This is the beginning of the creation of the modern state in Japan. The Meiji government believed that it was the responsibility of the state to create a strong and prosperous country and hence, it instituted a series of measures to set up the institutional structure of a modern state system. The government set up a scheme to commute their land rents into government bonds that would enable them to make the transition. At the same time, government practices were also influenced by the European ideas and experiences.

In the last quarter of the 19th century, the idea that state welfare could debilitate the recipient remained very strong. The western ideas impacted the views on poverty in Japan. The influence of John Malthus Essay on Population had given rise to a vast literature against public assistance programmes. Henry Fawcett’s Pauperism: Its causes and remedies and other such works argued that poverty was due to individual failing and the answer was in self-improvement rather than government assistance. One of the most influential Meiji thinkers Fukuzawa Yukichi argued for a national relief law, on the basis of England’s New Poor Law of 1834 but only if it served to take people off state assistance. Thus, there was reduction of public relief by state bodies. The government tried to ensure that relief would be managed through the community and the family and in this the Civil Code of 1898 provided explicit support. This meant that the state intervened to force family and neighbours to aid the poor. In 1902, another attempt made to propose a poor relief bill in Japan. However, critics argued that it would encourage indolence, drain resources and increase the number of poor.

Following the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), Japanese government policies successfully integrated the individual and the state. The government emphasized at rebuilding the community. During the Local Improvement Campaign (1906-1918), the government used municipalities along with private organizations to organize community groups like the local repaying virtue societies (hotokusha). Moreover, the government encouraged local leaders to undertake social work and sponsored seminars. It was believed that unlike the West, Japan did not have a long tradition of private charity. Thus, the government guided private work. Private institutions continued to play a major role but the state managed many of the voluntary bodies often forcing people to donate. The government policies showed that the relief was not a matter of right anyway.

After the World War I, Japan emerged as a major political actor at the international level. At the same time, the expansion of its domestic economy also helped to sharpen social problems. Thus, the country looked for welfare models in Britain, Weimar Germany and the United States. According to the Japanese bureaucrats, in these new times it was no longer possible to rely on family or neighborhood for relief. Therefore, the state must spend resources on ensuring public assistance. But, the earlier ideas were not jettisoned and the family system continued to be emphasized.

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