"The welfare state has come under severe pressure internationally, partly for the well-known reasons of slowing economic growth and declining confidence in the public sector. According to the influential social theorist Pierre Rosanvallon, however, there is also a deeper and less familiar reason for the crisis of the welfare state.

He shows here that a fundamental practical and philosophical justification for traditional welfare policies - that all citizens share equal risks - has been undermined by social and intellectual change. If we wish to achieve the goals of social solidarity and civic equality for which the welfare state was founded, Rosanvallon argues, we must radically rethink and refocus social programs.".

"Rosanvallon argues that social policies must be more narrowly targeted. And he draws on evidence form around the world, in particular France and the U.S., to show that such programs as unemployment insurance and workfare could better reflect individual needs by, for example, making more explicit use of contracts between the providers and receivers of benefits.

His arguments have broad implications for welfare programs everywhere and for our understanding of citizenship in modern democracies and economies."--BOOK JACKET.