The welfare state: theory and practice

Introduction: the article reflects the main conceptual provisions of the social state as a legal category. The paper analyzes the structural elements of the system of mutual relations of the individual, society and the state, as well as analyzes the pros and cons of the principle of social responsibility of the state and state paternalism. In the field of practical implementation of the idea of the welfare state, the article reveals the main activities of state bodies in the field of social security and quantitative criteria of the welfare state. Materials and methods: the normative basis of the study is the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as foreign normative material regulating the sphere of social security. The methodological foundation of the research is the general dialectical method of scientific cognition, as well as methods of logical deduction, comparative legal method, analysis, synthesis and other tools through which it is possible to know legal regulation in the aspect of social responsibility of the state to an individual and civil society. The results of the study: provide an opportunity to analyze the constitutional legal relations in the field of redistributive policy of the state. The paper attempts to identify the characteristic properties of the social state as a legal phenomenon. Findings and Conclusions: the main components of the theoretical and practical concept of the category “social state” are identified.