Welfare state is a result of the nation-state's evolution

This paper focuses on the relationship between the nation-state, identity and welfare state at different historical stages. The nation-state and collective identity are products of modernity. It is argued that the nation-state has evolved in many developed countries into a welfare state. The author argues that collective identity and the nation-state receive their highest incarnation in the welfare state. Welfare state is considered as one of the most significant elements of the nation-state's internal coherence. Since the 1980s (as a result of embracing neoliberalism) crisis phenomena in the welfare state systems have been increasing, which can lead to a crisis of national identity and complicate adequate functioning of the nation-state. The paper outlines British and Swedish recent discussions on the relationship between collective identity and the welfare state. The author believes that in spite of the difficulties welfare states experience today, defining themselves as welfare state is a popular nation-state's political goal, and a factor in increasing one country's prestige and soft power. The author arrives to the conclusion that there is a tendency today for the welfare state to become universalized as a model of successful state, as it happened earlier with the model of the nation-state that has been originated in Europe and exported to the other parts of the world.