From social policies to the Welfare State: synchronies and asymmetries between Italy and Spain in the twentieth century

In the 1980s, a deep crisis in the welfare state led researchers to analyse different systems of social policies. As a result, social scientists proposed several models to interpret national welfare systems. Among these is the Mediterranean Welfare System, which is associated with countries such as Spain or Italy. How have historians reacted? This essay addresses historical studies of social policies that emerged in the late nineteenth century and continued through the twentieth. The goal is to identify those secular trends, followed by both countries, beginning with the definition of the first social policies and continuing to the creation of a national welfare state. The resulting picture is complex, characterized by "symmetries" and "asymmetries" between the two nations. The analysis takes a top-down approach by investigating the role of the State and its institutions. It also takes a bottom-up approach, looking into the role of civil society, mutual associations and trade unions.