Over the recent period there has been a considerable growth of literature which seeks to account for the development of the welfare state from a marxist perspective. One of the major themes of much of this work is a view of the welfare state as an outcome and/or arena of class struggle. The aim of this paper is to assess the usefulness of this type of approach through an examination of some of the conceptual problems. It will be argued that while this approach is indispensable there is a need for greater refinement of concepts such as class, class interest and class struggle; it is to this end that the paper is directed.
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