On kings, Pietism and rent-seeking in Scandinavian welfare states

This paper argues that the origins of the Scandinavian welfare states are m ost usefully seen in the small-state absolutism and Lutheran Pietism charac terizing 18th-century Denmark/Norway. Towards the end of the 18th century, the Danish monarch or, more correctly, his agents, created a quite generous set of welfare benefits in the 1799 Poor Law for the City of Copenhagen. I n return for non-punitive and generous support, the state assumed that reci pients would be obedient and grateful servants of the state and its institu tions. This system was replaced with more punitive and petty systems as lib eralism gained importance in the following century, but basic elements of t he Pietist model for the relationship between state and citizen were mainta ined and recreated in the development of the generous welfare state of the late 20th century. The main threat to the generous welfare state is the weakening of the Pieti st culture of obedience, which is being replaced with an individualistic cu lture of rent-seeking, that is, changing behaviour or breaking rules to obt ain welfare benefits. Greed replaces gratitude, and the obedience relations hip of a citizen to the state is being changed to an exchange relationship and widespread opportunism. There is much media attention on rent-seeking u sing anecdotal evidence about misuse of welfare benefits. There is little a ctual knowledge about the extent of changes. Those designing and administer ing the welfare system continue to believe that it works as they intended i t to work, just as it did under absolutism.