The social ( welfare ) state in modern constituitionalism

Abstract

The article researches the content and the institutionalization of the concept of the social state and the welfare state (prosperity), which are the opposites of the minimum (previously -liberal) state, on the one hand and the paternalist-totalitarian state, on the other hand. The analysis of the evolution and the constitutionalization of the French and German concepts of the social state is held in the article. Special attention is paid to the disclosure of the content of the debates in creating the current constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria 1991. These debates are the key to understanding why the welfare state proclaims only in the preamble the Constitution while other characteristics and constitutional principles declared in the rules of the constitution. The connection of social state with the second generation of social and economic rights is covered in the article.