The Principal Concept of Social Solidarity’s Value on France’s Welfare Policy

Abstract

In the post industrial society, the economy has been the dominant social value. This creates a conflict between social classes that is determined by personal possession and capital. Therefore most advanced countries try to solve this conflict with a policy designed to achieve social security through social integration . Most of them have established a principal concept that governs their welfare policy; this concept drives the coherence and efficiency of that policy. In France, the government has a fundamental concept of the welfare policy as ‘solidarity’. It is the basic concept of the French Republic and the practical concept of the French political notions of ‘freedom, ‘equality’ and ‘friendship’. This study focuses on the concept of solidarity in the welfare policy of France: the historical processes, its efficiency, and the development of this concept between individual and nation, individual and society, enterpriser and employee, enterprise and nation and between regions. We focus also on how the efficiency of a consistent welfare policy is a principal concept of policy. On the other hand, the policy of welfare is not only the responsibility of the government. It also has to be built up with an element of social culture based on the human being, such as altruism and a consideration of those who are the excluded from society. The French government does not fail to recognize this point. Finally, with regard to the French welfare policy, we consider our welfare policy to examine its main principal concept: What is the fundamental concept of our welfare policy and how efficient is the policy in achieving social solidarity? That is the purpose of this study.