Probable Justice: Risk, Insurance, and the Welfare State

Decades into its existence as a foundational aspect of modern political and economic life, the welfare state has become a political cudgel, used to assign blame for ballooning national debt and tout the need for personal responsibility. At the same time, it affects nearly every citizen and permeates daily life--in the form of pension, disability, and unemployment benefits, healthcare and parental leave policies, and more. At the core of that disjunction is the question of how we as a society decide who should get what benefits--and how much we are willing to pay to do so.

Probable Justice​ traces a history of social insurance from the eighteenth century to today, from the earliest ideas of social accountability through the advanced welfare state of collective responsibility and risk. At the heart of Rachel Z. Friedman's investigation is a study of how probability theory allows social insurance systems to flexibly measure risk and distribute coverage. The political genius of social insurance, Friedman shows, is that it allows for various accommodations of needs, risks, financing, and political aims--and thereby promotes security and fairness for citizens of liberal democracies.

Author: Rachel Z. Friedman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 09/22/2020
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.16lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.63d
ISBN13: 9780226730769
ISBN10: 022673076X
BISAC Categories:
- Political Science | Public Policy | Social Services & Welfare
- Business & Economics | Economics | General
- Business & Economics | Insurance | Risk Assessment & Management

About the Author
Rachel Z. Friedman is a member of the Buchmann Faculty of Law and a faculty affiliate of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Tel Aviv University.