Lorenz von Stein (November 18, 1815 - September 23, 1890) was a German economist, sociologist and public administration scientist from Eckernferde. As an adviser to the Meiji period in Japan, his liberal political views influenced the wording of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan. He was called the "intellectual father of the welfare state." This article is devoted not only to the biography of Lorentz von Stein, but also to his basic ideas, the social state being rightly considered to be the main one. About it will be said separately.
Origin and early years
Lorenz von Stein was born in the coastal town of Borby in Eckernferd, in Schleswig-Holstein, in the family of Vasmer Jacob Lorenz. He studied philosophy and jurisprudence at the universities of Kiel and Jena in 1835–1839, as well as at the University of Paris in 1841–1842. Between 1846 and 1851, Stein was an assistant professor at the University of Kiel, and was also a member of the Frankfurt Parliament in 1848. His defense of the independence of his native Schleswig, which at that time was part of Denmark, led to his dismissal in 1852.
Carier start
In 1848, Lorenz von Stein published a book entitled “Socialist and Communist Movements after the Third French Revolution” (1848), in which he coined the term “social movement” into scientific discussions, thus effectively portraying political movements fighting for social rights, understood as well-being rights.
This theme was repeated in 1850 when Stein published a book entitled "The History of French Social Movements from 1789 to the Present" (1850). For Lorenz von Stein, the social movement was basically understood as the movement from society to the state, created by inequality in the economy, which makes the proletariat part of politics through representation. The book was translated into English by Kete Mengelberg, published by Bedminster Press in 1964 (Kahman, 1966)
University career
From 1855 until his retirement in 1885, Lorenz von Stein was a professor of political economics at the University of Vienna. His works of that period are considered the basis of the international science of public administration. He also influenced the practice of public finance.
In 1882, Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi led a delegation in Europe to study Western government systems. First, the delegation went to Berlin, where they were instructed by Rudolf von Gneist, and then to Vienna, where Stein gave lectures at the University of Vienna. As in the case of Gneist, Stein's message to the Japanese delegation was that universal suffrage and party politics should be avoided. Stein believed that the state is higher than society, the goal of the state was to implement social reform, which was carried out from the monarchy to ordinary people.
The doctrine of the management of Lorentz von Stein
Stein is best known for using Hegelian dialectics in public administration and the national economy to improve the systematization of these sciences, but he did not neglect historical aspects.
Lorenz von Stein, the founder of the concept of a social state, analyzed the class state of his time and compared it with a welfare state. He laid out an economic interpretation of history, which included the concepts of the proletariat and class struggle, but he rejected the revolutionary procedure. Despite the similarity of his ideas with the ideas of Marxism, the degree of Stein's influence on Karl Marx remains uncertain. Nevertheless, Marx reveals with vague comments by von Stein that he knew about his highly influential book of 1842 on communist thought in France. For example, Stein is mentioned in German Ideology (1845–46), but only as the author of his 1842 book. Although von Stein mentions Marx in some cases, the reverse effect seems less likely.
Death
Stein died at his home in Hadersdorf-Weidlingau in the Penza district of Vienna. He was buried in the Protestant cemetery Matsleinsdorf. In this area, a small monument is erected to him.
Lorenz von Stein: social state
The welfare state (welfare state) is a form of government in which the state protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of citizens on the basis of the principles of equal opportunities, fair distribution of wealth and social responsibility for citizens who are unable to take advantage of the minimum conditions for a good life. The sociologist T.H. Marshall described the modern welfare state as a distinctive combination of democracy, welfare, and capitalism.
History
The first welfare state originates in legislation adopted by Otto von Bismarck in the 1880s to expand the privileges of the junkers as a strategy aimed at making ordinary Germans more loyal to the throne against the modernist movements of classical liberalism and socialism.
As a type of mixed economy, the welfare state finances public health and education institutions along with direct payments to individual citizens.
Modern application of Stein's ideas
Modern welfare states include Germany and France, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as Nordic countries that use the system known as the Scandinavian model. The various realizations of the welfare state fall into three categories: (i) social democratic, (ii) conservative, and (iii) liberal.
Modern social security schemes are generally different from earlier forms of poverty alleviation in their universal and comprehensive nature. The Bismarck Institute for Social Insurance in Germany was a prime example. Some schemes were based mainly on the development of autonomous reciprocal benefits. Others were based on government support.
In a very influential essay, Citizenship and Social Class (1949), the British sociologist T.G. Marshall called modern welfare states a distinctive combination of democracy, welfare, and capitalism, arguing that citizenship should include access to both social and political and civil rights. Examples of such states are Germany, all the countries of Northern Europe, the Netherlands, France, Uruguay, New Zealand and the United Kingdom in the 1930s. Since then, the term “welfare state” has been applied only to countries in which social rights are accompanied by civil and political rights.
Stein's ancient predecessors
The Emperor of India, Ashoka, put forward his idea of ​​a welfare state in the 3rd century BC. He presented his dharma (religion or path) as not just a collection of high-profile phrases. He deliberately tried to accept this as a public policy issue. He announced that “all people are my children” and “no matter what I do, I seek only to pay off the debt that I owe to all living beings.” It was a completely new ideal of reign. Ashoka abandoned war and conquest through violence and forbade the killing of many animals. Since he wanted to conquer the world with love and faith, he sent many missions to promote the Dharma.
Missions were sent to places such as Egypt, Greece and Sri Lanka. The spread of the Dharma included many measures of human well-being, centers for the treatment of people and animals, based inside and outside the empire. Shady groves, wells, gardens and rest houses were laid out. Ashoka also banned useless sacrifices and certain forms of assembly that led to waste, indiscipline, and superstition. To implement this policy, he hired a new staff of officers called Dharmamahamattas. Part of the responsibilities of this group was to see that people of different sects were treated fairly. They were especially asked to take care of the welfare of prisoners.
What does the theory of the social state of Lorentz von Stein say (briefly) about this? The concepts of welfare and pension were introduced in early Islamic law as forms of zakat (charity), one of the five pillars of Islam, under the Rashidun caliphate in the 7th century. This practice continued well in the era of the Abbasid Caliphate. Taxes (including Zakat and Jizya) collected in the treasury of the Islamic government were used to provide income to those in need, including the poor, the elderly, orphans, widows and the disabled. According to Islamic lawyer Al-Ghazali, the government also had to accumulate food supplies in each region in the event of a natural disaster or starvation. Thus, the Caliphate can be considered the world's first major welfare state.
The opinion of historians
The concept of the social state of Lorentz von Stein has been repeatedly analyzed by historians. Historian Robert Paxton notes that on the European continent the welfare state was initially adopted by conservatives in the late nineteenth century and by fascists in the twentieth to distract workers from trade unions and socialism, they were opposed by leftists and radicals. He recalls that the German welfare state was created in the 1880s by Chancellor Bismarck, who had just closed 45 newspapers and passed laws banning the Socialist Party of Germany and other gatherings of trade unionists and socialists.
A similar version was created by Count Edward von Taaffe in the Austro-Hungarian Empire a few years later. Legislation to help the working class in Austria came from Catholic conservatives. They turned to social reform, using Swiss and German models and interfering in state economic issues. They studied the Swiss Factories Act of 1877, which limited working hours for everyone and provided maternity benefits, as well as German laws that insured workers against occupational risks inherent in the workplace. This is also mentioned in books on the theory of the social state of Lorentz von Stein.