Introduction: The Welfare State as a Social Compromise

It is crucial to define how one understands what a welfare state is, and its primary social significance before we begin discussing the particular situation of Latin America. As we will discuss in this first chapter, it is crucial to understand that the welfare state cannnot be analyzed from a purely institutional perspective, but that it is necessary to include a discussion of the social protection system as the result of a social compromise derived from a conflict between different social actors.