Ziskin O. Institute of the social welfare state: approaches to modernization under conditions of the newest challenges.

The object of research is the processes of modernization of classical models of the welfare state. The purpose of the dissertation is to study and evaluate the processes of modernization of the institution of the welfare state in the face of the latest challenges (economic globalization, technological revolution, etc.). The analysis of the problems of the welfare state is made possible by the methodological tools of neo-institutionalism and political comparative studies. The study is also based on a theoretical and methodological synthesis of philosophical, historical, legal and other analysis of ideas about the welfare state and ways to reform it. The dissertation research determines the level of influence of economic globalization on the welfare state as a whole and its individual models. A set of problems caused by economic globalization in relation to the Nordic, neoliberal and conservative (corporatist) models of the welfare state has been clarified; revealed the role of technological factors in changing the configuration of the institution of the welfare state: increasing risks to the welfare state (changing the labor market through the introduction of robotic technology, the emergence of platform economy, freelance development, etc.) and opening new opportunities (technical innovations can reduce social costs). Possible mechanisms for mitigating the impact of the technological factor (taxation of robotic equipment, platform economy, etc.); from the standpoint of political science, the concept of unconditional basic income as one of the vectors of reforming the welfare state is studied. Unconditional basic income is defined as the latest social policy instrument, an alternative form of social security that guarantees everyone an unconditional minimum of cash benefits paid in addition to other (if any) income received by a person in the context of large-scale changes in the labor market, technology and other latest challenges. The results can be used in the educational process in the preparation of lectures, textbooks in political science disciplines, training courses on social policy, as well as in the practical activities of public activists and other policy actors.