L’institutionnalisme de John Commons et les origines de l’État providence aux États-Unis

• Main Author: Isabel da Costa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Association d'Economie Politique 2010-12-01
• Series: Interventions Économiques pour une Alternative Sociale
• Subjects: Institutionalism; John R. Commons; Social Legislation; Social Security; Welfare State
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/interventionseconomiques/1283

The official policy of the United States, backed by economic and legal thought, was originally “laissez-faire” on the market and in labor relations. This article analyzes the development of a legitimate role for the state in the social regulation of the labor market through the emergence of the early labor regulations and social protection schemes in the United States. We first analyze how the progressive movement brought about certain social reforms establishing the beginnings of social legislation; we will then focus on the major contribution of the institutionalism of John Commons and his followers from the University of Wisconsin to the design and the development of the welfare state in the United States.