Resumen

ORDONEZ BARBA, Gerardo. El Estado de bienestar en las democracias occidentales: lecciones para analizar el caso mexicano. Región y sociedad [online]. 2002, vol.14, n.24, pp.99-145. ISSN 2448-4849.

This document has an objective: to offer a historical reconstruction of the formation process of the Mexican State in terms of its responsibilities and duties as an agent for development, mostly with regard to the evolution and scope of the basic welfare policies. The purpose of this summing-up is to know, by taking the events in the Western capitalist democracies as a starting point, what type of social policy could be created in our country throughout the 20th century, what changes it has undergone through the years, the origins of its limited capacity for inclusion and the gaps still remaining in the shaping of a universal and unified welfare State.

Palabras llave : historical reconstruction; agent for development; basic welfare policies; Western capitalist democracies; social policy.