Polityka społeczna w Europie – ewolucja i rozwiązania modelowe

The article provides an overview of social policies in democratic, market economy states in Europe. The first section looks at the development process of social policy from the first experiments and consolidation by the rise of welfare state to modern social policy and its challenges. In the second section the author describes the characteristics of five models of social policy, which could be identified in European Union member states, i.e. liberal, conservative, social-democratic, South European, and Central-Eastern European.