Welfarism
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An axiology or ethical theory in which value is determined by the well-being (e.g., happiness) of people or other sentient beings. uncountable
"More precisely, Kaplow and Shavell (2001) have shown that the Pareto principle does not hold when the planner departs from welfarism, i.e., when the [social welfare function] does not only include the agents’ utility."
- 2 The belief in or support for a welfare state. derogatory, rare, uncountable
"So, I think we have way too much compromise, and we need to define what we believe in. We either believe in welfarism and socialism and big government, or we believe in liberty and limited government and in the Constitution."
Example
More examples"More precisely, Kaplow and Shavell (2001) have shown that the Pareto principle does not hold when the planner departs from welfarism, i.e., when the [social welfare function] does not only include the agents’ utility."
Etymology
From welfare + -ism.
Related phrases
More for "welfarism"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.