Scarlet Wilcock, Georgia van Toorn
The concept of the digital welfare state (DWS) has gained popularity in research on welfare system digitalization, but its meaning is under-theorized and largely unproblematized. Invoked without clear criteria, the concept leaves open fundamental questions about what qualifies as a DWS and why. In this article, we propose three key pillars as foundational criteria for analyses of the DWS: (1) the presence of a welfare state, (2) processes of digitalization – encompassing older digital technologies and more advanced technologies and their interplay with enduring manual processes, and (3) the degree of digitalization and whether this warrants a particular welfare state's classification as digital. We argue that these pillars, although seemingly self-evident, raise under-explored questions about the theoretical foundations and boundaries of the DWS concept. In highlighting these questions, we reveal that much of the literature is characterized by single country case studies, assumptions of linear change, and a degree of Western-centrism, which leaves broader patterns of digital welfare reform, and the role of non-state actors therein, under-theorized if not overlooked. By foregrounding these limitations, we demonstrate how greater theoretical rigor and reflexivity can sharpen the concept's analytical and practical value. Properly specified, the DWS provides a useful heuristic for researching broad patterns of digitalization without flattening national or local specificities, and for equipping both scholars and policy makers with a clearer lens for critical engagement and political contestation.