Oltre il welfare mix: approcci al welfare plurale tra convergenza e differenziazione

The overcoming of the "welfare mix" model opens the way for the development of a plural welfare which is realized by expanding and promoting independent intermediate social spheres, recognizing their public function when oriented to act for the common good. In this path, the importance (at least nominal) of subsidiarity – understood here as a regulatory mechanism and method of coordination between the actors - has been strengthened. The hypothesis of the paper is that in Italy the prospects of the welfare system innovation go through a process of differentiation, which can be described by an ideal-typical typology emerging as a result of abstraction. In particular, the paper suggests the presence of four ideal-typical models of subsidiarity emerging from the "cultures of welfare" existing in Italy.