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[German Version] I. Concept and History The expression “welfare state” (Ger. Wohlfahrtsstaat) emerged at the turn of the 19th/20th century. It denotes the institutional arrangements by which a state insures its citizens against basic socioeconomic risks. In a political reaction to socioeconomic revolutions (Industrialization), changes in society (migrant workers, erosion of the family form of social security) and political changes (formation of national states, democratization), from the end of the 19th century European national states developed into welfare states. Alongs…

[German Version] The law of church associations in the Roman Catholic Church regulates all associations of believers for realizing church objectives. Associations are the consociative element of the church and are rooted theologically in the charismatic endowment of believers. The law governing church associations differs from the constitutional law of the church since every believer can freely decide to join an association. It encompasses canons 298–329, 573–746 CIC/1983 (cc. 410–583 CCEO). The freedom of association is first formulated in canon 215 CIC (c. 18 CCEO) as a perso…

[German Version] In 1954 H. Dietzfelbinger in Neuendettelsau called on individuals in their late teens and early twenties to “venture a year in diaconal service.” In the years that followed, the idea was adopted by the Protestant regional and Free churches in Germany. The “diaconal year,” later called a voluntary social year, supervised by the Diakonisches Werk der EKD and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Evangelischen Jugend, provides an opportunity for young people and the diakonia (VI) of the Christ…

[German Version] are combinations of sponsoring organizations or institutions that represent the common professional interests and individual interests of those concerned to public policy makers (Politics) and society as a whole; they also facilitate self-organization. They are dedicated to the common good. Today there are some 3,600 such societies in Germany. As a rule, the criterion for membership is engagement in not-for-profit activities. Societies are usually organized (Voluntary associations…