Robert Goodin's books are always worth reading and I liked this one although it was a bit too long. Part I is called "Against the old left" and this was in my opinion the least interesting part of this book. The author discusses traditional philosophical defenses of welfare provisions, but much of his analysis shrinks to tedious conceptual analysis. In part II he finally releases his own theory, which is much more interesting. He finds the justification of the welfare state in rendering dependent people less dependent on the actions of particular others (p.125), so that they can participate on fair terms in the market sectors of their society (p.183). This is a very illuminating and convincing argument and I have not seen the same issues discussed anywhere else with this degree of clarity.

Part III consists of a set of counter-arguments against traditional objections to welfare provision. This is also an interesting analysis, although I think it would have benefited from a slight reduction in length. In a particularly interesting section (p.312-331) the author recounts the effects of the welfare state on freedom. This might be the most philosophical of Goodin's books, as nearly every argument is rooted in moral principles. It's also a very comprehensive literature review on the 20th century debates on the welfare state, so I can recommend it to everyone who has ever speculated upon how the welfare provisions of modern states can be justified.