overload on the state

overload on the state

a situation in which the state in some modern Western capitalist and social-democratic societies is seen as suffering an overload on its resources as more demands are made upon it, e.g. provision of social welfare, education, and political legitimacy, at the same time as preserving the conditions for capitalist accumulation. See also FISCAL CRISIS IN THE CAPITALIST STATE, LEGITIMATION CRISIS, BELL, THATCHERISM.