{"id":54684,"date":"2024-07-24T10:57:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T08:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/institutodelbienestar.com\/happiness-oriented-policies\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T09:53:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T08:53:13","slug":"happiness-oriented-politics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/institutodelbienestar.com\/en\/live-without-harming\/publications\/happiness-oriented-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"HAPPINESS-ORIENTED POLICIES"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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HAPPINESS-ORIENTED POLICY<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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In many countries, a great deal of policy is already focused on residents\u2019 quality of life, although much more could be done in all of them. The reason this type of policy is already being implemented is that many countries have reached the following stages: <\/p>

1. Rule of Law<\/b>, based on liberal democracy, individual rights and freedoms, equality before the law, separation of powers, and other mechanisms to prevent abuses. It includes various policies aimed at achieving Jeremy Bentham\u2019s ideal of the greatest level of happiness for the greatest number of people, such as those designed to guarantee security. This ideal was a shared slogan among Enlightenment thinkers, which gave rise to this type of state. In fact, as a consequence, the right to the pursuit of happiness was included in the U.S. Constitution. <\/p>

2. Welfare State (material)<\/b>, based on instruments such as public healthcare, retirement pensions, disability and orphan benefits, unemployment benefits, assistance for the poor and for dependent persons, or a minimum wage. These mechanisms are intended to combat certain forms of human suffering, as a consequence of the precarious conditions in which many people found themselves in the 19th century. These were situations for which the rule of law did not provide an answer and which led to the emergence of Marxism and social democracy. <\/p>

The policies of the Rule of Law and the (material) Welfare State have undoubtedly greatly reduced distress and increased quality of life. However, just as we have continued to evolve from the 18th to the 20th century, in the 21st century we can do so by moving to more advanced stages in terms of being oriented toward happiness: <\/p>

3. Personal Welfare State<\/b>, which is aimed at optimising, to the greatest extent possible, the happiness of the greatest number of people and other sentient beings with the resources available. This does not mean achieving absolute happiness, which is very likely a utopia. It includes 3 components: <\/p>