This article challenges the view that the social state is solely a top-down instrument of state power over society. Based on a careful historical study of various European national social policies it argues that social policies emerged from complex negotiations between states, social groups, and institutional actors and have been spaces of conflict, reflecting democratic societies’ internal tensions. In contrast authoritarian states could develop social measures to control the population and exclude certain groups. The democratic welfare state is fragile because it makes it visible and reinforces the tensions that run through modern societies. These tensions, in turn, can be politically mobilized and exploited to challenge, weaken, or destroy some social programs and, ultimately, the legitimacy of the welfare state.