The question of the social bases for support of the welfare state has been a major concern of theoretical and practical arguments about the development of social policy. Some writers have argued that the (un)popularity of welfare services is trongly influenced by institutional regimes, which range from the universal to the residual type. Others have drawn attention to the lack of support for certain categories of recipients of government assistance in all types of regime. This paper assesses the significance of theories about the institutional correlates and social bases for support of the welfare state. It also examines data from a survey of opinions in a liberal welfare state regime which are relevant to these debates.