The welfare state is a central component of the politics of national integration on a territorial - as distinct from a class - basis... Federal welfare programmes, whether delivered directly to individuals or through provincial governments, are powerful tools of inter-regional redistribution. They represent one of the few ways in which the federal government can fashion appeals that cut across linguistic and regional divisions. As a result social policy reinforces the political legitimacy of a federal state that is under constant pressure from powerful centrifugal forces.