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The research aims to analyze the role that political variables have in the configuration of the welfare state. The selected case studies are examples of the proposed political typology: Uruguay (high welfare state), Mexico (medium welfare state) and Guatemala (low welfare state). The research states that it is important to propose a typology with an explanatory ability, highlighting welfare states' structural configurations, and not just describing their short-term results. A political typology of welfare states has the advantage of highlighting the most significant explanatory variables for understanding the welfare state, it's political institutions, and especially democracy and state's capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]