New Routes to Social Justice: Empowering Individuals and Innovative Forms of Collective Action

Product Description The centre left is at a crossroads. Social democracy as a model for social and economic organisation was one of the most remarkable achievements of the 20th Century. Yet today, it comes short of offering attractive and credible new ideas that address the challenges of contemporary societies.Navigating this juncture will be crucial to the centre left’s future as the traditional ties that bound its support unravel. By championing flexible service provision models and a more deliberative form of democracy, progressives can make citizens feel they have a tangible stake in their future.This volume does not claim to have all the answers, but it has gathered ideas which provide the groundwork for reframing the debate. It offers new routes towards a state which is fit for the century it serves and a framework for an engaged and educated citizenry. About the Author Claudia Chwalisz is a Consultant at Populus and a Crook Public Service Fellow at the Crick Centre, The University of Sheffield. She is the author of The Populist Signal: Why Politics and Democracy Need to Change (2015).Renaud Thillaye is deputy director of Policy Network and lead researcher on EU affairsEmma Kinloch works with the Policy Institue, Kings College London. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. New Routes for Social JusticeEmpowering Individuals and Innovative Forms of Collective ActionBy Claudia Chwalisz, Renaud Thillaye, Emma KinlochRowman & Littlefield International Ltd.Copyright © 2017 Policy NetworkAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-78660-501-6ContentsAcknowledgements, About the Contributors, Preface Ania Skrzypek and Ernst Stetter, Introduction Claudia Chwalisz and Renaud Thillaye, Too late for therapy? Or, what is to be done about the relationship between citizens and states Geoff Mulgan, The state as a platform: Public policy in the digital age Nicolas Colin, Party policy and service delivery: Process vs outcome Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, How maybe not to die: Ideas for the rejuvenation of political parties Hanno Burmester, How do we engage young voters? Georgia Gould, Behavioural insights and the welfare state Tiina Likki, Location, location, location: Building place-based system change for better social outcomes Anna Randle, Social mobility and noncognitive skills Charlie Cadywould, Consent and public spending: Exploring new models of taxation Andrew Harrop, The politics of public spending Ben Page, Conclusion Emma Kinloch, CHAPTER 1TOO LATE FOR THERAPY?Or, what is to be done about the relationship between citizens and statesGeoff MulganA lot is known about what makes relationships work. There needs to be trust and mutual respect, a willingness to accept differences, and a good mix of support, care and communication. Healthy relationships need constant work, and often need periodic reinvention.Very similar considerations apply to the relationship between states and citizens, which so often appear fraught and strained to the point of breaking. By any historical standard the quality of the relationship between most democratic states and their citizens is good. They are more open, supportive and honest than ever before. We can remove bad governments; we know much more about what they do; and the quality of the services they provide has contributed to the extraordinary and unprecedented improvements in life expectancy, risks of violent crime and education achieved over the last 40 years or so.But many citizens and commentators feel the opposite. Indeed it often looks as if we have moved from one set of unhealthy relationships – based on excessive servility and deference – to another set of unhealthy relationships marked by seething resentment and distrust, without even pausing for breath along the way. At the extreme there is anger and contempt; a view that governments and politicians are only in it for themselves; and an oddly infantilised mixture of belief that governments should be able to