Restating The State?

In his essay “The end of laissez-faire”, Keynes distinguished between the agenda and the non-agenda of government. This book asks how we interpret that distinction today.

• A ground-breaking collection concerned with rethinking the contemporary role of the state.
• Comprises essays written by leading scholars and politicians.
• Looks back at the expansion of the social democratic state in post-war Britain, and at the subsequent challenge to this from neo-liberal ideas and policies.
• Discusses new doctrines for managing the state, new conceptions of the state, and new ideas for organising the delivery of public services.
• Covers current concepts, such as the enabling state, and topical issues such as public private partnerships.
• Goes beyond traditional ‘state versus market’ arguments.
• Opens up new conceptual and practical territory.

In his essay “The end of laissez-faire”, Keynes distinguished between the agenda and the non-agenda of government. Almost 80 years on, this book asks what Keynes’s distinction means today. Comprising a series of contributions by leading scholars and political commentators, it considers how the agenda and non-agenda of government have shifted and how they might shift further in the future.

The book starts by looking back at the expansion of the social democratic state in post-war Britain, and at the subsequent challenge to this from neo-liberal ideas and policies. In light of this history, the contributors then discuss new doctrines for managing the state, new conceptions of the state, and new ideas for organising the delivery of public services. They address current models such as the enabling state, as well as topical issues such as public private partnerships. All the contributors are impatient with outmoded ‘state versus market’ arguments, and strive to go beyond traditional thinking in order to rethink the contemporary role of the state.

Andrew Gamble is Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield. He is joint editor of The Political Quarterly and his books include Between Europe and America: The Future of British Politics (2003) and Politics and Fate (2000).

Tony Wright is MP for Cannock Chase and Chairman of the Public Administration Committee in the House of Commons. He is joint editor of The Political Quarterly and his books include The British Political Process (1999) and Socialisms: Old and New (1996).

Andrew Gamble and Tony Wright have also co-edited The New Social Democracy.