Modernising the welfare state: The Blair legacy
Martin Powell
Abstract
Tony Blair was the longest serving Labour Prime Minister in British history. This book, the third in a trilogy of books on New Labour, analyses the legacy of his government for social policy, focusing on the extent to which it has changed the UK welfare state. Drawing on both conceptual and empirical evidence, it offers forward-looking speculation on emerging and future welfare issues. The book's contributors examine the content and extent of change. They explore which of the elements of modernization matter for their area, which sectors saw the greatest degree of change, and whether terms suc ... More
Tony Blair was the longest serving Labour Prime Minister in British history. This book, the third in a trilogy of books on New Labour, analyses the legacy of his government for social policy, focusing on the extent to which it has changed the UK welfare state. Drawing on both conceptual and empirical evidence, it offers forward-looking speculation on emerging and future welfare issues. The book's contributors examine the content and extent of change. They explore which of the elements of modernization matter for their area, which sectors saw the greatest degree of change, and whether terms such as ‘modern welfare state’ or ‘social investment state’ have any resonance. The contributors also examine change over time with reference to the terms of the government. Was reform a fairly continuous event, or was it concentrated in certain periods? Finally, the contributors give an assessment of likely policy direction under a future Labour or Conservative government.
Keywords:
Tony Blair,
Labour party,
social policy,
UK welfare state,
modern welfare state,
social investment state,
modernization
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2008 |
Print ISBN-13: 9781847420404 |
| Published to Policy Press Scholarship Online: March 2012 |
DOI:10.1332/policypress/9781847420404.001.0001 |
