Public Opinion and the Privatization of Welfare

Some Theoretical Implications

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2112964
AutoresKen Judge, Jillian Smith, Peter Taylor-Gooby (0000-0002-4825-1250)
Año1983
Volumen12
Número4
Páginas469-489
Fecha de publicación1983-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Social Policy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0047-2794 • E-ISSN: 1469-7823
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s004727940001309x
PMID10267971
OpenAlexW2165969182
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas10
Referencias citadas42

The social policy of the Thatcher government is characterized by an abrupt shift in the direction of the private sector. To what extent does this reflect what people want? The Institute of Economic Affairs conclude from the only suitable national opinion survey that such a move is strongly supported. Our reanalysis of their data shows that this strand in public opinion can coexist with, and need not contradict, an equal public enthusiasm for state welfare. Such results have important implications for our understanding of social policy. We conclude, therefore, with a discussion of contrasting marxist and liberal accounts which seeks to show that the evidence of ambivalence in popular attitudes about the welfare state supports particular developments in theory

Ambivalence · Economics · Enthusiasm · Government (linguistics) · Marxist philosophy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Private sector · Public economics · Public opinion · Public policy · Public sector · Social policy · Social Welfare · Sociology · State (computer science) · Welfare · Welfare state · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Psychology · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Social Psychology