The Transformation of British Welfare Policy: Politics, Discourse, and Public Opinion

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Tom O'Grady (Lecturer in Political Science, Lecturer in Political Science, University College London)

The Transformation of British Welfare Policy

Politics, Discourse, and Public Opinion

Tom O'Grady (Lecturer in Political Science, Lecturer in Political Science, University College London)

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English

Oxford University Press
09 June 2022

Political science & theory; Comparative politics; Public administration; Political economy

Since 2010 the UK has enacted radical welfare reforms that have led to greater poverty, homelessness, indebtedness, and foodbank use. It has diverged from other European countries experiencing similar economic and social trends, who have not enacted such dramatic cuts and reforms. Until recently, however, the changes proved very popular with the public, who increasingly hated the welfare system and viewed its users as lazy, undeserving, and likely to be cheating.

In this book, Tom O'Grady focuses on policies that provide relief from unemployment, poverty, and disability to uncover why Britain's welfare system has been reformed so radically and why, until recently, the public enthusiastically endorsed this programme. Using a comparative and historical perspective, he traces the evolution of British welfare policy, politics, discourse, and public opinion since the 1980s, and argues that from the 1990s a long-term change in discourse from both politicians and the media caused the British public to turn against welfare by 2010. That, combined with the financial crisis, left the system uniquely vulnerable to cuts. This book explores the roots of public opinion on the welfare system, the motives of politicians who have revolutionized it, and the ways in which the system and its users have been spoken about. It is an account of how the public came to consider deserving recipients of help as scroungers; of when and why politicians and the media vilified them; of political parties whose discourse and policies were transformed, almost overnight; and of Britain's journey from providing welfare as generously as the average European country in the 1970s to becoming an outlier today.

By: Tom O'Grady (Lecturer in Political Science Lecturer in Political Science University College London)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 163mm, Spine: 30mm
Weight: 1g
ISBN: 9780192898890
ISBN 10: 0192898892
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 09 June 2022
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface List of figures 1: Introduction: Welfare Stories 2: What Has Changed? Public Opinion and Policy Reforms 3: Explaining British Exceptionalism 4: Political Discourse 5: Discourse in the Print Media 6: Public Opinion 7: Welfare Politics in the 1990s: New Labour's Policy Revolution 8: Compassionate Conservatism? Conservative Welfare Policy Since 2005 9: Political Discourse and Public Opinion in Other Countries 10: Conclusion: Welfare Futures Notes References Index

Tom O'Grady is a lecturer in Political Science at University College London. He obtained his PhD from MIT in 2017, and his research focuses on comparative political economy and political behaviour in the UK and Europe.