I will discuss the various ideas attributing to the overall argument of whether social policy has failed to eradicate poverty and inequality or not. From the use of various I will deliver a balanced and researched conclusion to answer the effectiveness of the New Labour's and Coalition's policies.
From 1979 to 1997, Britain was governed by the Conservative Party. Their ideals were very similar to the New Right in that they were both rooted in economic liberalism and social conservatism. (Baldock et al,2012:39) During this time there were many problems such as excessive public expenditure leading to economic problems, in housing there were cuts in maintenance and building and there was also restrictions on income related benefits and contributory
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The name 'New Labour' was created by Tony Blair who claimed that Labour was pursuing a distinctive 'Third Way' between 'old left' and 'New Right' (Fulcher et al,2011:579). In historical terms the third way can be seen as a third or middle way between the classic welfare state of old labour and conservative on the one hand and the restructured welfare state of the Thatcher and Major conservative governments (Alcock etal,2012:135). The differences of Old Labour and New Labour were the focuses on policies. Old Labour policies were based on collectivism and the state direction of the economy, however with the growth of consumerism and the increase of individual freedom and choice; collectivism was no longer as effective. Whilst New Labour policies were more focused on individualism and globalisation. The third way was generally related with the New Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and writings of Anthony Giddens. Giddens claimed that it was distinctive from Neo Liberalism and traditional social democracy but stressed that it is a renewed social democracy and was also aimed at renewing left wing policies. It attempted to provide middle ground between old styles and post marketing liberalism. (Alcock et al, …show more content…
The approach compared to the old labour and the new right is that it tried to combine focusing on the economics side and also focusing on the population and what the country needed. Although they tried to combat many aspects of society for example education, healthcare, unemployment and poverty however whilst a lot of money was put into these causes, they were no beneficial results.
Another weakness of the New Labour and Coalitions apprroach to poverty and inequality is the third way and the big society could just be a coverup to make the public think that volunteering is the way to go and by the public volunteering then the government are saving money however, this could just be false pretense on the governments behalf. This shows that society is still rife with poverty and inequality as the rise of people using food banks and the amount of poverty are rising on a fast increase. This also shows that the third way policies were ineffective as they didn't reach their targets.
However an advantage of new labour is in retrospect the Third Way changed society in numerous ways for example increasingly harsh discipline for welfare claimants, light touch regulation (FSA), promoted NHS market & PFI, made work pay and reduced social
The conservative party has been in existence since the 1670s and was first called the ‘Tories’, a term used by the Scottish and Irish to describe a robber. This party is a right- wing party which believed in conserving the tradition and the king, as the name entails. David Cameron, the current party leader became the leader in 2005. He is also the present prime minister of Great Britain and he has made a lot of changes since he became the leader of the party. In this essay, I will talk about the history of the party, looking into detail at their gradual changes or transition in ideology and the various changes that David Cameron has made to the party’s image and beliefs.
This essay will address whether New Labour contained policies with which it wished to pursue, or was solely developed in order to win elections. It is important to realise whether a political party that held office for approximately 13 years only possessed the goal of winning elections, or promoted policies which it wished to pursue. If a party that held no substance was governing for 13 years, it would be unfair to the people. New Labour was designed to win elections, but still contained policies which it wished to pursue. To adequately defend this thesis, one must look at the re-branding steps taken by New Labour and the new policies the party was going to pursue. Through analysis, it will be shown that New Labour promoted policies in regards
The notion of overseeing welfare wasn’t always the case in the UK. Before this the ‘Poor Law’ was operated. (1598-1948) This consisted on a basis that the poor amongst society were essentially a problem of their own making and in turn needed to be punished because of this. ‘Those without jobs were lazy, feckless or in some other way delinquent’ (Coats: 34: 2012) Welfare was deemed to be a privilege, a goodwill gesture from the rich to the poor. Harsh living conditions and the punishments were seen as motivation for the poor to strive to improve their own lives.
In conclusion, the Welfare Reforms came about because of changing ideology and the founding of the Labour party, which promised more action on the growing awareness of poverty and exclusion of the working classes from political representation. The reforms were helped along the way by changing Liberal ideas and compassionate concerned leaders, but it appears that any party who wanted to win the support from the electorate had to change their ideas to match the changing of the public’s opinions.
The Thatcherism ideology was part of the establishment of privatisation, cutting off the taxes and reducing public expenditure in health and care services in order to improve Britain’s economy, as a consequence more than 50 identities were privatised by
Fraser, D. (2003) 3rd Ed. The Evolution of the British Welfare State. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Stitt, S. (1994) Poverty and Poor Relief: Concepts and Reality.
Starting during the 1970s, factions of American conservatives slowly came together to form a new and more radical dissenting conservative movement, the New Right. The New Right was just as radical as its liberal opposite, with agendas to increase government involvement beyond the established conservative view of government’s role. Although New Right politicians made admirable advances to dissemble New Deal economic policies, the movement as a whole counters conservativism and the ideologies that America was founded on. Although the New Right adopts conservative economic ideologies, its social agenda weakened the conservative movement by focusing public attention to social and cultural issues that have no place within the established Old Right platform.
Throughout this assignment a variety of terminology will be used, first it is appropriate to define what the term ‘Social Policy’ means. Social policy can be defined in different ways and ‘there is no established or agreed definition of social policy’ (Baldock et, al., 1999:21). From reading different books on social policy, the author’s understanding of social policy is it provides guidelines to deal with social problems . Social problems are matters which direct...
In 1997, Tony Blair of the labour party won the United Kingdom’s general election on the ideology, goals and a party manifesto of a ‘new labour’, a revision, an update and a reform of the old labour party, bringing new radical politics to the 20th century - although some believe that labour only won the election due to the British publics increasing hate for Thatcher and the conservatives. The term new labour was a reflection on how the labour party was trying to reform itself and depart from the ideas of ‘old labour’ that had failed to win an election since 1974 and take on new ideas and politics that seemed radical, new and progressive and that would regain trust from the British voters. ‘New labour, new for Britain’ was the slogan that first appeared on the party’s manifesto in 1996 and soon became the party’s main slogan for the campaign of the 1997 elections. But how exactly was new labour new? New labour was trying to become more progressive with its politics that reformed all of the key policy domains that the government were interested in. By attempting to reform the party’s manifesto as well as clause IV, new labour attempted to become a new party that could progress British politics rather than rely on traditional politics of old labour. New labour wanted to modernise the party’s by perusing their traditional goals which include job support, economic growth, investments in public services, welfare and redistribution but they also wanted new progressive politics that catered to the minority groups in terms of social justice, for example civil partnerships (King,2002). However, some argue that new labour was not particularly ‘new’ and instead that Blair’s government had betrayed the traditions of the labour party and inst...
Social welfare is an expansive system proposed to maintain the well being of individuals within a society. This paper will explain the progression from the feudal system and church provisions for the poor before the Elizabethan Poor Law to the gradual assumption of the responsibility for the poor by the government. A responsibility assumed not out of humanity and concern for the poor, but as a process of standardizing the ways in which the poor were to be managed. The history of social welfare reflects differences in values as they relate to social responsibility in taking care of the needy. Our society has been influenced by values like Judeo-Christian humanitarianism and the economic doctrine of laissez faire. Our present social welfare structure is also influenced by these values.
Sociology focuses on the structure and organization of a society and how this correlates to social problems and individuals. The sociological thoughts on poverty have revolved around the importance of social structures and individual agency when explaining the prevalence of poverty over the years. In many accounts, specifically political ones and academic studies, the emphasis was put on the ‘undeserving poor’, which outlined individual behaviours and apparent moral failings as key causes of poverty. Most recently, there has been arguments on whether welfare system is responsible for encouraging and supporting claimants into welfare dependency. Another idea was brought around troubled families or families who have never worked as key explanations for poverty. Sociologists have used empirical evidence to challenge individual and sociological explanations for poverty (Sociological perspectives on poverty). They emphasize the importance of the broader context and the different opportunities open
In This essay I will look at what is new about New Labour in regard to
When I first created this proposal it was because of the large amounts of sexual assault issues that I have heard in the news. I wanted to figure out a way to prevent people from being assaulted because most high school and college students are just taught how to say no to sexual activities but not taught how to defend themselves if the perpetrator gets violent. I thought the best way to do this was through self defense classes because if people have the confidence to defend themselves against a violent person, they have a smaller chance of being attacked. At first I was not sure where the classes should be taught in the high school curriculum, but I ultimately decided it should be added to the physical education curriculum because it fit in there best. At first, I
In 1997 the political party New Labour came in to power and one of the main
The film Modern Times directed by Charlie Chaplin is a silent era film filled with sound effects that shows the struggles and challenges of living in a modern industrial society. The Director Charlie Chaplin happens to be the central character referred to as Little Tramp along with his friend Ellen also known as Gamine, an orphan and homeless young lady. The technical code of the film is black and white but very humorous. The film portrays social issues such as slavery, poverty, unemployment, strikes, and economic imbalances just to name a few. These issues occurred during the period of the great depression in America.