Can’t, won’t and what’s the point? A theory of the UK public’s muted response to austerity
Can’t, won’t and what’s the point? A theory of the UK public’s muted response to austerity
Since 2010 the UK government has undertaken extensive spending cuts which have manifested in significant reductions in welfare, local authority and justice system spending. The cuts have been linked with rising poverty, food bank use and serious health issues. Such extreme cuts are likely to affect how citizens view and interact with government. This paper argues that the theories of civic voluntarism, grievance and policy feedback in combination explain why austerity has provoked relatively little political participation in the UK.
Austerity, civic voluntarism, grievance theory, policy feedback, political participation
Harrison, Kate Susannah Lucy
82a21508-47b0-49d9-a5f6-871d30af8534
Harrison, Kate Susannah Lucy
82a21508-47b0-49d9-a5f6-871d30af8534
Harrison, Kate Susannah Lucy
(2020)
Can’t, won’t and what’s the point? A theory of the UK public’s muted response to austerity.
Representation.
(doi:10.1080/00344893.2020.1728367).
Abstract
Since 2010 the UK government has undertaken extensive spending cuts which have manifested in significant reductions in welfare, local authority and justice system spending. The cuts have been linked with rising poverty, food bank use and serious health issues. Such extreme cuts are likely to affect how citizens view and interact with government. This paper argues that the theories of civic voluntarism, grievance and policy feedback in combination explain why austerity has provoked relatively little political participation in the UK.
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Austerity_and_political_participation_in_the_UK
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 26 February 2020
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council. The author would like to thank Dr John Boswell and Dr Matt Ryan for their support and advice on this article, as well as the reviewers for their valuable feedback.
Funding Information:
. In Staffan Kulim & Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen (Eds.), How welfare States Shape the democratic public: Policy feedback, participation, voting, and attitudes (pp. 19 – 40 ). Cheltenham : Edward Elgar Publishing . National Audit Office . ( 2010 ). Maintaining the financial stability of UK banks : update on the support schemes . London : The Stationery Office . Retrieved from https://www.nao.org.uk/report/maintaining-the-financial-stability-of-uk-banks-update-on-the-support-schemes/ . Norris , P. ( 2011 ). Democratic deficit : Critical citizens revisited . New York : Cambridge University Press . Occupy London . ( 2011 ). Occupy London . Retrieved from http://occupylondon.org.uk/about/about-2/ . Oliveira , A. ( 2018 ). Dataset: Government deficit and debt return . Retrieved from https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/datasets/governmentdeficitanddebtreturn . Ormston , R. , & Curtice , J. (eds.). ( 2015 ). British social attitudes: The 32nd report . London : NatCen Social Research . Retrieved from www.bsa.natcen.ac.uk . Perea , E. A. ( 2002 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, © 2020 McDougall Trust, London.
Keywords:
Austerity, civic voluntarism, grievance theory, policy feedback, political participation
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Local EPrints ID: 442304
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/442304
ISSN: 0034-4893
PURE UUID: 39e0f9e9-b6e7-4ed2-b4c5-6913576184c7
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Date deposited: 13 Jul 2020 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 05:43
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Author:
Kate Susannah Lucy Harrison
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