Sock Puppets: How the Government Lobbies Itself and Why

Civil society elites’ challengers in the UK: A frontlash/backlash perspective

“…In the context of these debates, major charities, such as the National Trust and Barnardo’s, have been publicly and formally challenged by conservative politicians on the grounds of their political activities in response to debates on racial justice and the colonial legacy of charities. The contestation over the political role of charities is not new and is grounded in long-standing debates along party lines, in which the Conservative politicians have over the years articulated a stronger opposition against civil society stances on progressive issues (see the Baring Foundation reports 2011–2015; Snowdon, 2012). Even before issues of race and colonialism took centre stage in public debates, a series of reports on the independence of the third sector commissioned by The Baring Foundation recorded increased hostility of Conservative ministers and politicians towards charities’ political activities.…”

“…Even before issues of race and colonialism took centre stage in public debates, a series of reports on the independence of the third sector commissioned by The Baring Foundation recorded increased hostility of Conservative ministers and politicians towards charities’ political activities. Much of the criticism echoes the stance of Snowdon’s (2012) brief from the free-market think tank The Institute of Economic Affairs, that charities that are financially supported by the state (through direct funding or tax benefits) should not be allowed to lobby the government, as they are led by a left-leaning lobby, not reflecting the interests of ‘the people’ (The Baring Foundation, 2014: 33). The emergence of recent culture war narratives has provided further discursive tools for conservative elites to discredit charities’ engagement on social issues (e.g.…”

Transformational Moments in Social Welfare

“…In 2012 and 2014 the right-wing think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs published two reports (Snowdon, 2012; which decried the use of public funds by charities to lobby and campaign for government action. With references to public choice theory, it was suggested that government was paying 'sock puppet' charities effectively to lobby for more government, at taxpayers' expense.…”

Children, military families and soldier citizenship

“…Given these challenges, children are also depicted in similar ways to their serving parents; sometimes as heroes, sometimes as victims but always as 'extraordinary' citizens, bravely playing their part in their military duty to the state. In common with other 'Shadow State' charities (Snowdon, 2012;Wolch, 2006), this complicity has blunted the edge of political citizenship (Chaney and Wincott, 2014;Hines et al, 2015) and helped to normalise military action and societal support for those prosecuting it (Woodward, 2017). Consequently, children are enrolled into 6 military networks in seemingly apolitical ways (Hörschelmann, 2016) and portrayed as heroes or victims of military service.…”