The Politics of Austerity: Modeling British Attitudes Towards Public Spending Cuts

Clarke, Harold D.; Borges, Walter; Stewart, Marianne C.; Sanders, David; Whiteley, Paul

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-35239-3_13

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Generally, the public tends to agree that budget surpluses are to be preferred over deficits (or rather, smaller deficits are to be preferred over large deficits) (Clarke et al. ). We thus expect that political trust tends to deteriorate with increasing budget deficits.…”

Section: Macroeconomic Performance and Political Trustmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macroeconomic performance, political trust and the Great Recession: A multilevel analysis of the effects of within‐country fluctuations in macroeconomic performance on political trust in 15 EU countries, 1999–2011

Erkel

Meer

2015

European J Political Res

153

105

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Recent cross‐national comparative studies have found no effect of countries’ macroeconomic performances on trust in national political institutions, once political explanations (most notably corruption) are taken into account. Although political trust is not determined by the comparison of national economic performance to other countries, it is argued in this article that it is affected by comparisons to their own past performance. In a multilevel, fixed effects analysis of Eurobarometer data (21 waves in 15 European Union Member States between 1999 and 2011) the extent to which within‐country variations in economic performance affect political trust longitudinally is tested. Three major conclusions are reached. First, within‐country, longitudinal changes in performance (growth, deficits, unemployment and inflation) affect political trust. Second, the impact of macroeconomic performance is stronger among the lower educated. Third, even in times of economic duress, budgetary deficits tend to undermine political trust.

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Section: Macroeconomic Performance and Political Trustmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macroeconomic performance, political trust and the Great Recession: A multilevel analysis of the effects of within‐country fluctuations in macroeconomic performance on political trust in 15 EU countries, 1999–2011

Erkel

Meer

2015

European J Political Res

153

105

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“…Given opposition within parliament and large scale public demonstrations during 2011, it is perhaps surprising that the Conservative‐coalition's 80 per cent cut to overall tertiary teaching funding – which saw the top tuition fee English universities could charge increase by almost 275 per cent – did not provoke a rapid increase in public support for more education spending in the 2010s, as a thermostatic model would lead us to expect (Clarke et al . ). However, there was a 6 percentage point drop between 1997 and 2000, following the introduction of tertiary fees in 1998.…”

Section: Core Welfare State Servicesmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Notably, support barely wavered as the Thatcher Government underfunded the NHS and introduced competition and business models, Labour attempted to improve patient choice and competition through financial incentives for individuals and organizations (including the option of using private services) and the Conservative‐coalition devolved NHS management and ownership and cut funding between 2011 and 2015 (Appleby and Roberts ; Clarke et al . ; Taylor‐Gooby ). Support for prioritizing health for extra government spending fluctuated, reaching its lowest level in 2006 when Labour's strategic health spending increases reduced waiting times to historic lows and strengthened primary care.…”

Section: Core Welfare State Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘A Common Sense of the Times’? Neo‐liberalism and Changing Public Opinion in New Zealand and the UK

Humpage

2015

Soc Policy Adm

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Neo-liberalism represents a significant and enduring shift in the politics shaping social policy. Although frequently ascribed a hegemonic, all-powerful status that focuses our attention on the coherence found in neo-liberal policies, this article builds on scholarly work highlighting variegation in the neo-liberal project across different policy areas, national settings and time periods. Specifically, it employs Peck's and Tickell's (2002) view that neo-liberalism has gone through multiple phases in response to both external and internal crises as an entry point for studying neo-liberalism's impact on public support for the welfare state. Drawing upon New Zealand and British attitudinal data, the article argues that public reactions to an early period of retrenchment ('roll-back' neo-liberalism) differ from those reported in the 'roll-out' or embedding phase of neo-liberalism implemented by Third Way Labour Governments in both countries. Indeed, continuing public support in many policy areas arguably contributed to the internal crisis that provoked an adaptation to the neo-liberal project. The article further explores public support for the welfare state following the external crisis provoked by the financial meltdown of 2008-09 asking whether New Zealand and British attitudes showed signs of resisting austerity measures or whether they, instead, indicated a third, 'roll-over' period of neo-liberalism where the public accepted not only a neo-liberal economic agenda but also the need for further retrenchment of the welfare state. Conclusions about the politics of social policy at the level of public opinion offer both good and bad news for welfare state advocates.

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“…Nevertheless, management and ownership within the defence reform became socially contested, more so, as the coalition set in motion its austerity program. The public, on the one side, recognized the importance of the cuts (which consequently empowered the executive); however, they also cared about cuts harming their living conditions and security (Clarke et al 2013). For two other critical agents, David Cameron, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, the need to correct the books of public spending across was a priority for the government (HM Treasury 2010).…”

Section: A “Break Of Mindset”mentioning

confidence: 99%

Introducing Change in Public Service Organizations under Austerity: The Complex Case of the Governance of the Defence in the United Kingdom

Solar

2020

Politics & Policy

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Introducing, managing, and sustaining change in public service organizations is challenging for policy makers to implement and for scholars to theorize. In 2010, the U.K. Government introduced policy changes to help bring down the national deficit. The executive's planned reforms aimed to deliver a so‐called battle‐winning military force, a smaller and more professional Ministry of Defence, and an affordable overall defence organization. The article borrows from theories of management and public policy to help enlighten our understanding of change under New Public Management and governance approaches. The article's central claim is that the U.K. Government sought to correct cost‐efficiency processes in public service organizations trying to reshape organizational and managerial structures dependent on many internal and external pressures. The article examines the executive's purpose in developing a need for change and the ways to implement it. I question whether the U.K. Government's prescriptive and hierarchical approach to organizational change in public administration is sustainable in the long term. Related Articles Ariely, Gal. 2011. “Why People (Dis)Like the Public Service: Citizen Perception of the Public Service and the NPM Doctrine.” Politics & Policy 39 (6): 997‐1019. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00329.x Burau, Viola, and Carole Clavier. 2018. “Understanding Gaps in the Coexistence between Different Modes of Governance: A Case Study of Public Health in Schools in a Multilevel System.” Politics & Policy 46 (4): 604‐629. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12269 Monza, Sabina, and Eva Anduiza. 2016. “The Visibility of the EU in the National Public Spheres in Times of Crisis and Austerity.” Politics & Policy 44 (3): 499‐524. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12163

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The Politics of Austerity: Modeling British Attitudes Towards Public Spending Cuts

Cited by 8 publications

References 13 publications

Macroeconomic performance, political trust and the Great Recession: A multilevel analysis of the effects of within‐country fluctuations in macroeconomic performance on political trust in 15 EU countries, 1999–2011

Macroeconomic performance, political trust and the Great Recession: A multilevel analysis of the effects of within‐country fluctuations in macroeconomic performance on political trust in 15 EU countries, 1999–2011

‘A Common Sense of the Times’? Neo‐liberalism and Changing Public Opinion in New Zealand and the UK

Introducing Change in Public Service Organizations under Austerity: The Complex Case of the Governance of the Defence in the United Kingdom

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