IPPR’s report, The Relational State, is a welcome recognition of the importance of relationships and the need to consider how the state influences them. This is something we have long advocated – it is vital that all parties are clear about how they will strengthen the relationships that are most important for wellbeing. Our recent work on Family Proofing Policy suggests ways in which this can be done.
IPPR introduced their report in these terms:
The purpose of this collection is to introduce and discuss the idea of the ‘relational state’ – a new intellectual and political perspective on statecraft and the public services.
Sparked by the financial crisis and subsequent recession, the centre-left is locked in a serious debate about the core tenets of its political economy. It is striking, however, just how little discussion there has been in relation to the purpose and role of the state in general – and public services in particular.
The impetus for the ‘relational state’ is rooted in its critique of the ‘new public management’ model and, in particular, the dominant statecraft of the last Labour government. However, the nature and depth of this critique varies across the authors in this collection: some argue that its edges need to be smoothed off and its core methods redirected towards different, more relational, goals. Others mount the case for more fundamental change, affecting both the aims and practices of public services and the state. There is also consensus on the need for human relationships to be given greater priority as a goal of policy and in the design and operation of public services, which challenges a strict adherence to egalitarian goals and state-led agency above all others.
There is both shared ground and sharp disagreement among those who are interested in advancing the concept of the relational state. This collection aims to kickstart thinking through two essays from leading political theorists – Geoff Mulgan and Marc Stears – who introduce their distinctive ideas about the relational state, followed by a series of short responses which critique and advance their arguments in a number of different directions.
Section 1: Context
Graeme Cooke and Rick Muir – The possibilities and politics of the relational state
Section 2: Vision
Geoff Mulgan – Government with the people: the outlines of a relational state
Marc Stears – The case for a state that supports relationships, not a relational state
Section 3: Perspectives
Nick Pearce – Under pressure: the drivers of a new centre-left statecraft
Duncan O’Leary – Sure Start and the dilemmas of relational politics
Hilary Cottam – From relational ideas to relational action
Axel Heitmueller – Relational reality: citizen-centred healthcare
Tess Lanning – Power games: shaping a more democratic relational state
Jon Wilson – Set our schools free: a relational approach to education
Jon Stokes – The psychology of the relational state
Tessa Jowell – The relational state: a revolution in the making