Politics is for people /

Williams, Shirley, 1930-

Politics is for people / Shirley Williams. - Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1981. - 1 online resource (230 pages)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

-- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. The Achievement -- 2. What Went Wrong -- 3. The Challengers -- 4. How The World Has Changed -- 5. The New Technologies -- 6. The Threat of Unemployment -- 7. A Policy for Full Employment -- 8. Less Concentration: Industry -- 9. More Participation: Trade Unions -- 10. Social Services: Involving People -- 11. Education: Good Schools and Bad Classes -- 12. Political Institutions -- 13. The Third World and Europe: Challenge and Response -- 14. Conclusion: Politics is for People -- Notes -- Index.

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If we are to enhance the quality of life, a bold new approach to politics is needed that takes into consideration the economic realities of the 1980s. Shirley Williams, a founder of the new British Social Democratic Party, former Labourite and government minister, outlines her blueprint for action in this forthright and intelligent book. If we are to enhance the quality of life, a bold new approach to politics is needed that takes into consideration the economic realities of the 1980s. Shirley Williams, a founder of the new British Social Democratic Party, former Labourite and government minister, outlines her blueprint for action in this forthright and intelligent book. Traditional institutions in both capitalist and communist systems are cracking under the stresses of advanced industrialism, Williams contends. The sturdy structures once responsible for economic abundance, emergent class interests, and political responses are now in disrepair. Even the impressive postwar economic and social achievements are jeopardized by scarce energy and the unmet educational needs of high technology. Policymakers and citizens in the West can no longer assume that full employment, or a wide range of social services, or good industrial relations are achievable unless there is a quantum leap in our political thinking. What Williams wants and is working toward is a government that is limited, accountable, and able to be superseded when it forfeits popular support. The welfare state, furthermore, needs to be reformed to allow for more participation. She calls for the devolution of power and decentralization in government, big business, and unions. In three sweeping proposals, she suggests a ten year plan to bring the welfare state into the future, a Marshall Plan to assist the Third World, and greater disarmament after a period of successful detente. Williams' words ring with harsh truths and tangible needs. She challenges us with her own declaration of intent: "The old politics is dying. The battle to decide what the new politics will be like is just beginning. It is possible, just possible, that it will be a politics for people."


Electronic reproduction.
[Place of publication not identified] :
HathiTrust Digital Library,
2010.


Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002.
http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212


In English.

9780674593916 067459391X

10.4159/harvard.9780674593916 doi


Geschichte 1945-1993.


Economic policy.
Social policy.
Politique �economique.
Politique sociale.
public policy.
POLITICAL SCIENCE--General.
Economic policy
Social policy
Wirtschaftspolitik


Gro�britannien

HD87 / .W66
supported by KAIPTC 
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