PPI’s Claire Ainsley contributed to this essay collection on remaking the modern state for Re:State, a UK public services think tank.
The question of remaking the State is fundamental to the fight for democracy versus authoritarianism. Increasing numbers of citizens in developed democracies are starting to question the foundation of modern liberal democracy, as they continue to be expected to fund a state that they are becoming less sure is serving them.
This is particularly acute amongst younger people, the perhaps unexpected audience the right-wing populists are gaining traction with, who seek to exploit people’s discontent with a settlement
they are unconvinced works in their favour. If we are to inspire the next generation that this world is theirs and that we have to take shared responsibility for running it, then we have to think radically and urgently about what and who our State is for. Simply defending the status quo or proposing limited fixes just isn’t sufficient for the rupture that is occurring between those for whom the existing order works, and the many for Re:Think: Bold ideas to remake the State Re:Imagining the State whom it doesn’t.
We could start by fronting up what happened during the Covid-19 pandemic. The only explanation I can find for how little we want to talk about it now, to address the failings and learn from them, is that it is easier to bury the memory of a trauma than to relive it. But like all traumas, they find a way to resurface. An emotional long Covid is present in our classrooms and care homes, in the public services that are the State’s frontline, and in the people who rely on them most.
