Role of government

Overview

This chapter looks at trends in attitudes towards the proper role and responsibilities of
government during the last 20 years.

It looks in particular at the extent to which these trends appear to represent a reaction to recent developments in the pattern of public spending and to changes in external circumstances.

Both seem to have played a role in changing views, as evidenced both by trends in attitudes towards the responsibility that government has for the welfare of pensioners and the unemployed in particular, and towards the merits of cutting public expenditure in general.

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Spotlight

Support for ‘tax more, spend more’ at highest level in a decade 

Author: John Curtice, Research Consultant, The National Centre for Social Research, and Professor of Politics, University of Strathclyde