An article examined the pledge by the new government to 'build the Big Society'. It summarized the policies of the previous government, the key commitments of the Big Society agenda, and the broader ideological context of the new approach. Some of the implications for third sector policy and practice were identified. The article questioned whether the Big Society agenda might threaten third sector unity.
Source: Pete Alcock, 'Building the Big Society: a new policy environment for the third sector in England', Voluntary Sector Review, Volume 1 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Dec
An article said that the Conservative Party's vision of a 'Big Society' was 'badly flawed'. It overlooked the crucial role that needed to be played by the state in promoting social justice, which was essential to the development of active citizenship and vibrant communities. The initiative was particularly perverse in the context of the global financial crisis, a vitally important cause of which had been inadequate state regulation rather than an over-mighty state.
Source: Ben Kisby, 'The Big Society: power to the people?', Political Quarterly, Volume 81 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Nov
A think-tank report examined the prospects for the 'Big Society' in the context of the government's 2010 spending review. The success of the project depended on the government revising its policies on public spending cuts to guarantee sufficient support for local government, community groups, and third sector organizations. The scale and speed of the cuts left civil society with an impossible job to do: the result would be a poorer, more hard-pressed society, not a bigger one.
Source: Anna Coote, Cutting It: The 'Big Society' and the new austerity, New Economics Foundation
Links: Report | NEF press release | Charity Times report
Date: 2010-Nov
Pupils in England scored significantly above average in a test of civic knowledge and understanding when compared with other countries participating in an international study. However, when compared only to their European counterparts, their performance was average.
Source: Julie Nelson, Pauline Wade and David Kerr, Young People's Civic Attitudes and Practices: England's outcomes from the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), Research Report RR060, Department for Education
Links: Report | Brief | NFER press release
Date: 2010-Nov
A report examined research evidence relating to 'environmental citizenship'. It considered whether approaches based on environmental citizenship could be used as a means of encouraging pro-environmental behaviour, and set out more specific policy recommendations for how this might be done.
Source: Andrew Dobson, Environmental Citizenship and Pro-Environmental Behaviour: Rapid research and evidence review, Sustainable Development Research Network
Links: Report | Summary | SDRC press release
Date: 2010-Nov
Researchers examined the impact of citizenship education on the learning experiences and outcomes of pupils in England. There had been a 'marked and steady increase' in young people's civic and political participation, and indications that these young people would continue to participate as adult citizens. In contrast, there had been a hardening of attitudes toward equality and society, a weakening of attachment to communities, and fluctuating levels of engagement and trust in the political arena.
Source: Avril Keating, David Kerr, Thomas Benton, Ellie Mundy and Joana Lopes, Citizenship Education in England 2001-2010: Young people's practices and prospects for the future – The eighth and final report from the Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study (CELS), Research Report RR059, Department for Education
Links: Report | Brief | NFER press release | BBC report
Date: 2010-Nov
A new book (by a Conservative Party MP) examined the idea of a 'Big Society' and its implications. It said that the Big Society was rooted in neglected British intellectual and social traditions – but also embodied some of the most cutting-edge new policy ideas.
Source: Jesse Norman MP, The Big Society: Anatomy of the new politics, University of Buckingham Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Nov
The government began consultation on its proposal to cancel the Citizenship Survey – an annual survey conducted in England and Wales. The consultation document examined the implications of stopping, and options for alternative information sources.
Source: The Future of the Citizenship Survey: Consultation, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2010-Nov
An article examined the impact on young people of an intensive citizenship programme in a large secondary school in Scotland. The results suggested that there had been a marked change in the general values of the young people involved. There were also some 'stark' gender differences.
Source: Henry Maitles, 'Citizenship initiatives and pupil values: a case study of one Scottish school's experience', Educational Review, Volume 62 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Nov
A think-tank report said that modern welfare states and high levels of public debt 'undermined human flourishing'. In the field of welfare, the state was displacing networks of solidarity, reciprocity, and community – rather than supporting them.
Source: Philip Booth, The Free Economy, the Welfare State and Government Borrowing, Institute of Economic Affairs
Date: 2010-Oct
A think-tank report examined how the idea of the 'Big Society' could become more rigorous, and how it could be translated into a practical programme for government, both national and local. It recommended a sharper focus on the ideas of 'social wealth' and 'social growth' – growth in the quantity and quality of social relationships, trust, and support. It looked at how to promote effective social innovation, how to inspire social entrepreneurship, and how to reduce social waste.
Source: Investing in Social Growth: Can the Big Society be more than a slogan?, Young Foundation
Date: 2010-Sep
A paper examined the 'unstable and changing' formulations of the third sector and civil society.
Source: Pete Alcock and Jeremy Kendall, Constituting the Third Sector: Processes of decontestation and contention under the UK Labour governments in England, Working Paper 42, Third Sector Research Centre
Date: 2010-Aug
A paper said that the new government's plans for a 'Big Society' would not succeed without a new co-operative framework of rights and responsibilities – one that involved not only only community services but also state services and business support.
Source: Carey Oppenheim, Ed Cox and Reg Platt, Regeneration Through Co-Operation: Creating a framework for communities to act together, Co-operatives UK
Links: Paper | IPPR press release
Date: 2010-Jul
The new government announced plans for young people to take part in 'National Citizen Service' pilots. The pilots would start in summer 2011 and would provide around 10,000 places. Aimed at school leavers aged 16, the pilots would take place after the end of the exam period, and would last for 7-8 weeks. They would offer the chance to learn new skills that would help young people to make a positive contribution to their community.
Source: Press release 22 July 2010, Cabinet Office
Links: Conservative Party press release | Volunteering England press release | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Jul
The Prime Minister outlined plans for a new 'Big Society Bank', and announced the first 'Big Society' communities. The Big Society Bank would ensure that all the money from dormant bank accounts made available to England was put to good use for the benefit of society. Big Society communities would receive targeted and tailored help from central government to ensure that they could overcome 'bureaucratic barriers' and take greater responsibility for the decisions that affected the local area and local people.
Source: Speech by David Cameron MP (Prime Minister), 19 July 2010
Links: Text of speech | Conservative Party press release | NCVO press release | CAF press release | NCVYS press release | Crisis press release | CLPS press release | Centre for Cities press release | PRTC press release | SEC press release | Consumer Focus press release | Labour Party press release | Guardian report | Charity Times report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2010-Jul
A think-tank report examined the 'Big Society' advocated by the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, and suggested ways in which it could be achieved in practice.
Source: Anna Coote, Ten Big Questions About the Big Society: And ten ways to make the best of it, New Economics Foundation
Links: Report | Civil Society report
Date: 2010-Jun
A study (involving a series of research projects and experiments) examined what more citizens could do to help create and maintain a good society, and how governments and other agencies could help to stimulate citizen action. If approached in the right way, citizens were willing to change their behaviour and do more to help themselves and others: but the government would have to learn to operate differently if the 'Big Society' were to be achieved.
Source: Press release 23 June 2010, Institute for Political and Economic Governance (University of Manchester)/Centre for Citizenship and Democracy (University of Southampton)
Links: Project press release | Manchester University press release | Briefings
Date: 2010-Jun
The new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government published details of its plans for creating a 'Big Society'. It said that it would:
• radically reform the planning system to give neighbourhoods far more ability to determine the shape of the places in which their inhabitants lived;
• introduce new powers to help communities save local facilities and services threatened with closure, and give communities the right to bid to take over local state-run services;
• train a new generation of community organizers;
• encourage volunteering and involvement in social action;
• encourage charitable giving and philanthropy;
• introduce a 'National Citizen Service' to give young people a chance to develop the skills needed to be active and responsible citizens; and
• support the creation and expansion of mutuals, co-operatives, charities, and social enterprises.
Source: Building the Big Society, Cabinet Office
Links: Report | Speeches | LGA press release | LinksUK press release | SEC press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Charity Times report
Date: 2010-May
The opposition Conservative Party published its plans for building a 'big society' – one with with much higher levels of personal, professional, civic, and corporate responsibility. It proposed the creation of a 'neighbourhood army' of 5,000 full-time, professional community organizers who would identify local community leaders, bring communities together, help people start their own neighbourhood groups, and give communities the help they needed to take control of and tackle their problems.
Source: Building a Big Society, Conservative Party
Links: Plan | Conservative Party press release | Speech | CAF press release | NALC press release | SEC press release | LinksUK press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | Charity Times report
Date: 2010-Mar
A paper used data from the European Social Survey and the United Kingdom Citizenship Survey to consider the expectation of reciprocity in relation to helping behaviour – specifically whether a person who helped another person expected help in return. People who saw helping others as important and those who helped in practice (in terms of helping organize or attending local events) were less likely to expect help in return when compared with others. There were considerable differences in rates of reciprocity across different European countries.
Source: Kingsley Purdam and Mark Tranmer, From Me To You? A comparative analysis of reciprocal helping and civic society, Working Paper 2010-02, Centre for Census and Survey Research/University of Manchester
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Mar
A paper examined the role of civil society associations in growing a more 'civil' economy. A civil economy needed parliamentary reform to have any chance of success – a new political and economic system in which the dominant voices were those of civil society. There needed to be greater transparency by banks and pension funds to allow civil society to examine and question their use of the public's money. Civil society needed to be at the heart of all corporate decision-making to encourage a culture where the behaviour of financial institutions was monitored.
Source: Karl Dayson, After the Financial Crisis: The roles of civil society associations in growing a more civil economy, Carnegie UK Trust
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Mar
A report brought together, for the first time, key measures of civic health – offering an insight into the workings of modern democracy in England and the connexions people had to their communities.
Source: Ipsos MORI, Our Nation's Civic Health, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report | Summary | Annex | DCLG press release | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Mar
A paper reviewed the history of the 'civil economy' – civil society associations running businesses, and running organizations that aimed to influence businesses. It looked ahead to how the civil economy might come to have a greater influence in the future.
Source: Rob Paton and Roger Spear, Civil Society and the 'Commanding Heights': The civil economy – past, present and future, Carnegie UK Trust
Links: Paper
Date: 2010-Mar
A report said that civil society had been 'pushed to the margins' in key areas including politics, finance, and the media – and that this needed to change. The report explored how civil society activity could help: grow a more civil economy; enable a rapid and just transition to a low-carbon economy; democratize media ownership and content; and grow participatory and deliberative democracy.
Source: Making Good Society: Final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society in the UK and Ireland, Carnegie UK Trust
Links: Report | Summary | Carnegie press release | New Start report
Date: 2010-Mar
The government published the results of consultation (in 2009) on a new points-based test for those seeking United Kingdom citizenship. Only 41 per cent of respondents were in favour of introducing a points-based test.
Source: Earning the Right to Stay: A New Points Test for Citizenship – Analysis of Consultation Responses, UK Border Agency/Home Office
Links: Link removed by Home Office
Date: 2010-Feb
The inspectorate for education and children's services examined how well a sample of local authorities and education providers knew and understood their local communities, and how they helped learners to become responsible citizens and make a positive contribution to society.
Source: Learning Together: How education providers promote social responsibility and community cohesion, HMI 080261, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Feb
A report used data from the 2008-09 Citizenship Survey in England and Wales to provide an in-depth examination of community cohesion, attitudes towards the neighbourhood and the local area, belonging to the neighbourhood, fear of crime, social networks, and interactions between people from different backgrounds.
Source: Cheryl Lloyd, 2008-09 Citizenship Survey: Community Cohesion Topic Report, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Feb
A new book examined contemporary approaches to democratic citizenship and community-based education. It drew together lessons from the government-supported 'Active Learning for Active Citizenship' programme – subsequently the 'Take Part' initiative.
Source: John Annette and Marjorie Mayo (eds.), Taking Part? Active learning for active citizenship, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Feb
The inspectorate for education and children's services said that the teaching of citizenship in schools in England was improving: but some schools had 'limited understanding' of what was required to provide an effective citizenship education.
Source: Citizenship Established? Citizenship in schools 2006/09, HMI 090159, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | Citizenship Foundation press release | BBC report
Date: 2010-Jan
A literature review examined the factors that helped to create and sustain active citizenship and social participation.
Source: Ellie Brodie, Eddie Cowling and Nina Nissen, Understanding Participation: A literature review, Pathways through Participation c/o National Council for Voluntary Organisations
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jan
The opposition Conservative Party published the section of its draft election manifesto dealing with civil society. It examined ways of using the state to stimulate social action, build social capital, and bind people together through sport.
Source: Building the Big Society, Conservative Party
Links: Manifesto section | Conservative Party press release | Speech
Date: 2010-Jan