The citizen's stake
Exploring the future of universal asset policies
Edited by Will Paxton, Dominic Maxwell and Stuart White
Published
Jan 11, 2006Page count
224 pagesISBN
978-1861346995Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Policy Press
The citizen's stake
Can and should asset-based policies such as universal capital grants become a new pillar of the welfare state? Can they form the basis for a more egalitarian form of market economy? The citizen's stake throws open the debate by bringing together the ideas of leading thinkers in academia and policy to explore the future scope of asset-based policies in Britain.
The book examines asset-based welfare in connection with a wide range of issues, from tax policy to childcare, and includes the results of two innovative studies of public opinion on capital grants and inheritance tax. It is the first time that public opinion work has been integrated with theory into a serious and cohesive consideration of practical options for the future of asset-based welfare.
The citizen's stake is accessibly written and aimed at a broad audience of academics, students and policy-makers. Indeed, anyone interested in how this new policy field can and should develop will want to read this book. The discussions are relevant to academics, researchers and policy makers overseas, particularly in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland and Sweden, where there is a high level of interest in this topic.
"... a diverse and interesting selection of essays which will contribute positively to the debate about a citizen's stake." Citizen's Income, Issue 1, 2007.
"The growing complexities of welfare and tax systems and the inequities and injustice such complexities create have led to calls for simpler systems for dealing with just redistribution. This book critically examines the citizen's stake to provide a genuine contribution to policy debate in this important area." Keith Dowding, Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
Will Paxton edited this volume whilst a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research. In the past, he has published on savings policy, volunteering and democratic participation, financial exclusion and poverty. Stuart White is Fellow in Politics at Jesus College, Oxford University. He researches in political theory and public policy and is the author of The Civic Minimum: On the Rights and Obligations of Economic Citizenship (2003) and co-editor of The Ethics of Stakeholding (2003, with Keith Dowding and Jurgen Dewiseplaere). Dominic Maxwell is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research. Before joining IPPR he was a Research Assistant for a Labour MP, and has previous experience at HM Treasury and Progress.
Introduction: The new politics of ownership ~ Will Paxton and Stuart White; Part One: Financing a citizen's stake: Inheritance tax: what do the people think? Evidence from deliberative workshops ~ Miranda Lewis and Stuart White; Towards a citizen's inheritance: reforming inheritance tax ~ Dominic Maxwell; Using stakeholder trusts to reclaim common assets ~ David Bollier; Land tax: options for reform ~ Iain McLean; A capital start: but how far do we go? ~ Howard Glennerster and Abigail McKnight; Part Two: Forms of a citizen's stake: Attitudes of young people towards capital grants ~ Andrew Gamble and Rajiv Prabhakar; Universal capital grants: the issue of responsible use ~ Will Paxton and Stuart White; Caretaker resource accounts for parents ~ Anne L. Alstott; Carework: are care accounts the answer? ~ Jane Lewis; Having the time for our life: re-working time ~ Linda Boyes and Jim McCormick; Conclusion: what is the best way forward for the citizen's stake? ~ Nick Pearce, Will Paxton and Stuart White.
