The Case for Universal Basic Services

1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5095-3982-6
Verlag: Polity Press

Buch, Englisch, 140 Seiten, Format (B × H): 130 mm x 191 mm, Gewicht: 249 g

The idea that healthcare and education should be provided as universal public services to all who need them is widely accepted. But why leave it there? Why not expand it to more of life’s essentials? 

In their bold new book, Anna Coote and Andrew Percy argue that this transformational new policy – Universal Basic Services – is exactly what we need to save our societies and our planet. The old argument that free markets and individual choice are the best way to solve pressing problems of poverty, inequality and environmental degradation has led us to catastrophe, and must be abandoned. The authors show that expanding the principle of collective universal service provision to everyday essentials like transport, childcare and housing is not only the best way of tackling many of the biggest problems facing the contemporary world: it’s also efficient, practical and affordable.

Anyone who cares about fighting for a fairer, greener and more democratic world should read this book.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Coote, Anna

Percy, Andrew

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Wirtschaftspolitik, politische Ökonomie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction
Notes

1 Why We Need This Change

Notes

2 How Would It Work in Practice?

Responsibility

Power and devolution

Ownership

Funding arrangements

Degrees of participation

Conditionality

Entitlements

The role of the state

Common features

Notes

3 The Benefits of UBS

Equality

Efficiency

Solidarity

Sustainability

Considering UBS alongside cash payments

Notes

4 Rolling Out UBS: Meeting Needs for Care

Child care

Adult social care

Notes

5 Rolling Out UBS: a note about food

Housing

Transport

Reaching further with UBS: a note about food

Notes

6 Challenges and Responses

Power and competence of government

Decision making

Profiteering by big corporations

Meeting resistance

How much would it cost and is it affordable?

Notes

Conclusions

Notes

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Anna Coote is Principal Fellow at the New Economics Foundation.
Andrew Percy is Co-Director of the Universal Basic Services Network at the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP).