ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes the groups that make up the poverty lobby. It introduces a definition that includes national voluntary organizations which regularly or sporadically attempt to influence the income maintenance policies of government in favour of the poor. The book then focuses on the origins of the poverty lobby and examines the policy environment within which the poverty lobby operates. It also aims to map out the issue-community within which income maintenance policies are formulated, developed and implemented. The book describes the main developments in social security policy since the time of the Beveridge report which laid the foundations of the present system. It then investigates a number of hypotheses about the relationship between group characteristics and strategies. The book also addresses the difficult and complex issue of evaluating the effectiveness of the poverty lobby in British politics.
