ABSTRACT
Britain has developed a long tradition of close co-operation between government and interest groups, with the consequent erosion of the distinction between 'public' and 'private'. In trying to analyse the so-called retreat of the state in Britain the first problem is that Britain has no clear conception of the state. Restraining or reducing public expenditure, controlling the money supply, de-regulation, privatisation and marketisation, are familiar policy initiatives worldwide, irrespective of party or country. As Keith Dowding suggests, Where one person would describe public order as in the national or the public interest another may describe it as in the interests of the state. Before considering in detail Britain's experience in attempting to reduce the role of the state, it is important to outline some essential features of the United Kingdom policy process and the nature of state/society relations prior to the 1980s.
