ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with policies to change the institutions of the modem welfare state through increasing the role and participation of the private sector, 'empowering consumers' and promoting competition within the governmental system. The 'welfare state' as it is often understood comprises certain basic services - principally social security, health, education and to some extent housing and transport - which should be made available to all citizens. Many trade unions were initially sceptical of state welfare schemes, regarding them as a sop or diversion from their major goal of economic advancement. The most obvious criticism is the rising cost of state welfare as a proportion of national income during a period of relative economic stagnation. Disillusion with public administration also surfaced in the critical 'access' literature analysing the problems of clients in their encounters with bureaucracy. The concept of 'privatisation' now carries a heavy ideological load.
