literature exists on this (which concentrates, however, on the tax
element of the equation). Summarising this brutally, the overall
conclusion seems to be that taxation has had surprisingly little effect- other than to redistribute within social classes. Perhaps sur-
prisingly, it seems that the social services have also had virtually no
redistributive effect between classes as LeGrand (1982) clearly shows.
In Britain working-class gains from unemployment benefits have
been counterbalanced by middle-class gains from post-school-leaving
age educational benefits – with the middle classes showing a greater
capacity to benefit from the National Health Service.
The global inequalities referred to seem difficult to address in a
world divided into sovereign states and employing a capitalist
economic trading system. As we briefly considered in Chapter 2, the
rules governing finance, trade and aid are clearly less than ideal in
terms of promoting equality. More important still, it might be
argued, is the lack of any real commitment by either ordinary people
or politicians in richer states to make extensive sacrifices to achieve
greater justice and equality across the globe. The reluctance of US
voters to give up gas-guzzling automobiles which help to create
global warming – thus ruining the environment of Bangladeshi
coastal farmers and flooding low-lying Pacific islands – seems to
support this. On the other hand, the partially successful movement
for a moratorium on the public debts of the poorest countries gives
cause to hope that a sense of a global community is emerging. Colas
(2002) highlighted the need for a sense of international civil society to
be developed in a globalised world. Social movements of ordinary
citizens must develop to balance the power of multinational enter-
prises and governmental organisations.
Thus, in the end, any discussion of public policy is likely to return
to the ideological differences explored in more depth in Chapter 4.
Individual choices on political values cannot be avoided in evaluating
public policy. However, the potential for consensus can be under-
estimated since many enlightened social policies (e.g. effective health
and educational services) are good for the individuals they benefit as
well as contributing to the efficiency of the overall economy.
The political policy-making process
This chapter has largely focused on what might be termed ‘macro’-
level policy making in terms of how governments make and236 POLICIES