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Module:

From Beveridge to Brown

Title:

Did Anthony Crosland over-estimate the positive role that the

welfare state could play in the creation of a socialist society in
The Future of Socialism?

Word Count:
3,000

Student:

1111492

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Title

Did Anthony Crosland over-estimate the positive role that the welfare
state could play in the creation of a socialist society in The Future of
Socialism?
Objective
This paper will explore Croslands socialism and the role he mapped out for
the welfare state in The Future of Socialism and it will display Croslands revisionist
perspective of socialism. Particularly this paper will demonstrate that notions such as
equality and equality of opportunity related to socialism are complex. Importantly
these are concepts found within a lot of social policy literature. In addition the ideas
of equality and equality of opportunity are concepts that policy makers and politicians
have to grapple with regularly. It will examine whether Crosland did overestimate the
positive role of the welfare state or not.

Method
This paper will draw on the work of Crosland in the Future of Socialism and a
number of other authors to help explain Croslands ideas and understanding.
It will answer the question by examining three main areas.

I.

Croslands revision of socialism.

II.

Croslands notion of equality.

III.

Investigating Croslands ideas to create socialist society.

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Particularly the paper will focus on the potential impact of the welfare provision of
education. By doing this, it will demonstrate two things, first, illustrate the complexity
of Croslands ideas. Secondly it will suggest and imply that these complexities exist
within the other areas of welfare provision. Moreover it will illustrate as a whole how
these complexities would lead to some real problems for his ideas of creating a
socialist society.

Conclusion
This paper will conclude that Crosland did over-estimate the positive role the
welfare state could play in the creation of a socialist society. This over-estimation
was essentially his belief that the welfare state could and would re-shape the value
sets of the public in Britain. This change of value sets is a complex process namely
because value sets are interrelated to a number of things such as life experience,
culture, social practices and identity. Moreover problems with his ideas occur
because of how these concepts connect to and interrelate with each other.
Plus also the level funding need through taxation it was reliant on continuing
economic prosperity which was unsustainable.

Croslands Revision of Socialism.

Crosland understood the way that capitalism functioned had changed. In
that, the traditional power of capitalism had been broken, and ownership of industry
was now irrelevant. What became important was how the industry was managed,
this was because Industry was now controlled and run by professional managers
rather than owners (Kogan, 2006: 73). To Crosland, what made capitalism
dangerous and toxic was profit. Profit led to exploitation however because

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professional managers and business leaders are paid by wages rather than profits.
This meant that this dangerous element was removed. In addition political authority
had the power to now exert control over a much higher proportion of economic
decisions than before the war. Moreover they employed over 25% of the work force
and where responsible for over 50% of total investment.(Kogan, 2006: 73)
Hence, public ownership was not essential to socialism (Marquand, 1999: 166).
Crosland understood and saw one the main aims of socialism was equality. To
Crosland, in light of this, public ownership was only a means to that end (equality)
and there are various ways to do this. Thus for Crosland equality was the central
concern of social democracy/ democratic socialism. He believed that nationalisation
was a distraction, if capitalism was no longer a problem. Crosland stated the highest
priority for democratic socialism, was the relief of poverty, distressed and social
squalor ...and to improve the nations social capital such that the less well-off have
access to housing, health and education of a standard comparable to that which the
better off can but for themselves out of their private means (Plant,1996: 167).
He particularly envisioned that this equality would be achieved, using social
policy (Plant, 1996: 165, Magee, 2010). These policies would potentially shape and
structure, more equality in society. This would be achieved through outcomes that
delivered greater equality. These outcomes would protect against the material
poverty and physical squalor which capitalism had produced. Moreover, they would
address the social welfare need of the oppressed or unfortunate (Crosland, 1956:
67).However, any such policies would be heavily reliant on a strong progressive
economy (which Crosland believed, Keynesian economics management techniques
would achieve), because of the high level of income redistribution.

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Croslands Equality.

Importantly in defining Croslands conceptualisation of equality, Plant (1996:

170), Roger (2002) and Beech (2004) makes the link between Croslands equality
and Rawlss democratic equality. Plant writes that both Crosland and Rawls
perceive equality in terms of a range/spectrum between equality of opportunity and
equality of outcome (Plant, 1996: 170-171; Roger, 2002). For Crosland equality of
opportunity did not focus enough on the disadvantaged start in life that some people
faced. This disadvantage could lead to many being unable to take up those
opportunities

because

disadvantage

created

problems

accessing

these

opportunities. In other words family background and genetic legacy make an

enormous difference to starting points and are morally arbitrary. This meant that
those who benefit from a regime of equal opportunity are those with a privileged
family background or genetic endowments, that an individual bears little or no
responsibility for (Plant, 1996: 171). Crosland concluded that a regime of only equal
opportunity would therefore be unjust in its outcomes, since it will offer greater
rewards to people who bear little personal responsibility for their success (ibid).
However at the same time Crosland believed that income inequality and
those positions which carry differential rewards were important. He argued that this
should be done through the rent of ability criterion, where people use their talents
for the good of the community as a whole, should receive differing rewards. In
addition he believed the consequence of rent of abilities rewards would motivate and
mobilise people in the community (Plant, 1996: 171; Kogan, 2006).

Croslands estimation: social policy and the welfare state.

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Support for socialist plans.

Croslands idea of democratic equality was problematic, because they were

not many who would subscribe strongly to it (Plant, 1996). This would lead to
problems in getting endorsement for direct egalitarian social policies. A part of the
reason for this is that equality is a contested idea especially when juxtaposed against
the idea of liberty (see Fitzpatrick, 2001; Fitzpatrick, 2005).

Shaping normative values.

For Crosland it was important to get peoples support, or for them to believe in
and vote for the degree of taxation necessary to pay for the welfare state. This
would elevate inequality of starting point to the extent to which it creates an
egalitarian society.
Plant (2002: 128) highlights two approaches:

The first is direct policy to convince the better off to pay more tax by changing
their values through rhetoric and persuasion. This suggests that an
egalitarian policy can only be pursued by those who believe in the cause.

The second is an indirect policy to create a more egalitarian outcome without

having to create a shared egalitarian value base (Plant, 2002).

The first approach is a moral policy approach that functions from the bottom up, by
winning the hearts and minds of people. The second policy approach is seen as
more feasible by Crosland. This is a mechanical policy that functions from the top
down. It relies on policy design and developed by policy makers to shape desired
outcomes in society and as a result influences value sets.

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The discussed approaches, implicitly suggest, how normative (Lister, 2010)

social values can be changed and shaped. This lies at the heart of Croslands ideas
for creation of a particular kind of society. These policies where reliant on changing
the structural system in order to effect change. However Plant (2002: 128) suggests
that because mechanical policy does not explicitly draw on pre existing value sets of
the population and the connotation attached to it; the change caused by such
policies are prone to collapse very quickly if challenged by a policy which draws on
societys value sets. Plant (2002) states that this is one of the many reason for
political, social weakening concerning the influence of social democratic ideas after
1979; was due to an over investment in the mechanical approach to policy.
Croslandite strategy assumed that one could produce a social democratic
society shaped by egalitarian outcomes .without creating a more social democratic
and egalitarian culture (ibid: 129). This was because Crosland believed the positive
role of state provision of welfare, was that it fairly redistributed, in way that all could
benefit from (whether rich or poor as opposed to a redistribution of income).
Importantly Crosland thought that the welfare state could shape societal
thinking through policy. This shaping would occur through establishing a good basic
standard for all people. The basic standard would in time, have an effect on the value
sets of society. Plant (2002) writes that Crosland believed that because all would
partake in the benefits of this of public policy (welfare state provision), it would justify
the expense and be more acceptable to people than, the equivalent redistribution of
income. This is because if people felt that they were worse off they might challenge
the fairness of these types of redistribution policies. Also it suggests that welfare
state provision is indeed, indirect redistribution of income. In addition the indirect
redistribution is politically easier to justify, in that all, rich or poor benefit.

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However, it may just be that the poor at least initially benefit more. Thus, this
became the baseline justification for high levels of public expenditure to finance high
quality public services and the move towards Croslands egalitarianism.
A society in which a good education, adequate housing, professional health care,
rewarding career opportunities are not the privileges of a minority but are
everyones birth-right. (Magee, 2010:176-7).This would also mean that it would be
highly reliant on Keynes economics to continually to perform well in order to fund
such an endeavour. However ultimately there was a downturn in the economy in the
1970s (Kogan, 2006).

Discussion
There are a number of problems with Crosland estimation of the role of the welfare
state in conjunction with his notion of a socialist society. The first problem occurs with
the ability of the middle classes to secure differential advantages for the public
services (Plant, 2002: 131). Evidence for this is observable when Manquand (1999:
175) writes Crosland stated:
We under-estimated the capacity of the middle classes to appropriate more than
their fair share of public expenditure. They demand more resources for the schools
in their areas; they complain vociferously if they have to wait for their operations;
they demand that the state intervene to subside the prices of the rail tickets from
their commuter homes to their work, etc. Too often, these pressures have been
successful, and in consequence, the distribution of public spending has been tilted
away from the areas of greatest need to those, which generate the loudest
demands.

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The second problem with Croslands estimation of the notion of welfare, was
centralised and bureaucratised way welfare provision was organised. This creates
difficulties in meeting the needs of people. This is because centralised and
bureaucratised welfare provision is inflexible, to adapt and respond quickly
effectively to differing and changing circumstances within the different areas of the
UK (Plant, 2002: 131). This could lead to a lack of consistency in welfare provision in
the UK and therefore inequality in the system that Crosland propose. Also one
concept that links with equality is equity which concerns unequal redistribution in
order to bring about equality. For instance poorer areas of the UK may need more
investment in welfare such as schools, hospitals or housing than those in wealthier
areas in order to bring the poorer areas to an equal standard.
However in the Future of Socialism it is inexplicit about equity although it is
interrelated to the work of Crosland and his notion of equality.

Educational policy a tool for change?

Examining policy area of education deepens ones understanding of Crosland
ideas. For Crosland, education policy was the main tool to achieve an equal society.
Moreover, research at the time revealed there was a correlation between educational
attainment and occupation (Jackson, 2007). Crosland believed that, an aim of
education was the improvement of the starting points of those with a disadvantaged
background. This would then enable and facilitate a proper inclusion in the
competitive labour market for high rewards (Plant, 1996; Crosland, 1956; Reisman,
1997).
However the writing of Jackson (2007: 165) suggests that any system
designed to redress the inherited privilege would not be a match for the

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disadvantages inherited by the poor. In that those who are disadvantaged, are
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socialised into a culture, which may not cultivate, but hinder a childs progress in
education, because it is deemed as unnecessary. Whereas for the privileged,
education was slightly different in that not only was there the promise of superior
coaching, but also the social interaction that led to a source of lifetime contacts
(Riesman, 1997: 164). This is reflected in a study at the time looking at the influence
of education policy on social mobility. While working class children who were
selected to attend grammar schools where more likely to attain a higher status
profession, they still had a poor chance of accessing a higher status profession than
their counterparts from a privileged background (Jackson, 2007: 166).
Another reason why education might not be as society sculpturing as
Crosland envisioned was the value attach to education. Crosland coming from a well
off background being educated at Oxford saw the merit of education and benefit
within his social circle. In comparison, those who are poor, whose occupation for
required a lot of manual labour, may not necessarily see a correlation between
education and its value. This is because its value is limited in the types of work that
some undertook. This implicitly suggests that Crosland was unaware of peoples
differing understanding of the value of education at that time.
This value of education was a taken for granted (see Berger and Luckmann,
1979; Burr, 1995) understanding, in his social sphere. This was because education
and a high level of intelligence was crucial to being able to function in a privileged
social sphere. The above interrelate and reflect the difference of approaches
discussed earlier (mechanical and moral); because the mechanical approach does
not seek to explicit change the value sets of people, it can lead to a lack of
understanding about what these value sets are. Moreover how do these value sets

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play out in social interaction of work, family and community? If he was aware of this,
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this would have affected his estimation concerning the creation of a socialist society.
The possibility that Croslands preference for a mechanical approach may well
have been based on the assumption that the masses would understand the value he
attaches to education. Also suggested here, is that in order for Crosland to be
effective he would not only need the mechanical policy method, but would need to
have a moral dimension in order to help try to convince the masses or the value of
education and thereby cultivating a desire for it. Most people look for a practical use
of a skill or education. If they cannot see the obvious benefit it is considered useless
and this was true for that time period, in comparison to the modern day Britain where
education is a necessity in order to function unhindered in today's society. The paper
has examined in depth the issues of education which is just one area of the welfare
provision that Crosland mentions and it is discernible that this one area is very
complex.
Moreover the other areas of welfare suggest the same degree of complexity
as the welfare area of education; meaning that there was overestimation of the
positive role the welfare state could play creating a socialist society. In addition
Manquand (1999:175) writes that there was evidence in a 1975 pamphlet in which
Crosland acknowledged that the engines of progressive taxation and public
expenditure were not, after all, delivering the redistribution they were supposed to
guarantee.

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Conclusion

This paper has considered three main issues connected with the title of Crosland
and socialism. The first is defining Croslands notion of revised socialism. Secondly
but leading to the first is how does Crosland define and understand equality.

This ultimately affected our examination of his argument about the role that
the welfare state could play and whether there was an over-estimation or not.

Thirdly investigating whether the ideas put forward by Crosland were viable to create
the kind of normative values in society he wanted to see.

This was done by looking at the policy area of education particularly which he
consider was a crucial tool to bring about a society as set out in The Future of
Socialism.

This paper concludes that there was an over-estimation in the positive role the
welfare state could play. Crosland did overestimate the positive role of the welfare
state because he was solely relying on the welfare state to re-engineer the British
societal value base. An important notion, that comes out for the work this, is that
understanding of equality works on a spectrum, there is a need for a working
definition of what equality is and what does this entail. Crucially peoples experience
of welfare provision is going to be varied and therefore complex thus it is difficult to
discern the causation of a change in British society, in the way he tried to do it. Plus
the factor that welfare provision funding is contingent on a strong economy. When a
down-turn in the economy came in 1970s, this ultimately led to a reduction in welfare

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provision. More important is the lesson that can be draw from this which is primarily
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how important ideas like equality and equality of opportunity are in politics but
especially for social policy. This is because lots of policies draw upon a notion of
equality and fairness because they are big social policy principals. It also highlights
the benefits of historical and political analysis to give a better understanding these
notions and their complexity.

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