This essay makes the case for why reforming the state is a progressive cause and should not be left to the Right.
Across the Western world, people are turning against lumbering bureaucracies that fail to deliver. The ‘drain the swamp’ impulse is real and powerful. People are used to having a smartphone in their hands with bewildering capacity. At the same time, they too often see the state finding even the simplest of tasks difficult to accomplish.
The failure of governments to ‘perform’ – a combination of broken promises, economic incompetence and glaring injustices – is perhaps the single biggest driver of disaffection with the political process. Stagnant wages, living standards flatlining, public services creaking and regional inequality growing all fuel a level of disillusionment that has reached dangerous levels. On top of this, in the UK, there have been scandals that shame the state and corrode trust: Hillsborough, infected blood, Grenfell, the Post Office, Windrush, to name a few.
For the left, the failings of the state are a particular threat. We believe in the state’s ability to deliver for working people, so if people’s confidence is lost, we are in trouble.
But this also provides a real opportunity. If we are ambitious about the country and believe in long term change, not short term quick fixes, then we must be the bold reformers of the state to achieve it. The essay shows how this might be done to achieve progressive goals.