Institutional Crisis in 21st Century Britain

In the 21st Century, a 'perfect storm' appears to have engulfed may of Britain's most important institutions'. The list of those it has enveloped is extensive, but headline acts would include - the banking sector for malpractice, Parliament for its expenses scandal, the media for phone-hacking and the police for duplicity and corruption. It raises a fundamental question of whether there is an endemic and fundamental crisis in British political, economic and social institutions or instead simply a set of contingent events that have been discursively constructed and presented as a collective crisis? This volume offer the first major, wholesale consideration of the extent to which a crisis of legitimacy has taken root in Britain's key institutions. It does so by exploring the nature of crisis across a diverse range of institutions, assessing the accuracy of the 'crisis' label and crucially considers whether a set of shared underlying pathologies exist that has led to a point of collective crisis and the need for fundamental renewal.

David Richards is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Manchester, UK. He has previously held posts at the Universities of Strathclyde, Birmingham, Liverpool and Sheffield. He is the author of numerous articles and books on British Politics, governance and public policy including most recently: New Labour and the Civil Service: Reconstituting the Westminster Model.

Martin Smith is Anniversary Professor of Politics at the University of York, UK. He was previously Professor of Politics and the University of Sheffield. He has published widely on British Politics, Public Policy and State Transformation. His most recent book is Power and the State.

Colin Hay is Professor of Government and Comparative Public Policy at Sciences Po, Paris. He is the author of a number of books including, most recently, The Failure of Anglo-Liberal Capitalism and The Legacy of Thatcherism with Stephen Farrall.