How Did Britain Come to This?: A century of systemic failures of governance

by Gwyn Bevan

If every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets, what is wrong with the design of the systems that govern Britain? And how have they resulted in failures in housing, privatisation, outsourcing, education and healthcare? In How Did Britain Come to This? Gwyn Bevan examines a century of varieties of systemic failures in the British state. The book begins and ends by showing how systems of governance explain scandals in NHS hospitals, and the failures and successes of the UK and Germany in responding to Covid-19 before and after vaccines became available. The book compares geographical fault lines and inequalities in Britain with those that have developed in other European countries and argues that the causes of Britain's entrenched inequalities are consequences of shifts in systems of governance over the past century. Clement Attlee's postwar government aimed to remedy the failings of the prewar minimal state, while Margaret Thatcher's governments in the 1980s in turn sought to remedy the failings of Attlee's planned state by developing the marketised state, which morphed into the financialised state we see today. This analysis highlights the urgent need for a new political settlement of an enabling state that tackles current systemic weaknesses from market failures and over-centralisation. This book offers an accessible, analytic account of government failures of the past century, and is essential reading for anyone who wants to make an informed contribution to what an innovative, capable state might look like in a post-pandemic world.

326 pages, Paperback

Published October 23, 2023

Reviews

[Alex Burrett]

An exceptional study of the recent economic history of Britain. It explains, in depth, and in an accessible way, why Britain today is plagued by inequality and failing institutions.
This book catalogues how decades of flawed government policies and short-term economics have delivered a Britain where the quality of state provision is in decline: healthcare, education, public housing. As the state crumbles, so does social cohesion and individual wellbeing.
If you live in Britain and want a nation that is more dedicated to the welfare of its citizens, you need to understand why we are where we are. Understanding that is critical to driving improvement. This book ticks that box.

[Cristian Cuibuș]

It teaches you a lot about Britain, at least it helped me a lot. It's an interesting book. I read it almost half a year ago.