This chapter aims to put participation in social policy in an ideological, historical and theoretical context. To do this, the chapter will identify the two dominant modern political discourses, which in the UK and beyond have provided the context for this discussion. It will also outline the development of counter discourses from social care and welfare service users1, and explore the two key competing ideologies that have underpinned different models and understandings of participation, and examine the implications of these different approaches to participation, considering their regressive and liberatory potential. Finally, the chapter will also begin to examine the possibilities and problems now being highlighted for participation in social policy in theory and practice, taking the UK as a case study with wider implications.

The context of the discussion

One of the ironies of participation, which has so far largely passed without serious comment, is that while its conceptualisation and practice are ostensibly centrally concerned with involving and including people, in its own modern usage, it has generally tended to be abstracted and treated in isolation. There have been some discussions of the socio-economics, politics and ideology of participation, but these have been limited in number and range (for example, Pateman, 1970; Held, 1987). In contrast a much greater interest has developed in the ‘technicalities’ of participation, reflected in the production of a large and rapidly growing body of ‘how to do it’ manuals, courses and consultants (for example, Hanley et al, 2000; VSO, 2001). The emphasis is on techniques for and the findings from participation. There is even a national competition to identify the most ‘successful’ initiatives for public involvement run by The Guardian newspaper and Institute for Public Policy Research (Dean, 2000). This emphasis on empiricism is perhaps hardly surprising, bearing in mind the very limited achievements of provisions for participation to date and also the frequent failure of participatory schemes to challenge dominant discriminations and inequalities, particularly around ‘race’ and culture and disability in their own operation.

However, this phenomenon also raises broader questions and reflects broader issues relating to both participation and its policy/political context. Preoccupation with technicist approaches to policy and practice was first encouraged by the political New Right in public policy, particularly health and welfare policy, as it sought to discredit the value base of public provision and to challenge the power, competence, values and discretion of professionalised workers.