Books
Clarke, J., Newman, J., Smith, N., Vidler, E. and Westmarland, L. (2007), Creating Citizen-consumers: Changing Publics and Changing Public Services, London: Paul Chapman Publishing. An important theoretical and empirical contribution to understanding the debates around both citizenship and consumption in the UK
Giddens, A. (2007), Over to You, Mr. Brown, Cambridge: Polity Press. Giddens was central in the founding of the philosophy of the ‘Third Way’ and makes a strong case for the increased use of markets as a tool in public service delivery
Hirschman, A. (1970), Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations and States, London: Harvard University Press. This classic text is well worth reading as it is remains a hugely insightful examination of how organisations both public and private manage their relationships with users
Le Grand, J. (2007), The Other Invisible Hand, Woodstock: Princetown University Press. This provides the case in favour of choice and competition in welfare by an advisor to the Blair government. It has a bias towards the more economics-based literature, but is an excellent introduction to the topic
Lister, R. (1997), Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives, London: Palgrave. An excellent summary of many of the debates around citizenship as well as an innovative attempt to overcome many of the dilemmas the literature gets bogged down in.
Schwartz, B. (2004), The Paradox of Choice: Why Less is More, New York: Harper Collins. A key work by a US academic that presents the view that too much choice may be harmful to our psychological well-being, as well as demonstrating that prospective choice is a very different thing to actually having to make a choice.
Stoker, G. (2006), Why Politics Matters: Making Democracy Work, London: Palgrave. An important book that makes the case for a ‘politics for amateurs’, exploring the means by which users participate in public services, and what they can expect by getting involved.
Articles
6, P. (2003), ‘Giving consumers of British public services more choice: what can be learned from recent history?’, Journal of Social Policy, 32, 2, 239–270. Probably the best cross-service review of the extension of user choice in public services.
Barnes, M., and Prior, D. (1995), ‘Spoilt for choice? How consumerism can disempower public service users. public money and management, 53–58. Explores how choice can go directly against its designers’ goal and disempower service users.
Dowding, K., John, P., Mergoupis, T., and Van Vugt, M. (2000), ‘Exit, voice and loyalty: Analytic and empirical developments’, European Journal of Political Research, 37, 465–495. An excellent introduction to the secondary literature on Hirschman, which is particularly strong on the difficulties often experienced by authors in taking his ideas forward.
Fotaki, M. et al. (2005), ‘Patient choice and the organization and delivery of health services: Scoping Review’, NCCSDO, London. A review of what was known about patient choice policies in healthcare at the time of writing that provides a strong critique of inappropriate uses of the approach.
Greener, I. (2003), ‘Who choosing what? The evolution of “choice” in the NHS, and its implications for New Labour’, in C. Bochel, N. Ellison, and M. Powell (eds), Social Policy Review, 15, 49–68, Bristol: Policy Press. Explores the assumptions underlying choice policies and suggests the difficulty of applying ideas around ‘choice’ unthinkingly from one service to another.
Government documents
Department for Education and Skills (2005), Higher Standards, Better Schools for All, London: HMSO. The government make clear their approach to driving up standards through schools competing in a market in the name of achieving greater diversity.
Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions (2000), Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All, London: HMSO. The government's statement on how choice should work in public housing through choice-based letting.
Department of Health (2003), Building on the Best: Choice, Responsiveness and Equity in the NHS, Vol. Cm 6079, London: Department of Health. An attempt to marry choice with equity and how it might be delivered in healthcare.
Department of Health (2005), Independence, Well-Being and Choice: Our Vision for the Future of Adult Social Care for Adults in England, London: Department of Health. The government's vision for social care involving the use of direct payments to individuals in order to manage their own care in a new social care market.
Minister of State for Department of Health, Minister of State for Local and Regional Government, and Minister of State for School Standards (2005), The Case for User Choice in Public Services, London: Public Administration Select Committee into Choice, Voice and Public Services. As it sounds – a collaborative document making the case for user choice rather than voice mechanisms.
On-line resources
http://www.patientchoice.org.uk/. The government's patient choice website that describes both the policy and provides information upon which patients can base care decisions.
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/health_topics/patient_choice.html. The King's Fund website on patient choice.
http://lithgow-schmidt.dk/sherry-arnstein/ladder-of-citizen-participation.html. A reproduction of Sherry Arnstein's ‘ladder of participation’ piece from 1969.
http://virtualsociety.sbs.ox.ac.uk/projects/carver.htm. Oxford University's ‘virtual society’ project exploring public participation in local decision-making.
http://www.schoolchoices.org/. Billed as the ‘citizen's guide to education reform’ this US website attempts to outline the debates around school choice and allow readers to come to their own conclusions, although it is strongly pro-market.
