Introduction
Every day we are nudged, cajoled and harangued into making choices that will be better for us, better for society. We should stop smoking, lose weight and take more exercise. But all this messaging from media and government has yet to change the way our public services are delivered.
Public services that enable behaviour change form a critical part of bridging that gap, and while this concept may be moving up all the political party agendas, the public’s perception of public services remains bureaucratic and distant. The challenge with relation to encouraging behaviour change falls into two categories. The first is in the provision of information to an increasingly overloaded public, while the second and arguably less tangible task for public services is encouraging what I call ‘pro-social’ behaviour. Sustainable and resilient citizens require fewer public services. Perhaps therefore the measure of success should not be how many people are served, but a reduction in repeat customers. This requires a shift in the way in which we think about service delivery, as well as a reassessment of the relationship between provider and recipient.
Ultimately the only way to reduce the bureaucracy that has overtaken our public service agenda is to reduce the call on those services by enabling people to take responsibility for themselves.
This means facilitating each individual’s ability to realise his or her potential and lead a purposeful and meaningful life. This issue of Ethos seeks to articulate examples of pro-social public services that are already being delivered.
Professor Robert Cialdini’s research demonstrates how people’s desire to fit in can be used to encourage pro-social behaviour and neuroscientist Susan Greenfield examines how the virtual world is changing our brains and what this might mean for society’s future.
Also in this issue, headteacher Anthony Seldon considers the school of the future, the FT’s Nick Timmins assesses the results of the Julius Review, David Walker of the Audit Commission and, until recently, editor of Public, reports on the government’s transformation agenda and The Spectator’s Fraser Nelson profiles political rivals James Purnell and Chris Grayling.
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Matthew Taylor | Guest Editor
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