Suchergebnisse

In recent years, claims that epochal shifts in the socioeconomic landscape demand a reappraisal of the welfare state have become almost commonplace and postmodern, post-Fordist and postindustrial perspectives on the welfare state have all found a place in academic literature. However, while each of these discourses has noted the role of technological change in enabling the emergence of new societal models, in general the significance of such change for social policies has been overlooked. This article argues that there are significant connections between notions of a technologically driven information society and New Labour's vision for welfare. In support of this claim it considers New Labour's outlook on the role of the state in contemporary society and some of the specific policy mechanisms being put in place to help ease the `transition' to an `information age' and offers the notion of `e-galitarianism' as a label for their approach.

English
Since its election the UK Blair government has initiated a radical programme to redesign the apparatus of government through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). However, unpacking the operational implications of this 'e-government' strategy is a far from easy task and numerous policy dilemmas of considerable significance for the future of governance have arisen. This article considers the broad policy questions raised by the information age government agenda, the implications for delivery mechanisms of the government's current strategy and issues surrounding access, exclusion and equity that are likely to be of increasing significance as their digitisation programme gathers pace.