Home page Return to Index   Book Details   Reinventing the State Publication Date: September 2007 Price: £14.99 ISBN: 1842752189 Binding: Paperback Format/Size: 216x135mm Pages: 400 Order On-Line UK Edition: Westminster Bookshop Reinventing the State Social Liberalism for the 21st Century Edited by Duncan Brack, Dr Richard S. Grayson, David Howarth An important part of the debate on policy, in the build-up to the next general election, with contributions from influential politicians and commentators. Current political debate, including among the Liberal Democrats, has focused on market orientation in economics, social and democratic policy. The 2004 Orange Book set out such a policy. Reinventing the State is intended to redress the balance. It shows how there are distinct limitations to the market, and that there is still a very clearly designed role for the state. The book argues for a positioning of the Liberal Democrats which is clearly different from both Tories and Labour, with their perceived obsession with the private sector and with centralised government. This important book, edited and written by influential Liberal Democrats, puts the case for reinventing the state so that it is creative and enabling, rather than centralising and stifling. It will show how a reinvented state can deliver public services, and social, economic and environmental solutions in a responsive, democratic and decentralised manner – a Liberal manner. Contributors will include: Chris Huhne MP, Nick Clegg MP, Matthew Taylor MP, Ed Randall, Lynne Featherstone MP, Tim Farron MP, Lords Wallace and Garden, and other influential MPs, MEPs and commentators.