Social Policy in the UK: Past, Present, and Future

Running head: SOCIAL POLICY
Social Policy
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

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Introduction
Social policy is considered to be an inclusive administrative approach, the meaning of
which is offering responses to social life requirements. Changes in social issues depend upon
both the financial and environmental factors. These alterations often vary according to the
communal structure and the state policies. The historical context of social policies is comparable
with vital incidents in the history of human beings. Industrial rebellion is regarded as a
significant pillar in the history of the world. It is considered to be a financial revolution on one
side, but on the other hand, it has intensified complications within the society. Societies can be
seen, from a historical viewpoint, as a pre-industrialized society, industrialized society, and post-
industrialized society. It can also be said that social policies which offered resolutions to social
problems have changed based on the circumstances of the time. Traditional methods are seen as
being used to address social needs, and in the pre-industrial era, communities in need of care
often expected to be supported by social support and services. From the second half of the 18th
century, the era that started with the industrial rebellion created a variety of social problems.
Social policy has tried to strike an equilibrium between economic and social policies in order to
find solutions to penury and social imbalances created by industrialization (Swank and Duane
2002). The migration to urban regions due to industrialization has led to a new line of work,
unfavourable living, working conditions, and deprivation. After facing the changes in the
demography of the economy, a liberal economic perception has been embraced as a solution. A
free-market economy, arising as a consequence of fears that state action would harm the
financial and social equilibrium, which basically improved the wellbeing of a part of society but
also has contributed to the destruction of workers who were the majority of society. Knowing the
failure of social security by the liberal economy has contributed to criticism and the development

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of neoliberal approaches. This paper mainly focuses on the discussion of the several ideological
perspectives through history to the present, which also gives a shape to the development of
welfare policy system of the UK. While discussing the same, it also sheds light on the subject of
social policy, its contribution to the welfare state, and the future of the welfare state and social
policy.
Discussion
Sometimes a question arises regarding the necessity of studying social and political
ideologies in order to understand the social policy. Some researchers are of the view that a
method not only for the past but also for the current time of understanding political change and
progress has been offered. Policies may be considered to integrate ideas on culture, the economy,
the state, people and their ties. These include perspectives on equity, equality and personal
accountability. An ideology is considered to be an entity or set of ideas concerning the
environment, culture, morals, civilization and politics, which often or generally applies to
organizations, such as political parties, political movements or government systems. An ideology
or practice of thinking that defines, explains and defends those who pursue that ideology. This
allows for those who possess the social reality, a more or less clear definition or perception.
Ideologies continue to direct practice since they affect the behaviour of people. An understanding
of political actors ’views’ or ‘assumptions’ can help in explaining actions and behaviour, and to a
certain degree, the consequences (Flora 2017). However, well-hidden political behaviour cannot
start to be understood without perceptions, theories and ideologies, and learning theory is aimed
to articulate certain beliefs behind the practice. Therefore, the change in policy can be clarified
by the changes in context ideas about the state, civilization and the person held by people,
organizations, movement and political parties. It has also been observed that there exists a close

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relationship between the policies and the ideas, and when the idea changes the policy also
changes.
However, studying social and political ideologies in order to understand social policy is
not an easy task just because of two reasons. Firstly, it must not be emphasized that ideologies
are critical instruments to describe the political and social change. Ideas shape concrete practice,
but action affects ideas. Philosophers and ideologues respond to their social and environmental
pressures. Ideological transformation comes with social transformation. Both of them are
interdependent variables instead of related and independent variables (Lillis and Scott 2007).
Second, the relation between the views of the actors and the modifications in policies may be
unclear. In the UK, since the 19th century, a range of specific political and social practices or
philosophies can be recognized by people, primarily liberalism and socialism. These may be
related loosely to major UK political parties with a certain structural consistency over a long
time:
 Liberalism: In the early 19th-century classical liberalism originated and is usually
associated with a defining collection of concepts, including laissez-faire, natural rights,
individualism, democracy, and minimum state. The history of the social sciences of
political economy and the predecessor to modern economics is synonymous with
classical liberalism. From this, it derived its ideas about financial structure, the
dominance of free markets over public planning or control. Freedom plays an important
role under liberalism, and the philosophy of democracy is one way of determining
liberalism (Turner 2008).
 Individualism: Another primary idea of liberalism is individualism. The stereotypical
liberal belief in the ‘natural’ or ‘human’ rights applies to the moral manifestations of