The Public Domain

The public domain

The single most important element of the new-right project of the 1980s and 1990s was a relentless Kulturkampf against the public domain and its culture of citizenship, equity and service. To a large extent, new Labour has continued that attack.

To understand what that means for British politics and society, we have to understand the public domain. It should not be confused with the public sector. It depends on public institutions (notably the rule of law), but it is not confined to them. In principle, a large public domain could coexist with a small public sector, as it did in the 19th century. Government expenditure as a proportion of GNP was lower in 1900 than it had been in 1831. As late as the 1920s, Keynes expected further growth in the public domain (not that he used the term) - not as a result of state action but because privately owned companies would increasingly assume public responsibilities. The Bank of England was already an example. By the 1950s, big private firms - organised hierarchically and run by salaried professionals - did not behave very differently from their public sector counterparts. They increasingly adopted a public service ethic. The ruthlessness of traditional capitalism had largely disappeared; Adam Smith's invisible hand had been replaced, as Anthony Crosland put it, by "the glad hand".

Indeed, the public domain should not be seen as a "sector" at all. It is best understood as a dimension of social life, with its own norms and decision rules, cutting across sectoral boundaries: as a set of activities that can be carried out by private individuals, charities and even private firms as well as public agencies. In the public domain, citizenship rights trump both market power and the bonds of clan or kinship. Professional pride in a job well done or a sense of civic duty replaces the hope of gain as well as loyalty to family, friends or dependants. Goods are distributed on the basis of need and not of personal...