It's the Government, Stupid!: How Governments Blame Citizens for Their Own Policies

Governments increasingly blame citizens for their own failed policies. Individuals can only be held responsible for the choices they reasonably make from the opportunities they have available to them. Government is the major agent in society that creates those opportunities for citizens. We know a good deal about how regulations and institutions affect social outcomes in various policy areas. This book examines five policy areas across the USA, UK and Australia: gun ownership, food manufacture, housing, gambling and recreational drugs. It demonstrates how different regulations affect gun crime, and how modern food manufacturers design their products to tap into basic human biological desires, creating the obesity crisis. Government policy over the last fifty years has produced a severe housing crisis. Gambling is an area where government has relaxed regulation to the benefit of many, but the detriment of the few, and needs to grapple with problems it has created, while recreational drugs is an area where government has remained paternalistic, performing the nanny role it refuses in other areas, despite the obvious failures of its regulatory stance. The book shows how government blames its citizens for the problems which arise from the government’s own policies. It’s the government’s responsibility, stupid. Governments have developed a convenient habit of blaming social problems on their citizens, placing too much emphasis on personal responsibility and pursuing policies to 'nudge' their citizens to better behaviour. Keith Dowding shows that, in fact, responsibility for many of our biggest social crises - including homelessness, gun crime, obesity, drug addiction and problem gambling - should be laid at the feet of politicians. He calls for us to stop scapegoating fellow citizens and to demand more from our governments, who have the real power and responsibility to alleviate social problems and bring about lasting change. -- Provided by publisher Governments have developed a convenient habit of blaming social problems on their citizens, placing too much emphasis on personal responsibility and pursuing policies to ‘nudge’ their citizens to better behaviour. This book calls for a radical shift. It shows why responsibility for many social crises – including obesity, gun crime, homelessness, drug addiction and problem gambling – should be laid at the feet of politicians. Governments conveniently blame social problems on their citizens, placing too much emphasis on personal responsibility. This book shows that 'nudging' citizens to better behaviour simply isn't good enough and explains why we should hold our politicians responsible for social problems.