Votes and markets: Designing policies to increase the influence of individuals

The design of public policies is usually carried out from the perspective of policymakers. This paper views policy design from the perspective of ordinary individuals, seeking to identify ways in which policy design may increase the capacity of citizens to influence the provision of welfare services of significance to their everyday lives. The first section demonstrates that the phrase ‘welfare state’ is a constricting misnomer; welfare in society is the sum of activities in the household, the market and the state. Secondly, the paper considers characteristic consequences of the allocation of welfare by the state, the market and the household. On this basis, the third section reviews the implications for individual influence on public policies of policy designs that are intended to provide more popular participation; bring the state further in; and the use of market alternatives.