pro-social behaviour - the future - it's up to us

8/14/2019 Pro-Social Behaviour - The Future - It's Up to Us

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c ollec tive a c tion a nd more p owerful and more relevant soc ial

norms (the tac it assump tions tha t guide o ur pub lic c ond uc t). The

norms and beha viours I envisage reflec t a c om mitment to the

progress of soc iety a s a whole, so I label them p ro-soc ial . This

essay explores the idea of a p ro-soc ial strategy .

5. Prep aring the essay I have faced a paradoxic a l pa ir ofc ha lleng es. On the one hand , it feels as though everyone is using

a more c itizen-centric lang uag e: talking a bo ut the importanc e

of e nga ging c itizens, tap p ing into their energies and ma king

them partners in servic e delivery. Here is Ed Miliba nd the Ca binet

Office Ministe r for the Third Sec to r spea king last month: ..we m ust

bury the hiera rc hybetw een p rovider and user o r my job is not

to solveprob lem s, but to w ork with them [c onstituents] so tha t

it is enga ged and ac tive c itizens who a re m aking the c hange

happen . Miliband w ouldn t thank me for saying it, but simila rviews have been rep ea ted ly expressed by David C ame ron.

Looking a round there a re signs tha t d ifferent idea s of c hange

and c itizen responsibility a re a foo t, particularly in rela tion to the

environment. The Go vernment may have increased the c ar tax

on four whe el ga s guzzlers but this a lone c annot exp la in the

dec line in dem and for them : in a very short period of time

pe op le s a ttitudes to c lima te c hange a nd to their own role have

turned a sta tus symb ol into a n em barrassme nt. More and m ore

peo ple have a n ac c ount of tac kling clima te cha nge which

recognises the mutual roles of government, business, localitiesand themselves.

6. On the othe r hand , despite the ubiquity of a c luster of idea swhich c an be connec ted to the notion o f pro-soc ial strate gy it is

hard to d efine exac tly wha t the b ound aries of the idea a re: is it

simp ly a set o f goo d p rac tices a round user eng age me nt and

participa tive dec ision m aking or is it a mo re p rofound rec asting

of the c itizen-sta te relat ionship? If it is the la tte r wha t d oe s this

mea n for the basic tenets of how w e think ab out and p rac tic e

politics and polic y ma king? In ca lling for a p ro-soc ia l strategy Iargue that we need to explore and c ombine a rang e of different

insights and p rac tices to acc om plish a funda menta l shift in the

way we view ourselves and o ur soc iety. Imagine a soc iety whe re

our ac c ount o f how to p rom ote lea rning, susta in sa fer

neighbourhoods, or make d iversity work shared the

environmenta list s com bination of what go vernment must do,

wha t my em ployer must do, what m y co mm unity must do a nd

wha t I must d o? I am not c la iming tha t the idea s in the essay a re

c rysta l-clea r nor fully develop ed : if it wa s ea sy to imag ine wha t a

pro-soc ia l future w ould look like w e w ould b e ha lf wa y to b uild ingit. This essay it is not a rigo rous p iec e of resea rch and ana lysis but


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ra ther a c a ll to a rms based on the frustrations of a politica l life. It

is less about p rovid ing new answers tha n a bout posing old

questions in new ways.

7. The idea of p ro-soc ial stra tegy raises many issues. Is it nec essaryand c ould it ma ke a d ifferenc e? What is a c itizen-ce ntric m od el

of soc ia l c hange? What do we mean b y soc ia l norms and wha t

do we know a bout them ? What is the relationship b etw een the

ide a o f co llec tive ac tion and rep resenta tive demo c rac y? What

are the p artic ular challenge s abo ut agreeing new go als and

susta ining new norms in todays soc iety, and how might we

ac tua lly go about doing it? These a re the q uestions tha t I wa nt to

be the foc us of a ma jor new p rojec t for the RSA.

8. The RSA is an Enlightenment organisa tion c om mitted to sc ientific ,c ultural and human p rogress. There is an overarching issue for usas we deve lop our resea rc h p rog ramm e: wha t a re the barriers to

prog ress and w hat c ontribution c ould we ma ke to removing

them? The RSA s method olog y - which c om bines high level

deb ate, policy de velopm ent, deve lop ing strong netw orks, testing

the p rac tica l app lic a tions of idea s throug h experime nta tion and

draw ing o n the insight and expertise o f our 26,000 Fellows - is

particularly suited to the c hallenge of exploring p ro-soc ia l

stra teg y. If the RSA c an de velop a nd a dvance the ide a I believe

we will be m aking an imp ortant c ontribution to lowering a ma jor

barrier to p rogress. Let me suggest som e rea sons why.

9. Pla to a rgued tha t nec essity is the mo ther of invention . I believewe fac e a diffic ult b ut pote ntia lly liberating truth: for soc iety to

prog ress relies on c itizens ac ting m ore o ften in wa ys which m atc h

their values and aspira tions and doing m ore for eac h othe r than

simp ly ob eying laws. To ha ve the soc iety we w ant, we ne ed to

agree to g ive mo re bac k. This is pa rticularly ob vious in rela tion to

four c urrent p ub lic p riorities: p rotec ting the environm ent ,

improving public services, living together as strangers,

ma inta ining a suffic iently strong dem oc racy and c ivil soc iety.

10.To protec t the environment, and in particular to reduc e c arbonc onsump tion to a susta inab le level, na tional and international

ac tion b y go vernments is vita l. There a re sound rea sons for

business too to ma ke a c ontribution. But to meet exac ting

c arbon red uc tion ta rgets, c itizens themselves will need vo lunta rily

to c hange a spe c ts of b ehaviour and pa tterns of c onsump tion.

Indeed , the most e ffec tive instruments ma y be those tha t

c om bine the right ince ntives from Government w ith an ability

and w illingness amo ng the public to supp ort and ac t upon theseincentives.


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11.Ma ny outc om es of p ublic services have imp roved in rec ent yea rsbut this has coincided with a ra te of increase in public

expe nd iture w hich no ma jor Party intend s to ma inta in. The

Go vernment ha s amb itious ta rgets for further imp rovem ents in

outc om es, but p olling evidenc e sugg ests tha t p ub lic

expec ta tions exceed even these go a ls. For example MORI

rec ent ly found tha t nearly three q ua rters of c itizens think the NHS

should provide any me d ica lly effec tive d rug trea tment

reg ard less of va lue for mo ney. Also, it seems tha t w hat c itizens

va lue in pub lic servic es often d iffers from the goa ls p rioritised by

politicians. One w ay, and a rgua b ly the best wa y, to a c hieve

substantial imp rove me nts in desired outc om es is for pub lic

services more effectively to engage citizens: understanding what

they want, ag ree ing wha t is nec essary to achieve those g oa ls,

and mob ilising the ir efforts. Sc hools ac hieve bet te r results ifparents ge t involved in their child ren s ed uca tion (indeed

pa rental engagement has now b een shown to b e mo re p owerful

tha n sc hoo l in shap ing a child s ed uc a tiona l outc om es). Skills

strateg ies rely on w orkers wanting to be more skilled . Hea lth

outc om es imp rove and the NHS can be mo re efficient if pa tients

follow advic e, if those w ith long term c ond itions self manage

tho se c ond itions and if a ll of us use service s responsibly, for

exam ple, c anc elling GP ap po intments we do nt intend to take

up. The polic e c an focus mo re fully on serious c rime if

c ommunities ac t tog ether to prevent and tac kle low levelnuisanc e a nd anti-soc ial behaviour. As well as the b et ter

outc omes ac hieved by a more c ollab orative ap proac h, c itizens

seem to p refer the experienc e of b eing trea ted as c ontributing

partners ra ther than passive servic e rec ipients

12.Most p eo p le in the UK live in c om munities tha t a re m oredem og raphic a lly diverse a nd soc ia lly heterogeneous than a

gene ra tion ago. Ethnic d iversity and the a rrival of new migrants is

the most obvious c hange, but there is a lso grea ter d iversity in

family forms, lifestyles and cultural norms between, but alsowithin, different type s of c om munity. Growing inter-ge nerational

c onflic t often expressed in anxiety a bout the b eha viour of

young pe op le c an b e a nother sympto m o f a frac tured value

system. Diversity and d ifferenc e c an g ive ind ividua ls grea ter

freed om and ma ke soc iety more d ynamic, but survey da ta

shows us tha t issues of rac e a nd migra tion a re no w top of

peo p le s c onc erns, that leve ls of life sa tisfac tion a nd trust a re

lower in diverse communities with fast changing populations and

tha t there is anxiety a bout the beha viour of young p eop le. For

d iverse c om munities to suc ceed as p lac es tha t a re sa fe a ndtolerant there nee ds to b e a fram ework of ag reed norms ab out


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how strange rs beha ve with ea c h o ther. This might only be about

respe c ting d ifferenc e a nd a voiding offence, or it might be a bo ut

forms of b eha viour that a c tively c ontribute to the loc a l sec urity

and qua lity of life (for example, c ertain standa rds of c ourtesy,

greater parental responsibility, watching out for elderly people

living a lone ).

13.More c an a nd should b e do ne to enco urag e pe ople to engag ein politics, dec ision ma king and c om munity ac tivism. As the

politica l theorist Step hen Colema n has been hea rd to say the

problem w ith d emo c ratic enga gement is hard-to-rea c h groups,

and there is no harder-to-rea c h g roup than p oliticians . But the

mo dernisa tion of o ur dem oc ra tic institutions and the o pening up

of d ec ision-ma king will only ma ke a differenc e if new

op portunities a re ma tc hed by the w illingness of a suffic ient

numb er of c itizens to take them up.

14.So, the a rgument in essenc e: mo re c itizens mo re o f the time tobe have in more pro-soc ial w ays if we are to c rea te a nd

ma intain the soc iety to which m ost o f us apparent ly asp ire. The

initia l response to this idea is usua lly not to d eny its truth b ut to

question its releva nce. The rea c tion is yes, but so what? or mo re

expa nsively o f course soc iety would ma ke mo re p rog ress if mo re

peop le a c ted responsib ly but p eop le d on t, so w e w ill ca rry on

living in an imperfec t world and rely on the sta te to use law s,

taxes and reg ula tion to fo rc e us to do the things tha t a re rea llynecessary.

15.One of the tasks of the RSA s p ro-soc ial p rojec t w ill be toexplore a mo del of how individual be haviour is shaped and - as

a c onseq uence - soc ia l outc omes ac hieved . Such a mode l

need s to b e nuanc ed and dynam ic . On the one ha nd, there is a

spec trum of fa c tors influenc ing beha viour stretc hing from leg a l

c om pulsion to individua l pred isposition. It is d iffic ult to d raw a

c lea r d istinc tion between points on this spec trum. For examp le,

philanthrop y ca n be seen to reflec t both individua l mo ra lity andc ultural norms. On the other hand , d ifferent influenc es interac t.

So, ha rd incentives will tend to be m ore suc c essful if they go with

the g ra in of and reinforce soc ial norms.

16.Too often we assume tha t most p eop le w ill only give bac k tosoc iety (whic h I am d istinguishing here from the p riva te sphere of

fam ily and friends) tha t which they a re c om pelled , or strong ly

and c onc rete ly inc entivised , to g ive. Of c ourse, there a re lots of

us who make persona l dec isions to c ont ribute to soc ial goa ls by

dona ting to c ha rity, volunteering and joining c amp a igns. This isvita l to the hea lth of soc iety. But in as muc h as the se a ltruistic


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dec isions a re based on a truly persona l co mm itment, the

distribution of spontaneous goodness is by definition not easily

amenable to external influence.

17.An important p art o f my a rgument is tha t politic ians, policyma kers and public offic ia ls pay too little at tention to the span of

the spec trum of b eha vioural influenc es tha t lies betw een laws,

taxes and ha rd incentives on the one hand a nd individua l

c om mitment on the o ther. This spac e is c om prised of tw o

ove rlapping fa c tors shap ing be haviour: c ollec tive g oa ls and

soc ial norms. The fo rmer are those p rojec ts which we c onsc iously

sign up to t rying to a c hieve w ith our fellow c itizens: examp les

include g iving to Com ic Relief o r rec yc ling dom estic rubb ish.

Soc ial norms are those c onvent ions tha t lea d us to a c t in c erta in

wa ys not bec ause we a re c ompe lled to, nor be c ause we ma ke

c onsc ious choice s to, but b ec ause w e ha ve internalised a set ofexpec ta tions follow ing p a tterns of beha viour which w e ha ve

lea rned (usua lly unknowingly), ac c ep ted (usua lly ta c itly) and

which a re d aily reinforced by the be haviour and expe c tations of

othe rs. The o rigins of soc ial norms are c omplex. They can stretc h

bac k to o ld trad itions, they may be historic a l ac c idents (sp itting

in the street w as orig inally frow ned upon no t for be ing imp olite

but because doctors feared it would spread infectious diseases),

or they ma y involve the interna lising o f mo re w hat were onc e

mo re explic it collec tive d eb ates and c ontroversia l governmenta l

actions.

18.Soc ia l norms c an be ob served a nd m ea sured , they c an bepow erful - som etimes mo re p ow erful than the hard incentives of

law or ec onomic ga in - they c an c hange a nd they c an b e

influenc ed . Soc ia l norms c an be about m a jor shifts in the w ay a

whole soc iety thinks for example, the transforma tion in att itudes

to ho mosexuality in the last two d ec ades. They c an be a bout the

wa y peop le live to ge ther in pa rticular loc a lities: you m ight wa nt

to c ont rast the winners of the a nnua l Friend liest street o f the yea r

c om petition with the stree t you live in, or to wo nder why peop lein Leicester seem happ ier with d iversity tha n those in Brad ford.

And norms can emerge from specific contexts and relationships,

which is one of the rea sons why som e d oc tors a re b ette r at

enc ourag ing their pa tients to be he a lthy than others, som e

polic e force s bette r a t eng aging loca l c ommunities in c rime

prevention.

19.There is a sub sta ntia l litera ture a bout soc ial norms in the fields ofpsycholog y soc iolog y and anthropolog y. This rela tes to w hat

soc ia l norms exist, how they were c rea ted and by whom, howthey vary across time, across society and across groups within


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soc iety and what func tion they pe rform. There is a lso a grow ing

bo dy o f more p olic y relate d resea rc h on the imp ac t of soc ial

norms, and a ttem pts to shap e them. Som e examples from this

literature hint a t the sc op e for deve lop ing m ore effec tive

strateg ies for p ro-soc ial norms and beha viour.

20.Resea rc h sugg ests tha t no t only do a c c ura te percep tions ofexisting p a tte rns of b eha viour shape ind ividua l c hoices (which is

wha t we w ould expe c t) but so d o inac c urate pe rc ep tions. In US

c olleg es it has been found tha t students who ove r-estima te the

preva lenc e o f excessive drinking a mong the ir pee rs a re more

likely the mselves to bec om e exc essive d rinkers. The p ercep tion

shapes the norms. The norms shape the beha viour. Over time the

beha viour co mes to ma ke rea lity more like the m yth.

21.The impa c t of med ia c onsumption o n a ttitudes and be haviourswa s the c entral conc ern of c ultivation theory, an app roa ch

deve loped by George Ge rbner in the 1960s. In seeking to

de monstrate that heavy viewing of TV drama led pe op le to over-

estima te the leve l of violenc e in soc iety Gerbner deve lop ed the

vivid conc ep t o f mean wo rld syndrome . Gerbne r s wo rk has

been sub jec t to va rious c ritiques and elab orat ions, but there is

c ertainly a c ase for examining w hether the system atic tend enc y

of UK c itizens to exagge ra te the likelihood of b eing the vic tim of

violence b y a strange r reflec ts a mean world syndrome

genera ted not just b y c rime d ram a but by new s rep orting andpolitica l rheto ric . Fea r of c rime c ontributes to peop le

withdraw ing from c ertain pub lic spac es and losing the

c onfidenc e to eng age with strange rs, pa rticula rly those o f a

d ifferent age or ethnicity, and this in turn ca n make our stree ts

less sa fe. Ima g ine if as muc h med ia time w as g iven to

investiga ting w hy a street wo n friend liest o f the yea r as to

rep orting the trag ic but isolated stab bing o f a good neighb our.

22.Robert C iald ini, Professor of Psychology a t Arizona Sta teUniversity, is one of the w orld s foremost experts on how toinfluenc e b eha viour. One o f his a rgume nts is tha t the under-

estimation and misunderstanding of the influence of social norms

lea ds to glaring mistakes in po litic a l and po licy c om munica tion.

He found , for example, that p eop le were more likely to p rote c t a

loc a l forest not when they were told how othe rs beha viour wa s

da ma ging it, but w hen they were enc ourag ed to b elieve that

the despoiling w as ra re. This ma y reflec t not ions of rec iproc ity (I

will if you w ill) and a lso the imp ac t o f the d esire to c onform. At his

lec tures Cia ld ini show s one of the mo st frequent ly a ired pub lic

servic e films in Americ an b roa dc ast histo ry. In the film, a p roudnative Americ an p ad dling downstrea m grad ually bec omes


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eng ulfed by litter while the c amera p ans bac k to revea l a g rim

industria l landsc ape. A voic eover bem oa ns the impa c t of huma n

beha viour on the Americ an environment w hile on sc reen a

travelling c ar window o pens and a bag o f rubb ish is throw n at

the fee t of our nob le savage . Cia ld ini a rgues tha t the film no t

only g ives a fa lse imp ression b y imp lying tha t m ost Americans a re

unca ring a bout the e nvironment a nd c asually drop litter (neither

of which is true) b ut worse it norma lises irresponsibility and thus

ma kes it more likely tha t the viewe r we w ill imita te it.

23.Resea rc h like this is only one of ma ny dep arture points for a p ro-soc ial strategy. Conduc ting sma ll sca le soc ial experime nts to

inc rea se our know led ge is a very different to imp lementing large

sc a le p rog ramm es of soc ia l eng age ment and m arketing. While

researchers can create artificial circumstances, control for

c onfound ing variab les and ma nipula te their unknow ing subjec ts,politicians and p ublic ma nage rs wo rk in a c om plex world a nd

have to e xp la in their mo tives and m ethods to a public with ever

mo re ac cess to informa tion. But this resea rch d oe s suggest two

important insights: first, that it is possible to change behaviours

signific antly through the right fo rms of informa tion, eng age me nt

and p ersuasion. Sec ond , tha t the way the ente rta inment and

news med ia and politic ians ta lk about soc ia l p rob lem s and our

role in tac kling them ma y often b e c ounte r-prod uc tive. There are

parts of the UK Go vernment tha t a re d rawing o n this kind of

evidence a nd giving serious a ttention to ho w to p ersuad ec itizens to ac t in their ow n best interests, for examp le the wo rk by

the Dep artme nt of Hea lth on soc ia l ma rketing of p ub lic hea lth.

But if p ro-soc ial behaviour is vita l to making p rogress on the issues

we most c are ab out, then d eb a te, innovation and lea rning

about p ublic mo bilisa tion and norm shaping should be a vita l

pa rt of po litic s, pub lic po lic y and the da y to da y prac tic e of

public service managers and providers.

24.Of c ourse, politicians, po licy makers and pub lic offic ials do ho ldviews about soc ial norms, albeit o ften ta c itly. To gene ra lise, the seview s a re b ased on intuition rather than evidenc e, they a re o ften

pessimistic o r resigned about the scop e to shape no rms. When

they a re m ore op timistic this tend s to be b ased on a n often ill-

found ed relianc e on laws and exhortat ion a s the d rivers of no rms.

Finally, ideas about social norms are only dimly and inconsistently

reflec ted in da y to day dec ision making a nd p rac tic e. So while

there are areas of public servic e p rac tice w here idea s of c o-

design a nd c o-produc tion have rea lly taken roo t such as the

NHSs Expert Pa tient Prog ramm e these a re not only excep tiona l

but they p rosper despite, not be c ause o f, the overarc hing e thosof p ub lic servic e d elivery.


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25.Thinking seriously about the a rea of the mo tivationa l spec trumtha t enc om passes collec tive a c tion and soc ial norm shaping

c an he lp us ea se som e o f the worst p ressure points in the a iling

body politic . There a re two o bvious examples. First, the re is the

truth c ap tured by Ma rk Twa ins aphorism: to a ma n with a

hamm er eve rything looks like a na il . By underestima ting the

imp ac t of soc ial norms and the c ap ac ity for shap ing them ,

politicians ma y end up relying to o much on the most ob vious

tools a t their d isposa l: law s, reg ulat ions, sta te spend ing, struc tura l

refo rm and ta xes. This over-relianc e leads to ineffec tive o r

inapprop ria te governmenta l interference and c ontributes to

c itizen d isenc hantm ent.

26.All the soc ia l priorities I desc ribed ea rlier co uld b e addressedthroug h new laws or taxes. We c ould ta x ca rbon use m uch mo red irec tly and punitively, we c ould imp ose lega l c ontrac ts or new

c ond itiona l cha rge s on p ublic servic e users, we could ha ve m ore

leg islation to try to c rimina lise b eha viour tha t might c ause

offence and we c ould ha ve c ompulsory voting or pa y people to

join po litica l parties. Suc h prop osa ls need to b e looked a t on the ir

merits, but overall do w e think we need mo re law s, new ta xes

and mo re reg ula tions? Do we b elieve mea sures suc h a s these

a lwa ys or even often ac hieve the ir intend ed ob jective? And

wha t a re w e saying about soc iety a nd ourselves if we believe

tha t we a lwa ys need the sta te to force us to d o things to m eetob jec tives (like tackling c lima te c hang e o r imp roving p ublic

services) which we apparently support?

27.Sec ond, understa nd ing and shap ing soc ia l norms should beinteg ra l to the d esign o f po litic a l p rog ramm es and g ove rnment

polic y: if ha rd incentives go with the gra in of soc ial norms (or use

effec tive m ethods of shap ing them) they a re m ore likely to

suc c ee d and less likely to b e resented by c itizens. Drink d riving

and sea t belt wea ring a re o ften c ited as examples of laws going

hand in hand with shifting soc ia l a ttitudes.

28.So if politic ians and public offic ia ls thought more about c ollec tivemo bilisa tion and soc ial norms they could g ove rn be tte r. But a

c itizen c entric a pproa c h a lso a sks us to rethink the sub jec t matte r

of g ove rnanc e itself. A vita l step towa rds revivifying politics ma y

be to m ove from a government c entric to c itizen c entric

dem oc ra tic d isc ourse. This ana lysis is ca tegorica lly d ifferent from

the usua l ac c ounts of the fa ilings of the mod ern po litica l system.

Whatever the undoubted good sense o f ma ny of the

rec om mend ations of reports like the Pow er Commission theyhave a la rge ly p roc ed ura l and / or institutional em phasis. But w hat


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if the p rob lem is not how politic ians and the public c ond uc t their

inte rac tion as muc h as it is the sub jec t of tha t inte rac tion?

29.As long as politics is und erstood p rima rily as the p roc ess by whichwe tell them how to g ove rn us, p rop osa ls for p roc ed ura l and

institutiona l refo rm a re unlikely to a ddress the fundame nta l lac k

of fit be twe en the framing o f po litica l disc ourse a nd either our

na ture as mo dern citizens or the ac tua l soc ial c ha lleng es we

fac e. Indeed , it may be tha t som e o f the wea knesses of our

dem oc ra tic system arise from an anac hronistic approa c h to

social and political change. Politicians and officials often

c omplain that when do c onsult the pub lic they tend to a re g iven

a hard time and fac ed with imp ossible d emands. Could this be

be c ause the very content a nd pa ramete rs of many c onsultations

(not to mention the w eight o f p revious misunde rstanding a nd

d isappointment ) virtua lly rule out the possibility fo r a c onstruct ivedialogue.

30.Pro-soc ia l strategy involves c hang ing the sub jec t matte r ofdem oc ra tic d isc ourse. It means deve lop ing a n idea of

de moc racy whic h is bo th relevant to the dem and s of today and

harkens bac k to a nc ient idea ls. We ha ve c om e to think of

de moc rac y as be ing e xc lusively ab out a distant group o f peop le

(politicians) working though anachronistic organisations (todays

politica l parties). These p eop le then a sk us to g ive them a doub ly

we ak mand ate: weak numerica lly (one in four citizens c ould b eenough in a General Elec tion) and we ak direc tionally (a c ross in

a b ox every four yea rs to end orse a ma nifesto tha t ma y co nta in

hund red s of polic ies, not to me ntion a ll the issues tha t w ill eme rge

be twee n elections). In the fa c e o f the c omp lex cha llenge s of

tod ay s soc iety and pe op le s expe c tations of a utonomy a nd

respec t (reinforced - a lbeit superfic ially - by modern

c onsumerism), this ma jorita rian mo del of d em oc rac y d rives

c itizens into a c lassic p assive-aggressive sta nc e. Instead we ne ed

a c itizen-centric partic ipa tive d emoc rac y in which c itizens wo rk

out tog ether what they wa nt to a c hieve w hile through the sam eproc ess agree ing ho w they are go ing to a chieve it. (By the wa y,

it is surely instruc tive tha t we see dem oc ra tic d eb ate and p roc ess

as p rima rily about ge nerating new laws).

31.The way we do politics not only reflec ts but reinforc es a loss ofc onfidenc e among c itizens and c om munities d isc ussing and

solving p rob lems for the mselves. The most d isab ling aspec t o f

politica l disc ourse is the paradox (exp loited by the news med ia )

tha t the sta te is see n simultaneously as omnipo tent (responsible

for eve ry soc ia l failing a nd p ub lic mishap ) and incompetent(de sp ite the fac t tha t we a re g enera lly a succ essful c ountry with


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improving p ub lic servic es). Ob serving the fa mily resem blanc e o f

this c om bination, ma ny comm enta tors have sugg ested tha t

c itizens view the sta te with the same incoherent rage tha t

teena gers often p resent to the ir parents.

32.One of the amb itions of p ro-soc ia l stra teg y is tha t b y c rea ting avibrant de ba te a bo ut co mm on problems, aims and

responsibilities outside c onvent iona l po litic s we c an he lp reinsta te

politics itself a s the p roc ess by which c itizens willing ly give

permission to the ir rep resenta tives to ac t on the ir beha lf. In o ther

words, use o f sta te power is see n to be the result of c itizens

identifying a rea s whe re vo luntary or normative a c tion b y

ind ividua ls and c om munities is insuffic ient, ra ther than the

working a ssump tion o f our current c ulture of sullen sta tism ,

name ly tha t vo lunta rism has a role only in the ma rg ins left b y the

state s inco mp etenc e o r neglige nce .

33.This shift in thinking about the sta te is not simp ly ab out ro llingbac k the sta te o r taking p oliticians dow n a peg or two . The

imp lic a tions for the sta te of soc ia l beha viour are no t so muc h

about its size b ut a s about its ways of working . The imp lica tions for

politics a re no t so m uch about p olitic ians letting g o a s about

c itizens ta king hold . Pro-soc ia l po litic s would not be seen in te rms

of c onflic t b etween us (c itizens) and them (politicians). Politics

wo uld b e a bout us and us and us.

Us bec ause it would be a bout what we as c itizens wa nt toac hieve and w hat we need to d o to ac hieve it.

Us bec ause it would b e a bout recog nising the d ifferentinterests, view s and resources of d ifferent p arts of soc iety a nd

ac c ep ting the c hallenge of reco nciling these differenc es ra ther

than simp ly asserting our own dem ands and expec ting politic ians

to sort it a ll out (and then c om pla ining bitterly when they

hap lessly sea rc h for an ac c ep tab le c om promise).

Us third bec ause this wo uld be a p roc ess in whic h we wo uldneed to c onfront m ore fully the truth that w e each of us have our

ow n c onflic ting interests, view s and a ims. The a pparent

inc ompa tib le o f our own ind ividual p references is a growing

c harac teristic of m od ern po licy prob lem s. For examp le, we wa nt

to fly cheaply and protec t the p lanet, to see our children as

home -owners but to protec t the green spa c es around o ur towns

and c ities, to enjoy low labour c ost infla tion b ut to manage

migration.


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34.This is not to say tha t d eb ate about strateg ies for soc ial behaviourshould supp lant rep resenta tive d em oc rac y or trad itiona l

go vernmenta l polic y ma king. Instea d , nationally and loc a lly (one

day internationally), we c an envisage interwea ving d eb ates:

ab out wha t c itizens wa nt collec tively to a c hieve a nd w hat

c om mitments we are w illing in princ ip le to ma ke to a c hieving

these goa ls; about how pub lic polic y and a dministra tion c an

fac ilita te c itizens achieving ag reed g oa ls; and a bout wha t

peo p le now think of a s politics those a rea s where we g ive the

state de leg ate d p ower to a c t on our be half by p roviding

prote c tion, we lfare and sec urity (and , of co urse, the elec toral

c hoice of w hich p olitic ians we prefer to exerc ise this pow er).

35.I wa nt to address some of the ob jec tions to an em phasis onsoc ia l norms. But b efo re doing so I wa nt to lay my ow n p olitic a l

c ards on the ta b le. The RSA is a determined ly non-pa rty politica lorganisa tion a nd w e eng age with op inions and o p inion formers

from right, left, centre a nd those w ho d efy c a teg orisa tion. But I

hope I c an be pe rmitted to admit my own soc ial democ ratic

politica l leanings. From this perspec tive p ro-soc ial strateg y rests

upon a p rogressive a ssumption b ut a lso lea ds us to ask difficult

questions about the rela tionship b etw een collec tive a c tion and

the sta te.

36.The idea tha t soc ia l beha viour c ould be a p ow erful forc e forp rog ress imp lies an op timistic view of hum an na ture andpotential. One o f the p rob lem s with the disc ourse a bout c itizen

responsibility in rec ent times has been the explic it o r imp licit foc us

on tac kling d evianc e and p atho logy ra ther than enc ourag ing

new c ollec tive c om mitments. At schoo l I rem ember c lass being

asked to list non existent or rarely used words that were the

ap pa rent roots of c ommonly used nega tions; c outh , kempt

and sheve lled for examp le. Anti-soc ia l beha viour is another

example of a neg ative that seems to have no p ositive. Pro-soc ia l

strate gy is in p art a bout wa ys of d isc ourag ing c itizens from

beha ving anti-soc ia lly. But, more imp ortantly ab out removing theintellec tua l, cultura l and p rac tica l barriers to p eop le b eing a b le

to ac t to ge ther to a c hieve p rog ress. The a ssump tion tha t what is

right for society is also generally right for the individual - both in

terms of c onc rete outc om es and self-wo rth - reflects an

Aristotelian belief that what is wise is also what is good.

37.More p rob lem atic fo r soc ial democ ra ts is the relationshipbetw een collec tive a c tion, soc ia l norms and sta te a c tion. I do

not subsc ribe to an ideo log ic a l p resump tion tha t sta te a c tion

nec essarily c row ds out c itizen a c tion. Not d o I assume tha twha teve r the sta te d oes it tend s to a liena te and d isempow er


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tho se it is c laiming to he lp. As the streng ths and wea knesses of

pub lic servic es and c ivil soc iety in Americ a a nd Sc and inavia

illustrate, the responsiveness of the state to the preferences of

citizens and its capacity to mobilise the efforts of citizens is not

a t least w ithin the ge neral pa rame ters of the sta te in ma rket

dem oc rac ies - a func tion o f its size. How eve r, as others have

argued, there ha s been a d istinc t tendenc y am ong British soc ia l

dem oc ra ts to c onfla te c ollec tivism with sta tism. This may reflec t

the victory of p articula r strand s in the ideolog y of the British left

(most obviously Fab ianism), tha t expand ing and defend ing the

we lfare sta te bec ame Labours p riority for la rge parts of the

sec ond half of the twe ntieth c entury, or the powe r of key

pressure g roups suc h a s pub lic sec to r trad e unions. The Blair

Government s reform p rog ramm e is in pa rt about opening up

sta te mono polies to the p riva te and volunta ry sec to r. This is only

pa rt of a bigger question a bo ut the mea ns and ends of soc ia ldem oc ra tic p olitics. One way of putting this question is whether it

is tena b le to be a n enthusiast for co llec tive a c tion b ut sc ep tic a l

ab out state a c tion?

38.The answe r in part lies in where w e d raw the boundaries roundthe sta te ; one o f the g oa ls of p ro-soc ial po licies like d evo lution

and c o-produc tion is to b lur the b ound aries betw een sta te a nd

c ivic ac tion. It is a lso about ena b ling institutions to span

c om fortab ly the sta te and c ivic spheres. There is an interesting

deb ate c urrently raging in the volunta ry sec tor ab out the sec torsrole in servic e d elivery. On the one side sta nd those w ho wo rry

tha t by relying on sta te c ontrac ts the vo lunta ry sec tor bec om es

c om pliant a nd loses its vita l advoc ac y role. On the othe r side a re

those w ho a rgue tha t voluntary orga nisa tions tha t eng age in

servic e delivery a re ab le to d eve lop mo re informed , ba lanced

and rea listic p olic y and c ampa ign p rog ramm es. Just a s shrill

interest g roup s politics c an c ont ribute to the c urrent sha llow ness

of muc h po licy and p olitica l deb ate, so a c itizen-ce ntric

dem oc rac y will bene fit from the c apac ity of organisa tions to

c onstructively med iate the d ialogue be tween the state and c ivilsoc iety. Indeed , interest g roup s nee d som et ime s turn their

a ttention a wa y from gove rnme nt to c itizens. This wa s the incisive

strateg ic judg em ent m ade b y Trevo r Phillips when he saw tha t

the ma in issue for the Co mmission fo r Rac ial Equa lity wa s not to

pe rsuad e the G overnment to do more for rac e eq uality but to

eng age with the rising c onc ern in the British p op ula tion about the

imp ac t of m ass migra tion.

39.I wa nt now to turn to som e of the o b jec tions to the p rom otion ofp ro-soc ial norms and beha viour. This is not me rely an inte llec tua lexercise; versions of these ob jec tions tend to b e heard w hene ver


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de ba te ta kes plac e a bo ut how w e m ight m ake soc iety stronge r.

Unde rstanding the ob jec tions to the idea helps identify key

questions an RSA p rojec t should explore in more deta il

40.One ob jec tion is structura l. It is the free rider p rob lem . Ifsom ething can only be a c c om plished by lots of c itizens wo rking

tog ether, why do nt I just op t out a nd leave it up to other

peop le? Or, conversely, if my beha viour will make little imp ac t on

its ow n what s the point of me ma king a me aningless sac rifice?

The o b jec tion here is tha t c ollec tive a greements and soc ia l

norms espec ia lly ones we might seek to gene ra te ourselves -

a re simp ly too wea k to make a d ifferenc e. In essenc e this is why

we need law s, to c ompe l pe op le (or at least to enc ourag e

them ) to d o things tha t might not o therwise b e in their individual

inte rest. Does this me an the c a ll for soc ial behaviour based not

on laws but o n vo lunta rily agreed norms is unrea listic? I don tthink so. As I a rgue below in relat ion to eq ua lities, there a re

examples of new soc ia l norms which shape individua l beha viour

reg ard less of a ny c lear self interest. Indeed , the ve ry idea of

soc ial norms is tha t our behaviour is shaped by explic it or tac it

agreem ents about c ollec tive g oa ls which relieve us of (c onstra in

us from ) a c onsta nt re-ca lculat ion of our ow n self interest in any

given situa tion.

41.Also, ma ny of the things c itizens c ould choose to do to imp rovesoc iety a re not intrinsica lly onerous or self sac rific ing. Pa tients whoac t as partners in their c a re, or peop le who a re goo d ne ighbo urs

are likely to end up hea lthier or mo re p op ula r than pe op le who

don t, as we ll as ma king servic es run bet ter and c om munities fee l

sa fer. This is not to say tha t the re w on t b e p eo p le w ho ignore

c ollec tive a greem ents or op t out o f new soc ia l norms and

behaviours, but, as g iving to Live8 or voting in X Fac to r show, just

as often the reve rse mo tivation app lies we are enthusiastic

about b eing a sma ll part of som ething b ig.

42.Anothe r potentia l ob jec tion to soc ia l beha viour stra teg y issoc iolog ica l. The a rgument he re is tha t soc ial norms c an t be

c rea ted , espec ia lly in a soc iety a s diverse a nd fast c hang ing as

our ow n. This is the Humpty Dumpty view: the soc ia l found ations

shift, the e gg fa lls sha tte ring the shell of soc ial norms never to be

put ba c k tog ether aga in. In a way this is true, we p rob ab ly ca n t

go back to the kind of va lues and assump tions tha t p reva iled in

a mo re homo ge nous and c losed soc iety. But there is one very

ob vious and pow erful example o f new soc ia l norms emerging.

43.Most p eop le w ould ac c ept that in day to d ay interac tionstrea ting p eop le equa lly and with respec t reg ard less of gend er,


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rac e, sexuality or physica l disab ility is now expe c ted of o rd inary

de c ent peop le. Yet just a g eneration ag o the g oa l of eq ual

trea tment fo r a ll was espoused by few outside the ranks of left

wing rad ic a ls, whose a ims and me thod s we re largely derided by

the politica l and me dia esta b lishment. Of c ourse, this shift ha s

been reinforc ed by change s in the law (just a s the sta te a nd its

age nc ies have a vita l role in enc ourag ing soc ia l be haviour), but

the c hange in norms has go ne w ell beyond wha t is p resc ribe d in

leg isla tion. In one c ase a t lea st - lesb ian a nd gay rights

wide sprea d a ttitudina l c hang e was we ll ahea d of leg isla tive

reform

44.A range of fac tors transformed everyda y at titudes tod isadvantage d o r minority group s. It can be a rgued tha t eq ua lity

for wom en w as d riven p rima rily by the lab our ma rket needs of

service industries, or tha t AIDS was the key fa c to r d riving a moreassertive form o f ac tivism a mo ng gay men. But the c ausa lity of

ma jor soc ial change is ra rely tha t simp le. In the story of e qua lity s

advanc e it is surely imp ossible to lea ve o ut the c ontribution

ma de to these new soc ia l norms by pionee ring c amp a igne rs,

political movements and social theorists. Pro-social strategy will

rely on a simila r mix of p rac tica l nec essity, intellec tua l insight a nd

political activism.

45.There is anothe r instinc tive ob jec tion to address. This is tha t thec a ll for soc ial be haviour sound s a t b est like p ious midd le c lassbusybod yism a nd a t worst like bac k door tota lita rianism. When

we ta lk ab out new soc ial norms and beha viours, whose w ill these

be? When c itizens face so m any taxes, laws, reg ulation a nd

surveillance the last thing w e need is to add another layer of

dem ands, even if only enforce d by soft incentives and the threat

of soc ial disapprova l. This c ritic ism c om bines c onc erns about the

imposition o f the va lues of the e lite or the e sta b lishme nt w ith

worries about authoritarianism or the further infantilising of the

population

46.These a re important issues but I think they c an b e addressed .Firstly we should rem em ber tha t the a lternative to one set of

social norms isnt no norms, it is a different set of norms. For

exam ple, to a rgue tha t peo p le should q ueue s up fo r buses is to

argue for one set of norms: fa irness, po liteness, respec t, to

rep lac e the norms which o therwise p reva il: the fa stest, fittest a nd

mo st a ggressive have the right to get on the b us first. If you

refuse to do a nything ab out c utting your ca rbo n footp rint you

are obeying no rms of ind ividua lism a nd ma terialism over those o f

sustainability and collective responsibility.


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47.From a liberta rian p erspec tive norms must b e p refe rab le to laws.Norms are g enera lly wea ker in the p ow er they have o ver

beha viour but b a lanc ing this we akness is a c onverse strength.

Norms c an have an imp ortant imp ac t in shap ing the be haviour

of the m a jority without having to infringe the freedom of

everybo dy: think of the d ifferenc e b etwe en ec c entric ity and

c rimina lity. Also, while laws usua lly have an a ll of nothing

bo unda ry be twee n wha t is leg al and wha t illegal with

consequent problems of inflexibility and sometimes apparent

a rb itra riness, norms tend to be a c ont inuum with our de c isions on

how to follow them p lac ed in the situa tiona l context we find

ourselves.

48.So, even if strong ne w expec ta tions of soc ial beha viour emergenot eve ryone will follow them. Dissenters ma y d isagree with the

a ims, the method s, or just not b e b othe red to c hange theirbeha viour, and few of us live up to our be st intentions a ll the

time. Indeed those w ho c onstruct ively dissent from c ollec tive

agreem ents and d isob ey norms ma y not a lwa ys be w rec kers but

ma y instea d be soc ia l innova tors p resag ing the emergenc e o f

be tter ideas ab out soc ial c hange. Collec tive a c tions and norms

have a greater ca pa c ity to evo lve than the rigidities and

brittlene ss of law s. And eve n when som e p eop le d issent or op t

out , if the ma jority (or even a sizab le m inority) change it c ould still

ma ke a noticea b le impa c t on shared a ims like tac kling c lima te

c hange, imp roving sc hoo ling or ma king the streets sa fer.

49.The a rgume nt tha t trying to shape no rms is authoritarian ma y bereb uffed , but w hat about the idea tha t such a p roc ess is elitist,

imp osing the va lues of the pow erful on tho se w ith quiete r voices.

This is important b oth from the perspec tive o f justice and

prac tica lity. Trying to imp ose norms on p eo p le w ithout the ir

supp ort ma y be wrong, it w ill certainly fail. When w e d eve lop p ro-

soc ia l stra teg ies we must a lwa ys rem ember that peop le ha ve

d ifferent lives, diffe rent p riorities and d ifferent resource s. It is

ea sier for an ed uc a ted , self confident Eng lish spea king parent tobe ac tive in their c hild s schoo ling than, say, a rec ent imm igrant

who ha d little forma l ed uc a tion and has little English.

Encouraging healthier lifestyles is easier with people used to the

idea they a re in co ntrol of their lives and who c an a fford to join a

gym or buy a go od pa ir of running shoes.

50.This is not only ab out those w ith pow er sympathising w ith thosewho ha ve less. It is a lso a bout understa nd ing a nd respec ting the

norms whic h exist in different com munities (a lthough not being

a fra id to ta lk openly when tho se conflic t w ith the norms in therest o f soc iety). Som etimes it c ould b e about imp orting the norms


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and beha viours of m inority g roup s and seeking to imp ort them

into the rest o f soc iety. Take an exam ple I hea rd from som eo ne

resea rching pa lliative c are; there is a t rad ition in Afro-Ca ribb ea n

c ulture tha t w hen som eo ne is dying , their c lose family should

ga ther round them a ble to see them a nd to uch them . But in

many NHS hospita ls visitor rules mean tha t only one or tw o

peop le c an be a t the b ed side. Thus a benign soc ia l norm tha t

fam ilies offer supp ort to e ach o ther and their dying relative a t the

end of the ir life (one tha t o ther pa rts of soc iety m ight b enefit from

adop ting) - is weakened by the imp osition o f a rule w ith limited

med ic a l and administra tive b enefits.

51.The m ost important response to the c onc ern that new soc ia lbeha viours and norms might fee l like unw elcom e, unrea listic a nd

unsymp athe tic imp ositions is to return to the need to rec ast the

c ontent and form o f the rela tionship betw een c itizens, on theone hand, and politic ians and public offic ia ls, on the othe r. Like

a ll ma jor soc ia l movements the mom entum behind soc ia l

be haviour must c ome a s muc h or more from the b ottom up

(po pula r will) and the side in (sprea d ing innova tion a nd

suc c essful p rac tice) a s from the top dow n. Politicians may

we lc ome pro-soc ial beha viour and Gove rnment may b e more

likely to d eliver its outc om es with it, but c hange from the top will

only succ eed if it comes as a response to idea s, dema nds and

prac tices ge nerated awa y from Whiteha ll and tow n hall. Pro-

soc ia l stra teg y must involve a new type of d eb ate in soc iety, anew set o f prac tice s in po litic s and new ways of working in pub lic

services and making local decisions. Pro-social strategy therefore

allies itself with three other sets of arguments: for participative

forms of p olic y ma king, for devo lved forms of d ec ision ma king,

and for c o-prod uctive forms of p ublic servic e m ana gement.

52.In my opening words I sa id tha t this essay is a ca ll to a rms. I havedesc ribed the e lements of a p ro-soc ial strategy but I am a lso

c a lling for a p ro-soc ial camp a ign. Wha t might this invo lve? It is

imp ortant to understand the na ture o f the c halleng e. Theprob lem is not tha t we lac k a philosop hic a l frame wo rk to

prom ote soc ial behaviour; there is a rich litera ture in the soc ial

c ontrac t, comm unitarian and c ivic rep ublic an trad itions of

politica l philosop hy. It is not tha t there is strong explic it p olitica l

op po sition to the ide a ; the a rgum ent between the p olitical

parties is not about whether to mo bilise the e fforts of c itizens but

how (which is not to say that the p rac tice o f po litic s or

government o ften lives up to this rhetorica l rec og nition). In

op inion polls, focus groups and eve ryda y c onve rsa tion peop le

unde rstand the p rob lem o f a lac k of soc ia l beha viour and a reinterested in solutions. The idea of engaging c itizens as partners is


18/22

an inevitab le eleme nt o f any disc ussion o f pub lic servic e reform,

tac kling c lima te c hang e, making c om munities strong er and

renew ing d emoc rac y and c ivic soc iety.

53.It isn t tha t there is lac k of new thinking in this a rea : theGo vernment s Strategy Unit has c om missioned and pub lished

work on how to influence p ublic be haviour, the Depa rtment of

Hea th has a lso p rod uced ma teria l on the scop e o f soc ia l

ma rketing to influenc e lifestyle c hoic es. Ma ny of our lea d ing

soc ia l c om menta tors peop le like Ed Ma yo a t the National

Co nsumer Counc il, Cha rlie Lea dbea ter of DEMOS, Ge off Mulgan

at the Young Found ation - a ll reg ula rly write and spea k ab out

user and c itizen eng age me nt and p rom ote this type o f

innova tion. There is a g row ing literature about ho w p eop le c an

be p ersuaded to ac t in soc ia lly benign w ays. In eva luat ions of

initiat ives like Sure Sta rt a nd the New Dea l for Co mmunities the reis a wea lth of p ote ntia l lea rning a bout ho w to m ob ilise individual

and c ommunity efforts (and how not to d o it). Indeed , dotted

ac ross the public and voluntary (and to a lesser extent p riva te)

sec to r a re ind ividua ls who see the p rom ot ion of c itizen

eng age me nt a nd soc ia l behaviour as intrinsic to their wa ys of

wo rking. Bringing tog ether the c om mitment and know led ge o f

these p eop le is a c ruc ia l aspec t of a soc ia l beha viour stra teg y

54.But ye t d esp ite a ll this, do our ma instream pub lic services yet fee llike c o-produc tions betw een p roviders and c itizens, are we doingenough a s c itizens to ta c kle c lima te c hange , a re we vot ing a nd

participa ting in loc a l dec ision m aking, a re d iverse c om munities

spend ing mo re t ime integ ra ting and solving p rob lem s tog ether?

And in the wa y we think ab out soc ial cha nge a nd relate to

politics a ren t we a re still a long wa y from a c itizen-c entric

democracy?

55.In my c losing c om me nts I wa nt to explore what the RSA mighthop e to ensure tha t the signs of c hang e I a lluded to a t the o utset

c oa lesc e into a deeper and wide r c ultura l shift. If we a re toac hieve the kind o f shift in thinking, langua ge, and p rac tice

imp lied by the idea of c itizen-centric dem oc rac y it will take

deb ate a nd a c tion a t ma ny leve ls and it will involves c om bining

two virtues which wrong ly tend to be seen as op posites; pa tienc e

and c rea tivity. This is not a bout gene ra ting a set of

rec ommend ations for Gove rnment (a lthough tha t might be pa rt

of it), it is not simp ly a d eb ate amo ng the c ha tte ring c lasses, the

momentum need ed will not c ome through isolated bits of good

prac tice howeve r c om menda b le e ach is. It involves a ll this and

more. The a im of the RSA is not to c olonise this te rritory but to ac tas a foc us, a hub and a ra llying p oint for those w ho sha re a t least


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som e o f our ana lysis and vision. Achieving a tipp ing p oint w ill

involve m aking p rog ress in severa l different a reas. I outline the se

below.

56.In p olitics and soc ial ac tivism suc cessfully d efining the p rob lem isprior to, and mo re p ow erful than, persuad ing p eop le of the right

answe r. Pro-soc ia l stra teg y needs a c onvincing a nd a ttention

grabbing ac c ount o f why soc ial p rog ress relies on the

deve lop me nt of new voluntary behaviours and soc ia l norms.

Ironic a lly, the c ha lleng e m ay be tha t this view is so e asy to

supp ort that it doesnt engag e pe op le or ge t ad eq uately

prob ed . So w e need to test out the idea in relation to spe c ific

c ha lleng es. For examp le, I a rgued above tha t individua l

voluntary ac tion is essential to me eting c arbon red uc tion ta rge ts.

Is this true? Isn t it rea lly dow n to the ac tions of Governments and

big b usiness? Could putting too muc h em phasis on shapingc itizens beha viour gives us a warm fee ling while a llow ing us to

a llow our Government to d uck the toug h fisc a l and regulato ry

c hoice s tha t wo uld rea lly make a d ifferenc e? Doc tors, tea c hers

and po lic e o ffic ers ma y feel obliged to say they nee d the

eng age ment and help of c itizens but do they rea lly? One

response to the p ro-soc ia l a rgum ent is I don t want to be

eng age d in soc ia l change or to be a p a rtner in servic es; tha t s

why I pay my ta xes . Is p ro-soc ial behaviour primarily a func tiona l

answer to a problem o f soc ial outc omes (inad eq uate pub lic

services, rising carbon emissions) o r pa rt o f a more idea listicatte mp t to c rea te an enga ged c itizenry who understand that

with the right o f soc ia l influenc e must c om e the expec ta tion of

soc ia l pa rtic ipat ion?

57.New conc ep ts and lang uag e are imp ortant to shap ing the wa yopinion fo rmers, dec ision makers and c itizens the mselves think

ab out the c hallenge and sc op e o f soc ial be haviour. Sometimes

new c onc ep ts a re g round ed in exhaustive resea rch for

example Rob ert Puttnam s pop ula risa tion o f soc ia l c ap ita l

othe r times they a re an intuitive lea p which pulls tog ether a set oftrend s in a single c onc ep t for examp le the idea of Web 2.0.

There is the d ange r tha t c onc ep ts ente r the politica l blood strea m

despite lacking suffic ient c la rity ab out what they mea n and how

they help; argua b ly this has been the c ase w ith soc ial exc lusion .

It may be tha t the c onc ep ts I have used in this essay c itizen-

c entric , soc ia l norms , p ro-soc ia l a re to o b roa d or imp rec ise.

Might there be be tter wa ys of c apturing o r de velop ing the idea ,

does it have to be b roken dow n into its d ifferent a pp lica tions?

How c an idea s as d ispara te as new narra tives of d emoc ra tic

de c ision making a nd c hang ing the w ay tha t d oc tors, tea c hers


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and polic e o ffic ers op erate be usefully corra lled unde r the same

conceptual umbrella?

58.Developing a new voc abula ry of p ro-soc ia l beha viour wo uld a imto c hange the everyday fram ing of d eba te a bo ut soc ial and

politica l change ; for example my sugg estion o f rep lac ing the us

and them of politica l disc ourse with the three uss. This c ould

mea n ap plying a consistent a nd compe lling c ritique of the w ay

politic ians ta lk, the me d ia reports and interest g roup s make

c om pla ints and d emands (just as happened with the equa lities

movement). Politic s a t a ll leve ls is about issue entrep reneuria lism,

the p roc ess whereb y ac tivists spot , define, a rticula te a nd

orga nise a round an issue. What ha ppens to politics if one

c onsistently red efines the b ig issue from ; what should they be

ma de to do for us to what should w e d ec ide to do for

ourselves?

59.Build ing networks is a horizonta l and vertica l proc ess. Vertica lly itinvolves c onnec ting the m any prac titioners who a re seeking to

de velop more c o-ope rative and rec iproca l ways of wo rking w ith

pe op le to the c ham pions of this ap proac h in ac ade mia, think

ta nks the m ed ia and ma instream p olitics. The p rac titione rs get to

p lac e their wo rk in a b roa der politica l and intellec tua l c ontext

while the theo rists and c amp a igne rs ge t to ground their idea s, to

understa nd the c onc rete barriers to p rog ress and to furnish the ir

arguments with powerful case studies. Horizontally, networking isabout finding threa ds and laying t ra ils to c onnec t the a ims and

princ ip les of d isparate ac tivities which share a c ommitment to

pro-soc ial beha viour princ iples. This is not only a bout c onnec ting

peop le in d ifferent parts of the c ountry (and wo rld ): the silos tha t

c an exist w ithin the public servic es and betw een the pub lic

sec tor, voluntary and c ommunity sec tor mea ns tha t pe op le

wo rking in the same tow n or c ity can remain unaw are o f the

loc al potential for co llab oration a nd mutual supp ort (we would

hop e he re to d eve lop a role fo r the RSA Fellow ship a s a loc a l

ra llying point).

60.Netwo rks p rovide the g rid over which new s of innova tion a ndlea rning c an trave l. The ta sk of ident ifying c red ible exam ples of

successful and progressive norm and behaviour shaping is vital if

the idea of soc ia l beha viour is to cap ture p eop le s ima gination. It

is a ll very we ll to a rgue tha t schoo ls c ould d o m ore to c rea te the

expec ta tion from parents tha t they ge t involved in their c hild s

ed uca tion a nd in supporting the sc hoo l, but where ha s it been

done , was it worth the effo rt, did it end ure p ast the first flush of

enthusiasm? Have Respec t partnerships to ta c kle a nti-soc ia lbe haviour rea lly engag ed the c omm unity and c hang ed their


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themselves ta ke ever more c ontrol. This is no t just user genera ted

c ontent, but ab out a pp lic ations which evolve around the views

and need s of users. As one d esc ript ion p uts it Web 1.0 is

exemplified by Britannica On-line, while Web 2.0 sees the

emergenc e of the wiki, a c ollec tively c onstruc ted and

c ont inually evo lving source o f information. So while Web 1.0

offers to make us and them eng age me nt and mo b ilisa tion mo re

effec tive, Web 2.0 provides a frame wo rk for the emergenc e o f us

and us d ia logue and a c tion. In on-line soc ial netwo rking, virtua l

rea lity ga ming, open ac cess produc t a nd process de velopment

there is surely a w ea lth of ideas tha t c ould b e a pp lied to the a ims

of p ro-soc ia l strategy?

64.The emergenc e of new on-line too ls for dec ision ma king andsoc ial mobilisa tion will be one sign tha t the idea of c itizen-c entric

dem oc rac y is ta king roo t. But if norms and beha viours a re rea llyto c hange as a result of a new dem oc ra tic d isc ourse it will

req uire much w ider institutiona l refo rm. Soc ial be haviour will not

simp ly be ab le to be bo lted on the w ays that o ur demo c ratic

institutions, pub lic bod ies and servic es current ly operate (this has

been prec isely why so many attemp ts a t c itizen eng age ment

have fallen fla t). So as our thinking deve lop s we need to ima gine

new mo re p articipa tive a nd adaptive institutions and p roc esses.

65.The transforma tion o f our nationa l infrastructure in the nineteenthc entury req uired the sprea d of ne w institutions from joint stoc kc om panies to loc a l authorities. Simila rly, the e me rgenc e o f the

universa l we lfare sta te in the tw ent ieth century req uired the

institutiona l c apac ity of the mod ern na tion sta te. Now we ne ed

the emergenc e o f a new de moc ra tic and soc ial infrastructure

which ena b les c itizens to be the a rchitec ts and builders of the

future we want.

pro-social behaviour - the future - it's up to us

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