Inward Conquest
The Political Origins of Modern Public Services

Examining schools, libraries, prisons, asylums, and vaccines, this study is the first comprehensive look at the origins of public services.

Ben W. Ansell (Author), Johannes Lindvall (Author)

9781107197398, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 November 2020

230 pages
24 x 16 x 3 cm, 0.75 kg

'This book will interest readers across the social sciences, especially anyone who wants to understand how modern states have evolved. It provides novel insights into the factors that shape the provision of public services, tracing their origins to key political struggles and reforms. Ansell and Lindvall present an impressive array of evidence documenting the extent of change and discusses how this transformation in the scope of government has affected politics.' Tim Besley, London School of Economics and Political Science

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, modern states began to provide many of the public services we now take for granted. Inward Conquest presents the first comprehensive analysis of the political origins of modern public services during this period. Ansell and Lindvall show how struggles among political parties and religious groups shaped the structure of diverse yet crucially important public services, including policing, schooling, and public health. Liberals, Catholics, conservatives, socialists, and fascists all fought bitterly over both the provision and political control of public services, with profound consequences for contemporary political developments. Integrating data on the historical development of public order, education, and public health with novel measures on the ideological orientation of governments, the authors provide a wealth of new evidence on a missing link in the history of the modern state.

Part I. A Revolution in Government: 1. Two cities
2. Public services
Part II. Order: 3. The police
4. Prisons
Part III. Knowledge: 5. Schools
6. Libraries
Part IV. Health: 7. Asylums
8. Vaccinations
9. Midwifery
Part V. The Origins of Public Services: 10. Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Civil service & public sector [KNV], Political economy [KCP], Comparative politics [JPB], Sociology [JHB]