Return of the Oligarchs

Last month, I listed the books I keep within stretching distance of my desk. I now feel guilty because I left one out.

Twenty years ago, the political philosopher David Marquand wrote his far-sighted tract Decline of the Public. Reading it today is uncanny because it predicted with such clarity and understated intellectual power the course of British politics over the last two decades.

Marquand identified what he called the public domain, which he defined as the sphere of our national life which is independent of the market and the state. Marquand dated the arrival of the public domain to the early years of the Victorian era. Until this point (as the great historian Sir Lewis Namier set out), men entered politics out of greed or self-interest. There was no concept of public service or duty. William Gladstone was the most famous embodiment of the new morality, and the prime mover behind the revolution in public administration, which replaced patronage and influence with a system based on merit. This period also saw the rise of professional bodies, the formation of great charities, and the creation of the magnificent idea of active citizenship.

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