2001 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
Users: At the Centre or on the Sidelines?
Published in:
Voluntary Organisations and Social Policy in Britain
Until the election of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government in 1979, the idea of ‘user involvement’ in voluntary organisations was largely rooted in notions of democratic participation. The new government shifted the focus to ideas of consumer preference and demands (Deakin, 1996), fuelled by New Right notions of dismantling the state and enhancing individual freedom.