Charities have been drawn into the world of outsourced service provision, with the state as their biggest customer and payment made on a results basis. It is a trend which is set to accelerate with government plans to hand over to charities much of the work currently done by the public sector. But has the target driven world of providing such services as welfare to work support and rehabilitating offenders destroyed something of the traditional philanthropic nature of charities? Fran Abrams investigates.Producer: Mukul Devichand.
Politik
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Programme examining the ideas and forces which shape public policy in Britain and abroad, presented by distinguished writers, journalists and academics.
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389 Folgen
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Folge vom 14.10.2013What Are Charities For?
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Folge vom 07.10.2013Edward Snowden: Leaker, Saviour, Traitor, Spy?Last June, Edward Snowden, a man still in his twenties with, as he put it, "a home in paradise", went on the run. He took with him vast amounts of secret information belonging to the US government's security services.Snowden holds libertarian - or anti-statist - views. He believes the American government's pervasive surveillance activities which he revealed break the law but are also morally wrong.In Britain, "The Guardian" newspaper published the classified information Snowden had obtained. This seemed odd. Editorially, it was not sympathetic to Snowden's anti-state nostrums. But, on privacy grounds, it agreed with him that it was inherently wrong for democratic governments to spy on their citizens online. Furthermore, it argued that governments should not decide for themselves when and how they would do their surveillance.It is this political alliance between the libertarian right and the liberal left - which are normally opposed to one another - which David Aaronovitch investigates in this programme.He explores, in a detailed interview with the editor of "The Guardian", Alan Rusbridger, why the newspaper published the secret information. Are states threatening citizens' privacy in the cyber age? Or is it in fact governments which are more vulnerable than ever before to the unauthorised disclosure of their secrets?What secrets is the state itself entitled to keep from its citizens and from potential enemies? And who decides that question?the security services, Parliament or the government? Or the press and the whistle-blowers? Alan Rusbridger claims his newspaper can properly adjudicate what should and should not be published about state secrets. But how does he justify that apparently self-serving argument?
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Folge vom 30.09.2013Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: Why Did They Fail?Barely a year after Egypt's post-revolution elections were held, millions of protestors took to the streets to demand the resignation of President Mohammed Morsi. After a short stand-off with army leaders, he was removed from power in what many describe as a coup d'etat. The subsequent clashes between Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters and security forces have proved violent and bloody and the country is once again being governed by the military - but what were the events which closed this short chapter in the fledgling Egyptian democracy? Christopher de Bellaigue speaks to insiders from across Egypt's political spectrum to reveal the mistakes and power-plays which led to the downfall of the country's first democratically elected president.Contributors: Dr Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, former Freedom and Justice Party MP for Luxor. Dr Hisham Hellyer, associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (London) and the Brookings Institution (Washington). Dr Omar Ashour, senior lecturer in Middle East Politics and Security Studies, University of Exeter. Angy Ghannam, Head of BBC Monitoring, Cairo. Dr Wael Haddara, former communications adviser to President Mohammed Morsi. Dr Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, founder of the Strong Egypt party. Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith Editor: Innes Bowen
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Folge vom 22.07.2013The Rule of Law v the Rule of ManWith huge concern over tax avoidance, tax officials are the latest to be given increased powers of discretion. They will be able to penalise people who have obeyed the letter of the law, but who have contravened the spirit of the tax code - as determined by the officials themselves, based on certain criteria. The use of official discretion is now applying across the UK's legal systems, from areas such as tax and finance to crime and hate speech.Philosopher Jamie Whyte asks: is this growth in the Rule of Man undermining the Rule of Law? If officials can punish you, despite the fact that you followed the rules on the books, doesn't that raise the danger of injustice?Even though few tears are being shed for tax avoiders, couldn't the lack of legal clarity lead to uncertainty? Would that drive business away from Britain? Jamie unravels the methods of sophisticated tax lawyers, and speaks to academic thinkers and legislators. He asks if we are we creating a culture where it pays to cosy up to officials. And he explores the deeper philosophy of the Rule of Law and whether it is being diminished in our uncertain times.Producer: Mukul Devichand.