big society

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Coined by political adviser Steve Hilton, to contrast with big government.

Noun

big society (uncountable)

  1. (UK politics) A conservative-liberal policy advocating the strengthening of local government and communities.
    • 2010 July 19, Nicholas Watt, “David Cameron reveals ‘big society’ vision – and denies it is just cost cutting”, in The Guardian‎:
      David Cameron today pledged to create communities with “oomph”, as he launched the Tory vision of a “big society” that would involve a dramatic redistribution of power from “the elite in Whitehall to the man and woman on the street”.
    • 2011 May 21, Ed Rooksby, “Don't underestimate toxic Blue Labour”, in The Guardian‎:
      Blue Labour thinking, here, converges seamlessly with Cameron's “big society”.
    • 2013 March 5, Peter Hetherington, quoting Stephen Bubb, “Is this the end of Cameron's big society?”, in The Guardian‎:
      Not only were charities facing “crippling spending cuts”, but the government had also lost its way without a clear narrative to deliver the big society, he said.
    • 2019 January 28, Michael Segalov, “Forget the ‘big society’. Austerity is to blame for this army of volunteers”, in The Guardian‎:
      At first it sounded quite lovely, didn’t it? The notion of a “big society” – back in those heady days when David Cameron and Nick Clegg stood side by side in the Downing Street garden.

See also

Further reading

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