The Politics of Wellbeing

This proposal responds to a significant gap in wellbeing research. There has been a dramatic rise of international and national policy interest in wellbeing, quality of life and happiness research, and particularly in the measurement of wellbeing for public policy purposes. This has intensified in the context of the financial crisis as politicians and policy-makers grapple with new policy goals and political narratives while pursuing economic and employment growth to sell to electorates. Politicians and policy-makers interested in wellbeing have engaged with academics and academic contributions from a range of disciplines, such as Economics, Psychology and Sociology - but the discipline of Politics has been largely absent from the debate. However, through our engagement with academics in other disciplines and with policy practitioners we believe that the Politics discipline has an important and distinctive contribution to make. In particular, we identify three fields of Politics - Public Policy Analysis, Political Economy and Political Theory - that can play an important role in contemporary developments. In this context, the main aim and innovation of this seminar series is to bring the Politics discipline into dialogue with other disciplines and with policy-makers, to identify and communicate its distinctive contribution, and to contribute to wellbeing policy debate and policy development in the UK and beyond.

This proposal will bring together academics and non-academics from across the UK and internationally to investigate and instigate advances in wellbeing research and policy enabled by a new wellbeing research agenda in the Politics discipline. It will involve both those experienced and those new to the field of wellbeing. Through a series of interdisciplinary and academic/practitioner seminars over two years we will develop a new and distinctive contribution to wellbeing research and to policy debates. This will be enhanced by the creation of a new network bringing academics into dialogue with other disciplines and with practitioners, policy makers and politicians which will have a life beyond the term of the project. In addition, a new online presence will be created to enable an international exchange of ideas and development of collaborative working. Wider impact will be facilitated through regular briefings for policy practitioners to foster exchange and collaboration.

Our main focus will be on the UK, which has been at the forefront of developments. Of particular importance was Prime Minister Cameron's announcement in November 2010 that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) would be developing measures of wellbeing that would henceforth inform public policy (see Case for Support). However, this is an issue that has attracted much interest beyond the UK, both within countries (e.g., Italy, France and Germany) and within international organisations (the EU, OECD and UN). In this context, a more specific objective of the seminar series is to understand developments in Britain in international and comparative perspective.

The focus of this seminar series on new ways of measuring economic and social progress, the explicit focus on improving the development and implementation of wellbeing policies, and the connections between quality of life and issues of equity and fairness, speak directly to the ESRCs three priorities of Economic Performance and Sustainable Growth, Influencing Behaviour and Informing Interventions and A Vibrant and Fair Society.

This research is intended to have academic beneficiaries wider than the investigators immediate professional circle carrying out similar research. This impact is described in the section on Academic Beneficiaries. Beyond academics, the groups most likely to benefit from the seminar series are the following:

Politicians: There is significant interest in wellbeing across the political spectrum. This exists at the highest level in the Conservative Party with the Prime Minister and other influential ministers such as Oliver Letwin and David Willetts keen advocates of the wellbeing agenda. The Liberal Democrats 2011 autumn conference approved a policy paper on the importance of quality of life and policies to achieve it. There is also an All Party Parliamentary Group on Well-being Economics, chaired by Jo Swinson MP, with membership from all major parties.

Civil servants: There are high level cross-departmental groups on wellbeing in Whitehall that would be interested in the activities and outputs generated here. More specifically, the Treasury Green Book guidance for government departments has been amended in response to this agenda so that departments are asked to consider the implications for subjective wellbeing of policies. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which is leading the national programme for measuring wellbeing, would be particularly interested. Beyond Whitehall there is considerable interest in local authorities, who were given wellbeing powers by the Local Government Act 2000 and a number have since developed their own wellbeing policies and strategies. Scott and Atkinson (a confirmed participant) have already worked with several local authorities (Newcastle, Durham, Stockton, Blyth Valley, Barnsley, Dudley) and can build on those links.

Policy advisers: Key advisors to government including David Halpern are keen advocates of the wellbeing agenda, which connects to other agendas such as behavioural change.

Think tanks: In addition to NEF other think tanks have been active on the issue, including the Young Foundation, the Carnegie Trust and the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Interest groups: A wide range of interest groups have an interest in the issue, illustrated by participation in the ONS report launch from National Health Service trusts, the Children's Society, Right Property, Action for Happiness, Infinity Health at Work, Business in the Community, and the Equality Trust.

Journalists and commentators: A number of journalists and commentators have followed this issue for several years and the PI has discussed the issue with Radio 4, which ran a short series on the topic in 2012. NEF has excellent contacts in this area.

Through our exchanges with non-academics, the following questions emerged as of particular interest:

- How and why has this issue risen up the political agenda in some contexts more than others?
- What motivates political agents?
- What are the constraints on policy change?
- How do the traditions of ideas in different political parties shape their approach to wellbeing? What implications does/might this have for policy?
- How does wellbeing relate to other social concerns such social justice?
- How does this issue connect to other governmental agendas such as the behavioural change, the Big Society, and localism?
- What are the appropriate governance arrangements and mechanisms through which effective and accountable wellbeing interventions be advanced?
- How might policy-makers influence behaviour to promote wellbeing?
- What are the political and policy connections between the wellbeing agenda and closely related policy domains such as health, social policy and the environment?

Greater understanding of the answers to these questions has the potential for increasing the effectiveness of public services and policy and, ultimately, enhancing quality of life.