Though many of us access public services on a daily basis, how much do we know about the origins of public service provision? Could understanding this history help us to understand the reasons for the operational successes and shortcomings of contemporary public services?

Ben Ansell and Johannes Lindvall are the authors of Inward Conquest, a book that explores the political origins of the provision of public services including policing, schooling, and public health. Join Professors Ansell and Lindvall for their conversation with the Blavatnik School of Government’s Pepper Culpepper and Thomas Elston about the lessons that their historical research may have for the provision of public services by contemporary states, and how pivotal battles over the provision of these services continue to influence modern politics.