Analysis

Banks are underwritten by the government in Britain. But should the taxpayer bail out so-called casino banks? In a programme previously broadcast on 1 February 2010 - Edward Stourton talks to the growing band of experts who believe that risk-taking investment banks should be forced to face the consequences of their losses. We hope you enjoy this programme - which we offer you while Analysis is off air.

In 100 years time, Charles Darwin will be viewed as a better economist than Adam Smith, according to economics professor Robert H. Frank. In his new book 'The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good', Frank argues that whilst Smith was correct to point out the benefits of competition, Darwin went further by showing how some times competition over rank could produce benefits to the individual at the expense of the group. This insight, believes Frank, applies to the economics of human societies as much as it does to the animal kingdom.Recorded at The London School of Economics, Prof Frank explains his ideas to Paul Mason and an audience of economists and scientists, as well as the free marketeers he criticises.Robert H. Frank is an economics professor at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management and a regular Economic View columnist for the New York Times, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos. His books, which have been translated into 22 languages, include The Winner-Take-All Society (with Philip Cook); The Economic Naturalist; Luxury Fever; What Price the Moral High Ground?; and Principles of Economics (with Ben Bernanke). The Darwin Economy is published by Princeton University Press.Paul Mason is the Economics Editor of BBC 2's Newsnight and is author of Meltdown: The End of the Age of Greed.

Do Leaders make a Difference?We talk much of personal leadership being the key to change in, say, politics or business. But how much can such figures really influence events? Do we overattribute power to individuals such as a prime minister or a media mogul? Have we lost sight of the overall importance of collective action and attitudes, or the trends and events that no individual can resist? Michael Blastland investigates. Producer: Chris Bowlby Editor: Innes BowenContributors:Nick Chater Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business SchoolProfessor Pat Thane Historian at King's College LondonChris Dillow Writer on economics and psychologyAngela Knight Chief Executive of the British Bankers' AssociationTristram Hunt Historian and Labour MPJerker Denrell Professor of strategy and decision making at Oxford University's Saïd Business SchoolLord Baker Former Conservative Home SecretaryAndrew Roberts Historical and biographical writer.

The 2010 general election saw the largest influx of black and minority ethnic MPs to the Commons that Britain has ever seen. There are currently 27 sitting on the Conservative and Labour benches - up from 14 in the last Parliament.But are we starting to see a 'new black politics'? Some suggest that the radical left-wing politics of the 1980s is no longer relevant in twenty-first century Britain, where there is a growing black middle class, a multitude of different black communities, and where black people are represented at the highest levels.David Goodhart meets the black politicians adopting a more socially conservative standpoint to their predecessors and also talks to their critics: those who say that some of the country's most vulnerable people have been forgotten by the establishment; that institutionalised racism still exists; and that many of today's politicians do not represent the people they are meant to serve. Interviewees include: David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham Shaun Bailey, former Conservative parliamentary candidate Linda Bellos OBE, leader of Lambeth Council 1986-1988 Bill Bush, chief of staff to GLC leader Ken Livingstone until 1986 Trevor Phillips OBE, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Kwasi Kwarteng, Conservative MP for Spelthorne Stafford Scott, race equality consultant in TottenhamDavid Goodhart is editor at large of Prospect magazine and was recently appointed as director of the think tank Demos.Producer: Hannah Barnes.

Frances Stonor Saunders looks at the role of cultural diplomacy in spreading liberal British values around the world.The British Council and the BBC World Service, both part-funded by the Foreign Office, are the two most important institutions of British cultural diplomacy.The British Council organises exhibitions and events at its offices around the world with artists such as Grayson Perry. He feels that the fact his work deals with controversial themes is part of his attraction for the cultural diplomats keen to convey the values of liberalism by saying, "Look what we put up with in our country: a cross-dressing potter who's talking about the evils of advertising."The BBC World Service is editorially independent but is funded by the Foreign Office.Frances Stonor Saunders explores the tension between the fact that cultural diplomacy has an official purpose yet the endeavours it seeks to promote need to maintain freedom and independence as a mark of a liberal society.Contributors include Grayson Perry, Timothy Garton Ash and Sir Sherard Cowper Coles.

As opinion polls reveal that half the British population would vote in favour of withdrawal from the European Union, it seems the political class is catching up with public opinion when it comes to the EU. While perhaps just dozens of MPs are publicly calling for a referendum on the UK's EU membership, behind closed doors there are many more closet secessionists: at least 40 per cent of Conservative MPs according to one party insider. "In public I call for renegotiation of the Lisbon treaty. In private I argue for complete withdrawal from the European Union. And there are plenty of others like me," says one anonymous sceptic. Edward Stourton asks whether the crisis in the eurozone has emboldened more politicians to speak frankly on their attitudes towards EU membership and talks to supporters of withdrawal from both the left and right wings of British politics.Producer: Hannah Barnes.

Owen Bennett Jones looks at the Shia movement Hezbollah which has a big following in Lebanon but is regarded by some in the West as a terrorist organisation. It has a militia with more weapons than many European armies and wants Islamic rule but is in government with Christian allies. The British government draws a distinction between Hezbollah's military and political wings whereas the Americans do not. The French government would like to see Hezbollah disarm but do not regard them as terrorists. How the West sees the organisation and how it sees itself is central to stability in the Middle East but what exactly is Hezbollah and is it heading for another war with Israel?

Despite a general policy of austerity and cut backs, the budget for development aid has been ring fenced by the coalition government. Frances Cairncross asks whether a more relaxed immigration policy might be a better way for the UK to help the developing world. The official aid budget is dwarfed by a private form of help for the developing world: remittances sent home by immigrants working in richer countries. So should governments keen to help the developing world encourage migration and remittances as a replacement for state-funded aid? "They have the key advantage that the people who send them know the people who are supposed to be receiving them... There's less opportunity for corruption and for waste... and they might have lower overhead costs," argues Owen Barder of the Center for Global Development. Frances Cairncross, rector of Exeter College, Oxford and former managing editor of The Economist, explores the limits of this free market alternative to state-funded development aid.Contributors include: Steve Baker Conservative MP for WycombeDilip Ratha Migration and remittances expert from the World Bank and the University of SussexOwen Barder Senior fellow of Washington DC think-tank, the Center for Global DevelopmentHetty Kovach Senior policy adviser to OxfamDevesh Kapur Director of the Centre for the Advanced Study of India at the University of PennsylvaniaOnyekachi Wambu From the African Foundation for Development, or AFFORDAlex Oprunenco Head of international programmes with Moldovan think-tank, Expert GrupProfessor Paul Collier Author of The Bottom Billion and director at the Oxford University Centre for the study of African EconomiesProducers: Helen Grady and Daniel Tetlow.

Under Colonel Gaddafi, Libya was subject to the dictator's so-called Third Universal Theory. Hugh Miles asks what sort of ideology is likely to dominate in post-Gaddafi Libya.Western media have been keeping a close eye on Libya's governing National Transitional Council, and there have been warnings about splits between Islamists and secularists, and about Libya's tribal society. But, as Hugh Miles discovers, amongst Libya's new ruling class there is broad consensus about support for one ideology: capitalism. Gaddafi's idiosyncratic economic and political philosophy fused elements of socialism and Islam. The suppression of free markets was at times taken to bizarre extremes with, at one point, the banning of the entire retail sector. Support for capitalism is perhaps a reaction to the years in which entrepreneurship was suppressed.Hugh Miles looks at the background of the new rulers and asks how Libyan Islamic capitalism might work.

This summer's riots provoked much speculation about the factors which prompted so many people to break the law. But philosopher-turned-commentator Jamie Whyte is more interested in understanding why this sort of thing doesn't happen more often. Is it fear of arrest or is it morality that makes most of the people abide by the law for most of the time? In search of the causes of mass civil obedience, Jamie Whyte speaks to leading experts in the fields of philosophy, psychology and anthropology.Contributors include: Roger Scruton, philosopher and writer Quentin Skinner, professor of the humanities & expert on modern political thought Tim Harford, the Financial Times Undercover Economist and presenter of More or Less on Radio 4 George Klosko, political philosopher Alex Bentley, anthropologist Carol Hedderman, criminologistProducer: Simon Coates.

Sure Start was one of the flagship policies of the Labour years, and the Coalition Government has just underlined its commitment to keeping it going. But in this edition of Analysis Fran Abrams asks a question. To many, it's a seriously heretical one: is Sure Start worth saving? Twelve years and £10 billion since it began, some are still struggling to describe what Sure Start has achieved for children.

No university tuition fees, free personal care for the elderly, reduced prescription charges. In all sorts of ways, Scotland seems to have kept a level of public service the rest of the UK is denied. How has this happened, and can Scotland continue to enjoy this as overall UK spending is cut? Will English resentment grow if Scotland is seen to be enjoying an unfair advantage? Or can the SNP persuade Scots that their economic vision will deliver a public service paradise? And how will all this flow into the increasingly urgent debate about Scotland's constitutional future after the SNP's recent electoral success? Instead of all the theoretical debate about Scottish independence, Anne McElvoy discovers the hard bargaining already underway about who gets the best UK deal, and who pays for it - a deal that will be crucial in deciding whether the UK will survive. Presenter: Anne McElvoy Producer: Chris Bowlby.

Justin Webb, the BBC's former North America Editor, regards the United States with affection and respect. But he is worried that America is in denial about the extent of its financial problems and therefore incapable of dealing with the gravest crisis the country has ever faced. A decade of tax cuts and increased public spending took the United States from an era of budget surpluses to one of growing deficits. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that federal debt could reach 90 per cent of GDP within a decade. The nation's partisan political culture, argue some, means its leaders are incapable of taking the necessary action to avert financial disaster and a loss of international influence. Justin Webb examines the consequences of failing to deal with the growing debt and looks for any signs that the United States might start to tackle its problems before it is too late. Interviewees include Diane Coyle, David Frum, Richard Haass, Jeffrey Sachs and Anne Applebaum. Producer: Bill Law.

"The eruption of democracy movements across the Middle East and North Africa is, even in its early stages, the most important development of the early 21st century." These were the words of Foreign Secretary William Hague May 2011. Events from Cairo to Benghazi have shaken the very foundations of the Middle East, and with it the West's longstanding friendships with Arab dictators. But what will happen next?In this week's Analysis, Edward Stourton meets Foreign Secretary Hague and explores the map of the new Middle East as seen from London, Washington and Brussels. Amid the talk of massive economic investment, customs unions, and a newfound support for democratic transition, what will really change in terms of Western relations with the Middle East?The "Arab Spring" came just as the world began to recover from the 2008 crash -- with oil prices already high. Edward looks at how the economic pressures will shape our policy, and explores divisions within the EU -- with some nations afraid of opening up to the Arab world, while others are pushing for it.Support for Israel has long been a cornerstone of Western interests in the region, but recent comments by British leaders and the US President about "1967 borders" have left many in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv seething. In the new Middle East, what future do Britain and the US see for Israel and the Palestinians -- and will it change things enough to make a difference?Western foreign policy on the Middle East has been through massive convulsions -- from die-hard "realism" that saw close relations with dictators to the "neo-conservatism" that called for the invasion of Iraq. So what is now driving our new vision for the region?

Edward Stourton asks if the Egyptian revolution spells the end of old-style Islamism. As groups like the Muslim Brotherhood embrace democracy, how will they - and Egypt - change? The overthrow of Hosni Mubarak has been described as the Middle East's first "post-Islamic" revolution: there were no religious slogans or chanting in Tahrir Square and the protestors we saw on television were largely young, seemingly secular liberals. But Islam is likely to play a major role in the development of post-revolution Egypt, with the Muslim Brotherhood the biggest and best organised political force in the country. Edward Stourton asks what kind of society Egypt's Islamists want to create and explores how they are changing as they form political parties and prepare to contest their first fully democratic elections.

Time was when the City of London and the financial services industry generally were the apple of most politicians' eyes. The fabulous wealth they generated and taxes they paid seemed to set Britain on the road to lasting prosperity without having to worry about its manufacturing sector. With the crash, the political consensus has turned. Now, metal-bashing is back in favour and the bankers can do no right. The ritual call, heard at least once a generation, for Britain's economy to be more like Germany's is echoing across the land again.But is making things rather than financial innovation really the way to make Britain's economy grow faster? When we have a competitive edge in banking and managing money, should we cast it aside? And why should Britain's economy be the same as that of other countries? Janan Ganesh of the "Economist" asks if we should be turning our back on the goose that has laid our golden eggs for so many years. And, with no immediate signs that manufacturing is taking off on a bountiful new trajectory, considers if we should try to understand the City better and how it can assist Britain grow again.Producer: Simon Coates.

Is our NHS debate avoiding the key issue? The talk is of another reorganisation of the NHS and greater efficiencies enabling the NHS in England to face the future. But the overall challenge goes much deeper, and the politicians dare not address it. As well as the pressures of demography and inflation in health care costs, the health service faces what it has always faced - public expectation of ever better health care means an ever greater proportion of our national wealth has been spent on health. Now it is said that this must simply stop. But does this hope - one in a long history of so far unrealised hopes -simply obscure the more painful reality. One way or another, privately or publicly, our health care ambitions have to be paid for, and we are failing to decide how. In 'Unhealthy Expectations' Michael Blastland looks at how this problem has loomed for years but never been faced - at least not in open political debate. He explores what the real choices are if constantly improved care is to be provided - and whether this must mean either much higher personal taxes or a population prepared to pay much directly for care. Or is there a realistic way of squaring the circle of rising demand within fixed budgets? If something has to give, then what? Will you give up your expectations?

Labour's traditional working class supporters are abandoning the party in their droves. But can Labour win them back without alienating the middle-class voters it needs to win the next election? David Goodhart explores the tensions between two traditions in the Labour movement - a liberal wing focussed on equality and diversity and a conservative strand that is more concerned with issues of solidarity and community. And he examines the new Blue Labour school of thought, which believes that the best way to unite the two traditions is to rethink the Big State approach that became a defining element of the post-war Labour Party's identity.

The prime minister has proposed a new 'muscular liberalism', aimed at better integrating Britain's Muslims. It aims to counter the alienation that has led to a few young British Muslim men being prepared to mount terrorist attacks. David Walker asks what the new policy will mean on the ground, and how easily it can be reconciled with government plans for more local diversity and faith schools.

Investigative journalist and author Fran Abrams looks at a popular but controversial programme designed to teach children emotional and social skills in schools. The concept of emotional intelligence has almost become a global ideology. It's taught, in one form or another, in around 70% of secondary and 90% of primary schools in England and is popular in Scotland and Wales too. But what exactly is emotional intelligence, can it really be developed and how sound are its scientific claims?With contributions from:Dave Read Workshop leaderProfessor Roger Weissberg President of CASELProfessor Katherine Weare Southampton UniversityPupils Bournemouth Park SchoolProfessor Richard Layard Labour peerAngela Hutchison Head, Bournemouth Park SchoolProfessor Neil Humphrey Manchester University.

The autocratic regimes of North Africa & the Middle East enjoyed many years of military, political and financial support from the United States government. Dr Maha Azzam looks at the recent history of US involvement in the region, including the brief shift in policy during the presidency of George W Bush, and the role that Israel plays in US/Arab relations. As violence & unrest spread throughout the region, will US policy vary state-by-state depending on its own interests or will President Barack Obama embrace the pro-democracy protests wherever they emerge? What expectations do the protestors have of American support and what levers can the US pull in order to assist them? And if it is seen to falter in its support for the protestors will this seriously undermine US influence in the long-term? Dr Maha Azzam is an Associate Fellow of Chatham House.Contributors Dr Shadi Hamid, Brookings Institute, Qatar Shashank Joshi, Royal United Services Institute, London Elliott Abrams, Council of Foreign Relations, Washington Roger Hardy, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington Carl Gershman, National Endowment for Democracy, Washington Jonathan Spyer, Global Research International Affairs Center, Israel Abdel Moneim Abou el-Fotouh, Muslim Brotherhood, Cairo Prof Khaled Fahmy, American University, Cairo Alexandros Petersen, Henry Jackson Society, London.

The Orange Book, published in 2004, is a collection of political essays by leading Liberal Democrats. Although the writers come from a range of viewpoints, the book has been seen as an attempt by party right wingers to reclaim the party's economic liberal origins in the nineteenth century and give it a new modern emphasis. But for some leading Liberal Democrats these ideas are now closer to tenets of Conservative thought. So will the Orange Bookers bind the coalition ever closer together or lead to fractures and even splits in Liberal Democrat ranks? Edward Stourton talks to one of the leading Orange Book Liberal Democrats, David Laws MP, about the philosophy behind the book and why they were so keen to publish it. He discusses the consequences for the party of the gap which has now emerged between public perceptions of where the party stands on major issues and where its leadership's inclinations lie. And he discusses what the longer-term implications of the Orange Bookers' relationship with David Cameron's Conservatives will be.Among those he talks to are Baroness Williams of Crosby; the former Conservative Shadow Home Secretary, The Rt. Hon. David Davis, MP; the historian and newly-elected Labour MP, Tristram Hunt; the expert on political leadership, Professor Peter Clarke; and the former Liberal Democrat policy director and Orange Book sceptic, Richard Grayson.

The "big society" - the idea that volunteers should take over some of the functions of the state - is the most over-used policy phrase of the moment. But how will the theory work in practice? Chris Bowlby looks at the big society on the ground in Oxford - from the affluent streets of the City's North to the deprived estates of Blackbird Leys - and tries to figure out the consequences of expecting communities to do more for themselves.

The role of credit in the build up to the global financial crisis is well known - but what has our reliance on credit been doing to the wider economy and to human behaviour? The expansion of consumer credit has been encouraged by social democratic as well as centre right governments. But some on the left believe that the growth of the financial sector has given birth to a novel form of capitalism and with that a new kind of worker exploitation. Paul Mason meets the economists of "financialisation" who believe that credit has become the defining relationship between workers and employers, citizens and public services. Paul Mason is Economics Editor of Newsnight and the author of Meltdown: The End of the Age of Greed.

Was the economic crisis caused by fundamental problems with the system rather than a mere failure of policy?Over two weeks, Analysis investigates two schools of economics with radical solutions.This week, Jamie Whyte looks at the free market Austrian School of FA Hayek. The global recession has revived interest in this area of economics, even inspiring an educational rap video. "Austrian" economists believe that the banking crisis was caused by too much regulation rather than too little. The fact that interest rates are set by central banks rather than the market is at the heart of the problem, they argue. Artificially low interest rates sent out the wrong signals to investors, causing them to borrow to spend on "malinvestments", such as overpriced housing. Jamie Whyte is head of research and publishing at Oliver Wyman, a management consulting firm. He is a former lecturer in philosophy at Cambridge University and the author of Bad Thoughts: A Guide to Clear Thinking. Contributors: Prof Steven Horwitz, St Lawrence University, New York Prof Larry White, George Mason University, Washington DC Prof Robert Higgs, Independent Institute, California Philip Booth, Institute of Economic Affairs Steve Baker, Conservative MP John Papola, co-creator Fear the Boom and Bust Lord Robert Skidelsky, economic historian and biographer of John Maynard Keynes Tim Congdon, founder, Lombard Street Research Producer : Rosamund Jones Next week, Newsnight's Economics Editor Paul Mason meets the economists of "financialisation" and asks whether the growth of credit has given birth to a new kind of capitalism.

Trust was the subject of moral philosopher Professor Onora O'Neill's acclaimed Reith Lectures in 2002. Enron, political sleaze, the foot and mouth crisis, the Bristol heart babies scandal and the collapse of Equitable Life had contributed to a perception - challenged by Professor O'Neill - that we were living through a crisis of trust in our institutions. Eight years on, the subject is no less topical and so Professor O'Neill returns to Radio 4 to be interviewed about her latest reflections on trust by Edward Stourton. The intervening years have seen no let-up in the stream of highly publicised political scandals, financial crises and blunders by state officials. Yet levels of trust have remained remarkably consistent. Furthermore, argues Professor O'Neill, the public debate about building trust misses the point: we should be more concerned about levels of trustworthiness rather than levels of trust in society. Attempts to restore trust in certain professions or organisations do little to help individuals with the practical difficulty of placing and refusing trust wisely. In addition, she points to clumsy "accountability" schemes designed to raise levels of trust but which in fact encourage an increase in untrustworthy behaviour. Edward Stourton discusses these notions with Onora O'Neill and explores their topicality. Her arguments are also commented on and challenged by John Haldane, Professor of Philosophy at St Andrews University and current chairman of the Royal Institute of Philosophy.

Presenter Chris Bowlby asks whether a state welfare system can ever distinguish between those who deserve help and those who do not. As the recession bites and public spending cuts loom there have been calls, on both sides of the political debate, for a re-moralisation of welfare. Some say that the entitlement culture has gone too far, others that the hard-working poor should not be footing the bill for those who choose not to take a job. When did the language change and what does a change in vocabulary really mean? And even if desirable can distinctions between welfare recipients be made in practice? If there are time limits on the receipt of welfare will more people end up better-off in work or worse-off unable to work? Analysis will look at what history can teach us about making moral distinctions between the poor - both when the economy is booming & when it's contracting. And what of those, such as the children of welfare recipients, caught up in the debate : can it ever right to reduce the money which may give them a better future? Contributors : Will Hutton Executive vice-chair The Work Foundation Author Them & Us Mark Harrison Professor of Economics, Warwick UniversityTim Montgomerie Co-founder Centre for Social Justice Editor, ConservativeHomeHazel Forsyth senior curator, Museum of LondonJose Harris Emeritus Professor of Modern History, Oxford UniversityAlison Park Co-editor British Social Attitudes SurveyPhilip Booth Editorial & Programme Director, Institute of Economic AffairsGordon Lewis Community Project Manager, Salvation ArmyRod Nutten Volunteer, Salvation ArmyWolfie Client, Salvation Army Major Ivor Telfer Assistant Secretary for Programmes, Salvation Army UK & Republic of Ireland Presenter : Chris Bowlby Producer : Rosamund Jones.

Ken Clarke has promised a "rehabilitation revolution" in which private investors will fund projects aimed at cutting the re-offending rate. If the projects succeed, the government will pay those investors a return. But if the projects fail, the investors will lose their shirts.You can see why the idea is attractive to ministers. In a period of spending restraint - and with a huge and hugely expensive prison population - a 'payment by results' system promises to fund rehabilitation projects from future savings.But will it work? After all, rehabilitation is hardly a new idea. And so far, it seems, most attempts have made little difference. So the question is whether a new way of paying for criminal rehabilitation might deliver better results. There's unrestrained excitement among some of those working with offenders. And deep scepticism among some criminologists. Emma Jane Kirby investigates.Interviewees include: the Justice Secretary, the Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke MP; criminologists Professor Sir Anthony Bottoms and Professor Carol Hedderman; Geoff Mulgan from the Young Foundation; the welfare expert Professor Dan Finn; Toby Eccles from Social Finance; and Rob Owen, chief executive of the St Giles Trust.Producer: Richard Knight.

To take successful military action, you do not only need soldiers, aircraft or warships. The support of the society and political leadership is crucial in sustaining armed action. Yet public involvement in current debates about the future of the military has been very limited, as old ideas of 'leaving it to the professionals' prevail.So what happens when society becomes divorced from the business of defending itself? In liberal Britain, some sections of society seem more and more alienated from military action. Using force clashes with modern concerns about human rights and risk-avoidance. New forms of media have cut through the more sanitised portrayal of war in the mainstream media, adding to public concern. And politicians, scarred by the unpopularity of recent military actions, noting the grief which every single casualty prompts, are likely to be ever more wary of future warfare. Within the military too there is change, and friction. New technology is taking armed action further away from old ideas of heroism and codes of conduct. These days lawyers sit in army headquarters challenging military decisions. Many in the military appear frustrated by what they see a lack of popular and political understanding of their role.In this programme Dr Kenneth Payne, military specialist at King's College London, explores how deep these tensions run, and what they mean for Britain's military future. He asks too whether Britain's experience is different from that of other countries, such as the US. Contributors include distinguished military historian and commentator Hew Strachan, and former soldier and senior politician Lord Ashdown.Producer: Chris Bowlby.

Analysis celebrates its 40th birthday by making its own history the subject of its trademark examination of the facts. The Director General of the BBC, Mark Thompson, recently told the New Statesman that in decades past the organisation's current affairs output had displayed a left wing bias. He could not have had in mind the early years of Analysis. "We tried to avoid received opinion like the plague," says the programme's founder editor George Fischer. He required his producers to look at issues from scratch and to go beyond the bien pensant agenda. In doing so they spotted issues that others missed. Amongst the themes they identified as important were the depth of the Thatcherite project before the term Thatcherism was coined; the tensions likely to emerge in the feminist movement; and the potential for disaster in Zimbabwe if expectations over land reform were not fulfilled. The programme's willingness to question fashionable assumptions attracted some accusations of political bias. Was that fair? Michael Blastland, an Analysis producer from the 1990s and now a regular presenter, looks back at the programme's history and meets some of its early staff and contributors. Follow Analysis on Twitter: @R4AnalysisContributors: George Fischer, founder editor of Analysis Ian McIntyre, founder presenter of Analysis, later Controller of Radio 4 Rt Hon Tony Benn Gillian Reynolds, radio critic, The Daily Telegraph Michael Green, former Analysis producer, later controller of Radio 4 Caroline Thomson, former Analysis producer, now Chief Operating Officer for the BBC Fraser Steel, former Analysis producer Hugh Chignell, Associate Professor of Broadcasting History, Bournemouth University Lord Griffiths Producer: Linda Pressly.

Turkey's increased economic and political importance makes it a place which outsiders need to understand. Since 2002, the nation has been governed by the AKP, a political party with Islamist roots. The AKP's time in power has coincided with improvements in Turkey's economic management, the rise of its international influence and a dramatic decline amongst its citizens of support for sharia law. Outsiders tend to see Turkey as wrestling with a choice between Islamism and secularism. However the nation seems able to live with - even prosper under - the apparent contradiction of a government with Islamist origins and a secular constitution. Edward Stourton attempts to unravel the complicated reality of Turkish politics and get beyond the usual Western obsession with whether Turkey's loyalties lie with the West or the Islamic world. He investigates the new elites that are shaping the country's future. Will they help Turkey fulfil its dream of becoming a global power and the West's dream of a model Muslim democracy? The featured contributors in the programme are:Firdevs Robinson, an editor and Turkey specialist at the BBC World ServiceZiya Meral, a Turkish academic at Cambridge University Ceren Coskun, a British-Turkish academic at the London School of Economics Professor Henri Barkey from the Canegie Endowment for International PeaceDr Soner Cagaptay from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Professor Binnaz Toprak, a social scientist at BoğaziÃi University in IstabulProducer: Helen Grady.

The Spirit Level is a book that aims to change the way you see the world.It has impressed politicians on both sides of politics, with David Cameron and Ed Milliband taking note of its message. Packed with scattergrams and statistics, the book argues for more equal societies. The authors, epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, make the case that countries with higher income inequality tend to have more health and social problems. Equality, they say, is better for everyone.But The Spirit Level has been accused of imbalance itself.Critics from the right have launched a scathing attack, saying the books methods and arguments are flawed.So who is correct? Mukul Devichand examines the evidence.He speaks to: Professors Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, authors of The Spirit Level; Professor Peter Saunders, author of Beware False Prophets; Professor John Goldthorpe of Nuffield College, Oxford; Professor George Kaplan of Michigan University; Professor Angela Clow, of the University of Westminster.Producer: Ruth Alexander.

Women will be hit disproportionately by the Budget cuts already announced by the government: A new study suggests that they will shoulder nearly three quarters of the burden, because they rely more on the state for benefits and are more likely to work in the public sector than men.The state has reduced women's dependency on men, only to install itself as the new patriarch. If the state shrinks, it will be women who will feel the difference Is this what generations of feminists have fought for? Where is the sisterhood now, marching on the treasury? Jo Fidgen goes in search of modern feminism in the rubble of the economy and asks whether being a woman is no longer a political state.

Bigging It UpThe Coalition claims its Big Society is more than a slogan and its ideas are shaping key policies. Anne McElvoy investigates the little-known genesis of David Cameron's big idea and examines what its roots reveal about how the government will go about doing less - and ensuring society does more.Presenter Anne McElvoy Producer Simon Coates Editor Innes Bowen.

What is childhood for? It is commonly seen as a time for play and learning, but should employment play a more important part?Fran Abrams examines the subject of children at work in the UK, and asks why it is a phenomenon so little talked about.She traces the history of child labour in this country, and explores modern-day notions of the 'priceless child' who ought to be immersed in education and shielded from harsh economic reality. In protecting our children, she asks, are we causing them harm? And might the youth of Britain benefit from a revival of child labour?

In the past decade, Britain has experienced mass immigration on an unprecedented scale. A former government aide recently suggested this was a deliberate policy, motivated in part by a desire to increase racial diversity. David Goodhart investigates the ideological forces behind one of the most significant social changes to have affected the UK.Andrew Neather, a former Number 10 speechwriter, recently wrote a much-discussed article in the Evening Standard in praise of multicultural London, but suggesting that those who have influenced immigration policy under Labour were politically-programmed to be relaxed about such numbers. His article was immediately seized upon by anti-immigration campaigners as evidence of a conspiracy to make Britain a more racially diverse society. In this programme, David Goodhart investigates the truth about reasons for recent increases in migration to Britain. Political insiders, including former home secretary David Blunkett, talk candidly about the real influences behind the scenes. None of them give credence to the accusation that there was a plan to create a more multicultural Britain. An unexpected increase in asylum applications and the demand for cheap labour from employers were the main motivators, according to those who influenced policy. But, admits former Home Office special adviser Ed Owen, a nervousness about discussing immigration policy meant that New Labour was, in its first years in office, poorly prepared to deal with the issue.We may not have witnessed a grand act of social engineering, concludes David Goodhart, but New Labour's combination of economic liberalism and cultural liberalism led it to regard mass immigration as a trend which would bring great social benefits and few disadvantages.Interviewees include:Rt Hon David Blunkett MP, former home secretaryTim Finch, head of migration, equalities and citizenship, and director of strategic communications at the Institute for Public Policy ResearchAndrew Neather, Comment editor at The Evening Standard and former Number 10 speechwriter.Sir Andrew Green, MigrationwatchSarah Spencer, deputy director, Centre on Migration Policy and SocietyJohn Tincey, Immigration Services UnionEd Owen, former Home Office special adviserClaude Moraes MEP.

What would happen if Britain chose to leave the European Union? The new Lisbon Treaty contains a clause whch sets out the exit process for the first time. But, as Chris Bowlby reports, the final deal between Britain and its former EU partners would depend a lot on the mood of their 'divorce' - amicable or acrimonious.

Michael Blastland asks if 'group-think' is distancing policy from the public and asks if our political elite have forgotten how most voters live. People measure their behaviour and beliefs by those around them, so MPs might have thought that the expenses system was reasonable. Might it also mean they have lost touch with what Britain is really like?

Jackanory Politics: Frances Stonor examines the increasingly popular method of delivering a political message by telling a story.