Community engagement: can the big society mend broken britain?

One of the campaign slogans of the Conservative Party in the recent general election was their commitment to the creation of a new 'Big Society' in Britain. This was contrasted to the 'big government' that they associated with the Labour administration, which they suggested was crowding out independent citizen and community action, and which in any event would be unaffordable in the foreseeable future given the deficit in public finances.