KEITH DOWDING is Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His books include Rational Choice and Political Power (1991), The Civil Service (1995), Preferences, Institutions and Rational Choice (co-editor, 1995), Power (1996) and Challenges to Democracy (co-editor, 2001). He is co-editor of the Journal of Theoretical Politics and has written numerous articles in the fields of political philosophy, political theory, social choice, urban politics, public administration and British politics. - JURGEN DE WISPELAERE is completing a doctorate in political theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science. A former health care worker, his current research is in social and political philosophy and he has published articles on ethical aspects of employment regulation, welfare reform and basic income. - STUART WHITE is Tutorial Fellow in Politics at Jesus College, Oxford. His research interests concern the philosophy and politics of egalitarianism. He is the editor of New Labour: The Progressive Future (Palgrave Macmillan 2001) and author of The Civic Minimum: On the Rights and Obligations of Economic Citizenship (2003).

'Which way forward for our welfare states? No promising answer can be given to this question without a resolute broadening of the narrow limits of what looks politically possible. But no sensible answer can be given to this question without our reflecting both on underlying principles and specific designs, as in this lucid, demanding, multi-faceted dialogue on basic income versus basic endowment.' - Philippe Van Parijs, Professor of Economic and Social Ethics, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium Secretary of the Basic Income European Network 'The past twenty years have seen a massive increase in the inequality of incomes and, even more, in the inequality of wealth. Governments have responded by increasing the number of means-tested benefits, which are both degrading and (partly for this reason) not taken up by many who are eligible. The obvious solution is to distribute wealth and income unconditionally, at the expense of those who have so much as to threaten the foundations of human solidarity and democracy. This book contains the best available discussion of alternative ways of realizing freedom and social justice in this way. The editors are to be congratulated on having cunningly included one mean-spirited and misguided contribution which serves as a foil to the others.' - Brian Barry, Lieber Professor in Political Philosophy, Columbia University, USA, and Emeritus Professor of Political Science, London School of Economics and Political Science

• Preface Acknowledgements List of Contributors Stakeholding - Towards a New Social Paradigm?; K.Dowding; J.De Wispelaere & S.White A Capital Idea: Helping the Young Help Themselves; J.Le Grand & D.Nissan Stakeholding and Individual Ownership Accounts; G.Kelly, A.Gamble & W.Paxton Sneaking up on Stakeholding; R.E.Goodin Freedom, Reciprocity, and Time-Limited Citizen's Income; S.White The Stake and Exploitation; G.Van Donselaar The Stake: An Egalitarian Proposal?; C.Fabre Freedom and Democratization: Why Basic Income is to be Preferred over Basic Capital; C.Pateman Assessing the Unconditional Stake; R.Van der Veen Radical Liberalism; B.Ackerman Bibliography Index