From the health service to the army, waste disposal to public transport, we see our public institutions as serving the people and being there for the benefit of all. But Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy proposes that in any social organisation, those that serve the original mission lose out to those who work for the preservation and expansion of the system itself. From Soviet bureaucracy to federal agencies and 'Yes Minister' thinking — strengthening the organisation and hierarchy — wins out. Foucault broadened the case, arguing that all institutions, including seemingly well-meaning professional groups like doctors and nurses, teachers and charities, are vehicles for power, and their primary function is to maintain and strengthen the organisation itself. Harvard University, for example, has three times as many administrators as teaching staff — more even in fact than undergraduates.

Are all organisations and bodies sources of, and vehicles for, power? Should we be equally sceptical of all institutions, whether charities or professional bodies, banks or corporate giants? Or is this a travesty of human endeavour, which is capable of selfless motivation and vision and should be praised as such?

Heterodox sociologist Frank Furedi, Labour life peer Thangam Debbonaire, and left-wing critic of the progressive elite Catherine Liu debate whether institutions serve only themselves.