Models of Local Governance: Public Opinion and Political Theory in Britain

281 Pages·2000·1.984 MB·English

by  William L. Miller, Malcolm Dickson, Gerry Stoker (auth.)

Models of Local Governance
Also by William L. Miller
ALTERNATIVES TO FREEDOM: Arguments and Opinions
ELECTIONS AND VOTERS: A Comparative Introduction (with M. Harrop)
ELECTORAL DYNAMICS IN BRITAIN SINCE 1918
HOW VOTERS CHANGE: The 1987 British Election Campaign in Perspective
(with H. Clark, M. Harrop, L. LeDuc and P. Whiteley)
IRRELEVANT ELECTIONS? The Quality of Local Democracy in Britain
MEDIA AND VOTERS: The Audience, Content and Influence of Press and
Television at the 1987 General Election
OIL AND THE SCOTTISH VOTER (with J. Brand and M. Jordan)
POLITICAL CULTURE IN CONTEMPORARY BRITAIN: People and Politicians,
Principles and Practice (with A. M. Timpson and M. Lessnoff)
THE END OF BRITISH POLITICS? Scots and English Political Behaviour in the
Seventies
THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTOR (with K. Young)
THE SURVEY METHOD IN THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES:
Achievements, Failures, Prospects
VALUES AND POLITICAL CHANGE IN POSTCOMMUNIST EUROPE
(with Stephen White and Paul Heywood)
Also by Gerry Stoker
CITIES IN THE 1990s: Local Choice for a Balanced Strategy (with S. Young)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE 1990s (with J. Stewart)
REMAKING PLANNING: The Politics of Urban Change in the Thatcher Years
(with T. Brindley and Y. Rydin)
RETHINKING LOCAL DEMOCRACY (with D. King)
THE NEW MANAGEMENT OF BRITISH LOCAL GOVERNANCE
THE POLITICS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
THE PRIVATISATION OF URBAN SERVICES IN EUROPE (with D. Lorrain)
THEORIES OF URBAN POLITICS (with D. Judge and H. Wolman)
THEORY AND METHODS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE (with D. Marsh)
Models of Local Governance
Public Opinion and Political Theory
in Britain
William L. Miller
‘Edward Caird’ Professor of Politics
University of Glasgow
Malcolm Dickson
Lecturer in Politics
University of Strathclyde
Glasgow
and
Gerry Stoker
Professor of Government
University of Strathclyde
Glasgow
© William L.Miller,Malcolm Dickson and Gerry Stoker 2000
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-333-79005-2
All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,90 Tottenham Court
Road,London W1P 0LP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified
as the authors of this work in accordance with the
Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2000 by
PALGRAVE
Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire RG21 6XS and
175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVEis the new global academic imprint of
St.Martin’s Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and
Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd).
ISBN 978-1-349-41874-9 ISBN 978-1-4039-2011-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781403920119
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and
made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Miller,William Lockley,1943–
Models of local governance :public opinion and political theory in
Britain / William L.Miller,Malcolm Dickson,and Gerry Stoker.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1.Local government—Great Britain.I.Dickson,Malcolm.II.Stoker,
Gerry.III.Title.
JS3111 .M55 2000
320.8'0941—dc21
00–033293
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
Contents
List of Figures vii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction and Overview 1
1 From Local Government to Local Governance 11
Two decades of institutional change 11
Governance: a strange new world? 18
What price local democracy? 21
New Labour: reform beyond reform 24
Normative models of local governance 28
Conclusion 32
2 A Multi-Level Survey 33
The test of public opinion 33
Levels of opinion: the general public and rival local
governance elites 34
The survey 36
3 The Limits of Local Identity 45
Objective links to locality 46
Subjective links to locality 51
Pride, responsibility and exclusion 64
Conclusion: multiple identities and inclusive citizenship 68
4 The Role of Local Governance 71
Minimalism 72
National or local standards? 73
The Tiebout thesis 74
Local interests 75
A mission to mobilize? 76
What influenced ideas about the proper objectives of
local governance? 79
5 The Image of Traditional Local Government 85
Representation and responsiveness 86
Interests 87
Effectiveness 90
Satisfaction and trust 95
v
vi Contents
Influences on images 97
Conclusion: low on efficiency but high on honesty and
trustworthiness 103
6 Institutional Preferences 105
Localism 105
Democracy 111
Paying for services 114
Rival institutions of local governance 115
Influences 119
Conclusion: a general preference for democratically elected
governance 122
7 Governing Perspectives 130
The local connection 131
Party and ideology 140
The role of local governance 141
The image of local government 148
Institutional preferences 168
Conclusion: a governing consensus between rival
elites but divisions within 181
8 Testing Models against Public Opinion 188
Assumptions about local identity and citizenship 190
Aims and objectives 202
Images 213
Institutional preferences 220
Conclusion: winners and losers among the four
models tested 237
9 Public Support for Local Democracy 242
A democratic form of local governance 243
Autonomous local governance 251
Conclusion: defending local democracy on two fronts 259
Notes 262
Index 268
List of Figures
3.1 Objective links to locality 49
3.2 Strength of local identities 58
3.3 Regional patterns of identities 64
4.1 Focus on those who need council jobs 83
4.2 Provide as few services as possible 83
5.1 Trust in councillors, board members and government 102
6.1 Impact of local identification on institutional ratings 125
6.2 Impact of ideology on institutional ratings 126
6.3 Autonomous local governance 128
7.1 Identifications 136
7.2 Councils compared to private businesses 159
7.3 Perceptions of each other’s efficiency 160
7.4 Quango accountability 174
7.5 Institutional ratings 178
8.1 Testing models of local governance 239
9.1 The impact of a good image of local councils 247
9.2 The impact of ideology and pragmatic localism 258
vii
This page intentionally left blank
Acknowledgements
We must thank the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council)
which funded this research under the Local Governance Programme
grant L311253054 to William L. Miller and Malcolm Dickson. Iain
Murray acted as our principal research assistant and the interviews
were carried out by a team of Glasgow University students trained
and supervised by him. Malcolm Dickson programmed the CATI
(Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) system which they used.
We must also thank the 2203 members of the public, 788 elected
local councillors and 903 appointed members of local TEC/LECs or
DHA/HBs (local enterprise and health boards) who gave up their time
to participate in our long and searching interviews.
ix