bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Multi-level governance or co-administration? Transformation and continuity in French local government
Authors: Reigner Hélène 
Published: February 2003

English
French government has historically been characterised by strong centralisation and an interventionist state represented by prestigious top civil servants. In this context, politicians did not have real power locally to produce or implement their own public policies.In the 1980s,important institutional reforms and ideological changes challenged this statist pattern and have set up a new balance of power between the state and local authorities. Focusing on the emergent levels - Europe, regions, agglomerations - most multi-level governance approaches suggest that state is becoming ‘hollow’. Nevertheless, this article insists that the state is still an important actor in the French political administrative system. In cases where local government is yet to be stabilised, a model of coadministration appears to be emerging, judicially organised by the state itself, and characterised less by constitutional, hierarchical exchanges and more by negotiated arrangements between local state and elected officials.
The European Union: an evolving system of multi-level governance … or government?
Authors: Jordan Andrew 
Published: February 2003

English
The majority of European scholars accept that the European Union (EU) operates at several different administrative levels and exhibits some features of ‘governance’. However, they disagree, often fundamentally,about the precise relationships between activities at different levels. This article critically examines the popular claim that the EU has evolved into a system of multi-level governance as opposed to state-led government. The ‘governance turn’ that has swept through European studies in the last 10 years has opened up substantial new avenues of inquiry as analysts have begun comparing the policy dynamics within and between sectors and/or levels of the EU. However, it remains unclear whether multi-level governance is a general feature of the EU or a phenomenon confined to particular sectors and/or levels.
Towards a geography of people poverty and place poverty
Authors: Powell Martin , Boyne George , Ashworth Rachel 
Published: February 2003

English
Much of the focus on the geography of poverty relates to ‘people poverty’, the geography of private income, or income proxy measures. In contrast to a sole emphasis on the geography of people poverty, this article broadens the debate to include the relatively neglected aspect of place poverty. It discusses the conceptual differences between people poverty and place poverty, and then provides an illustration of the differences between their geographical distribution in England. The results of this primary analysis suggest that the geography of people and place poverty appear to be quite different.
Making the homeless count? Enumerating rough sleepers and the distortion of homelessness
Authors: Cloke Paul , Milbourne Paul , Widdowfield Rebekah 
Published: February 2003

English
This article traces the power of numbers in discourses relating to homelessness in Britain. It argues that enumeration has played a formative role in the recording of homelessness as a ‘problem’, and in the public policy response to homelessness in specific locations. In particular,the use of rough sleeper counts as popular defining representations of the problem of, and response to, homelessness is analysed in terms of their wider pivotal significance in political and policy discourses relating to homeless people. The article concludes that how rough sleeper counts are undertaken has clear distorting consequences for the identification and understanding of to what extent, where, and among whom homelessness represents a pressing social issue. Discursive valorisation of enumeration needs to be interconnected critically with other more qualitative forms of knowledge drawing on the experience of housing officers, local agency workers and others dealing with localised homelessness on a day-to-day basis.
The role of Scottish credit unions in tackling financial exclusion
Authors: Hayton Keith 
Published: February 2003

English
The British government’s desire to tackle financial exclusion is resulting in growing interest in credit unions (community-based financial services cooperatives). This article draws on research undertaken in Scotland to analyse the credit union support network. There are tensions in this: between those who see credit unions as small, area-based poverty-alleviating initiatives and those who feel unions can only survive if they serve larger areas. By making comparisons with other initiatives, an attempt is made to put the current support framework in context. The article concludes by raising a number of issues that should be addressed if more support is to be given to unions: in particular the need to be clear about objectives and to understand the role that credit unions might realistically play in tackling financial exclusion.
Academic capitalisation in the new millennium: the marketisation and corporatisation of higher education in Hong Kong
Authors: Mok Ka-ho 
Published: February 2003

English
Universities and other institutions of higher learning now encounter far more challenges and are subjected to an unprecedented level of external scrutiny. All providers of higher education today inhibit a more competitive world where resources are becoming scarcer, but at the same time they have to accommodate increasing demands from the local community as well as changing expectations from parents and employers. In such a policy context, universities are now much more governed by market ideologies and the corporate discourse of efficiency and effectiveness, which also suggests that the lifestyle of academics is affected as well. This article examines how universities in Hong Kong are affected by the ethos of ‘academic capitalism’, with particular reference to the processes of corporatisation and marketisation of higher education.
UK rail privatisation five years down the line: an evaluation of nine policy objectives
Authors: Haubrich Dirk 
Published: February 2003

English
The United Kingdom has pioneered privatisation and deregulation into previously monopolistic industries. This article evaluates the results of the government’s policy with regard to market design, regulation and ownership of one of the last sectors affected: the British railways. Reviewing the first five years of the privatised regime from 1994/95 to 1999/2000 this article shows that out of nine objectives forwarded by policy makers at the outset of the programme only one has actually been achieved. While four objectives have been partially met, another four have not been accomplished at all – a track record which can be improved, it is argued, once the ownership of the rail infrastructure has been transferred back into the hands of the public.
Communicating policy in late modern society: on the boundaries of interactive policy making
Authors: Schedler Petra , Glastra Folke 
Published: February 2003

English
This article focuses on the implications of interactive policy making for the construction of communicative practices and for the communication professionals involved. In a global society characterised by cross-border networks and mobility, it is not likely that interactive policy making will be able to procure the long-term, localised investments and engagement of all the relevant stakeholders that it aims for. This is all the more so, since regional and national governments are losing many of their discretionary powers and are witnessing the gradual erosion of their legitimacy. The authors conclude that developments within this context ask for a different conceptualisation. Finally, since interactive policy making is not a neutral practice, they make a plea for a critical and reflexive approach.
The emotional dynamics of deliberative democracy
Authors: Thompson Simon , Hoggett Paul 
Published: February 2003

English
Proponents of deliberative democracy claim that it can provide a fair, efficient and creative method of collective decision making. In practice, however, all groups, including those consulted within public spaces for deliberation such as consultative forums, are,in part, characterised by emotional dynamics that threaten to undermine such deliberation. These dynamics can distort the process of deliberation, lead to sub-optimal outcomes and may even destroy the spaces of deliberation themselves. More positively,these affective forces can be harnessed to further the aims of deliberative democracy. For these negative and positive reasons, it is necessary to understand the emotional dynamics of groups and to apply this understanding to the design of public spaces for deliberative democracy. By focusing on the case of citizens’ juries, this article shows how these aims can be furthered.
Social exclusion, equality and the Good Friday Peace Agreement: the implications for land use planning
Authors: Ellis Geraint 
Published: February 2003

English
The Good Friday Peace Agreement has attempted to establish a constitutional settlement in Northern Ireland by trying to address the long-term causes of conflict in the region. While it primarily deals with the region’s relationship to Britain and the Republic of Ireland, it also includes measures that tackle social exclusion and discrimination in policy making. The article examines the impact of these on land use planning in the region, which has traditionally adopted a centralised, technocratic approach to policy making that denied the realities of sectarian division. The new policy agenda directly challenges this style of planning and has included a number of initiatives that could partially open the planning system to public scrutiny and force it to incorporate issues of social justice. This article describes the partial success in implementing these measures and makes an interim assessment of their potential impact and broader policy relevance.
Economic aid and policy making: building the peace dividend in Northern Ireland
Authors: Byrne Sean , Irvin Cynthia 
Published: February 2003

English
Most donors assume that promoting economic development enhances the prospects for peace by empowering communities in protracted ethnopolitical conflicts to negotiate settlements, encouraging the de-escalation of conflict, and by bridging ethnopolitical divisions. However, relatively little empirical research has addressed the potential effects of external economic aid in the reconstruction of those societies. This exploratory study considers the contribution of economic growth to the reduction of structural inequalities, its effect on policy making and intergroup reconciliation, and its prospects for sustaining negotiated political settlements. This article focuses on the perceptions of upper- and middle-tier élites, and grassroots constituents on the delivery and distribution of external economic aid to Northern Ireland through the International Fund for Ireland and the European Union Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation.
The URBAN Community Initiative in Northern Ireland
Authors: Murtagh Brendan 
Published: February 2003

English
Urban policy has been inextricably tied to the management of the Northern Ireland conflict. The arrival of the EU URBAN Community Initiative 1994-99 struck a discordant note in the attempt to revitalise town centres, lever property capital and produce positive place imagery. This article reviews the experiences of the Initiative in Derry/Londonderry and suggests that its concern for spatial poverty, community participation and social regeneration has much to offer policy and politics in Northern Ireland’s uncertain transition to post-conflict stability. A local White Paper is proposed in order to ground policy in the reality of post-industrial change, ethnoreligious segregation and the need to reach out to Northern Ireland’s most disaffected communities.
Learning from international approaches to Best Value
Authors: Bovaird Tony , Halachmi Arie 
Published: February 2003

English
This article maps the genesis of BestValue from its antecedents in value-for-money approaches in the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and in previous UK administrations, and probes what this foretells about its likely success. It locates BestValue in the intersection between the New Public Management (NPM) and community and local governance (CLG). The contract culture within NPM has been softened within BestValue, striking a balance between aggressive use of the market and new forms of contracting. At the same time, Best Value overlays requirements for demonstrable performance improvement onto recent CLG moves towards the ‘enabling authority’ and promoting community co-commissioning and user involvement.The article suggests that evidence from other countries may offer important insights into whether the UK Best Value regime will have more productive results than NPM or CLG.
What works and for whom? The competing rationalities of ‘Best Value’
Authors: Martin Steve , Davis Howard 
Published: February 2003

English
This article argues that the UK Best Value regime is rooted in a ‘rational’ model of strategic planning that privileges performance management and external inspection and implicitly denigrades traditional forms of representative democracy. This poses important questions about how and by whom Best Value is to be defined. Central government has stressed the need for political leadership of and public involvement in Best Value. However,the regime suggests a managerial role for elected members that many councillors find unattractive. Current reforms also assume a much greater degree of public engagement than many authorities are achieving. As a result, key decisions about local public service provision may increasingly be driven by centrally determined priorities and the judgements of external inspectors whose local accountability is unclear and whose claim to superior technical knowledge remains unproven.
Evolving forms of quality management in local government: lessons from the Best Value pilot programme
Authors: Lewis Michael , Hartley Jean 
Published: February 2003

English
This article explores the relationship between Quality Management (QM) and Best Value. It investigates how well Best Value incorporates established QM practice and moreover whether the framework has also encouraged any innovative QM developments. Conceptual and practice-centred models of local government service quality provide the structure to explore empirical evidence gathered from the Best Value pilot programme, with more specific reference to the Cumbria County Council case and a number of other shorter exemplars. The article concludes with reflection on the limitations of the study and a discussion of its managerial, governance and future research implications.
What about the workers? Best Value, employment and work in local public services
Authors: Geddes Mike 
Published: February 2003

English
Drawing on concepts about contemporary change in the labour process, including the various dimensions of ‘flexibility’, work intensification and the ‘new managerialism’, the article discusses the emerging impact of Best Value on employment and work in local public services, including comparison with the impact of the previous compulsory competitive tendering regime. It argues that Best Value is likely to lead to a reduction in local public employment, and substantially increase the ability of corporate management in local government to restructure the labour process to achieve increased flexibility and productivity, partly through the intensification of work. There are current proposals for a more participative approach to labour relations which might strengthen the position of the workforce and trade unions, but these are unlikely to be sufficient to address all the issues raised by Best Value.
Best Value and the politics of pragmatism
Authors: Maile Stella , Hoggett Paul 
Published: February 2003

English
This article frames and highlights critical themes emerging from the contributions to this Best Value section: that Best Value possesses subtle, and not so subtle, political, organisational, strategic and governmental dimensions. Drawing on these themes we develop our own argument that, during Blair’s first term, Best Value was presented as a potentially enlightened ‘user-friendly’ tool for the expression of diverse social and organisational interests. Increasingly, it is emerging as yet another of a long line of retrograde managerial techniques. The pragmatism of Best Value is becoming more overtly bound up with government centralisation, support for neoliberalism and the private finance initiative.
The third influence: the Blair government and Australian Labor
Authors: Johnson Carol , Tonkiss Fran 
Published: February 2003

English
Accounts of British Labour’s ‘third way’ tend to leave out an important antecedent for Blair’s ‘new’ politics – the Australian Labor governments of 1983–96. In this article, we argue that labour governments in Australia and Britain have pursued similar strategies for melding neoliberalism with social democracy. Key failures of Australian Labor are instructive for thinking about the future of the New Labour project, while the progressive features of Labor politics in Australia offer a challenge to Third Way social conservatism. Most critically, the Australian experience indicates how parties of the right can regroup in the face of new-style labour governments.
Third way social policy: Clinton’s legacy?
Authors: Béland Daniel , de Chantal François Vergniolle , Waddan Alex 
Published: February 2003

English
This article examines the success of the Clinton administration in developing a distinctive third way agenda in social policy by studying the record of the administration through the lens of ‘pre-emptive presidential leadership’ as outlined by Stephen Skowronek. Skowronek sees this as a leadership style which is decidedly instrumental in its outlook, and which is thus unlikely to develop a lasting ideological legacy. Clinton’s initial healthcare and welfare reform proposals, however, did have certain third way characteristics as they combined elements of liberal and conservative discourse. This, though, was their undoing as the proposals were too politically ambiguous to make legislative progress. The healthcare plan was denounced as big government liberalism and welfare reform took a distinctly rightward turn. Clinton thus failed to create an ideological space for third way ideas and eventually resorted to the more straightforward use of social policy questions for immediate political advantage.
Individual motives for contributing to welfare benefits in the Netherlands
Authors: van Oorschot Wim 
Published: February 2003

English
Starting from the observation that very little is known about what exactly motivates people to pay for welfare benefits, the article deduces four types of motivation from sociological theories on solidarity: perceived self-interest, moral obligation, empathy and identification with others, and accepted authority. In a national survey among the Dutch adult population in 1995 respondents were asked to what degree the first three motives for contributing to social security apply in their case. The main conclusions are that a large majority of the Dutch are motivated to pay for welfare on several grounds at the same time; the motive of self-interest plays the most important role, followed by moral obligations and then empathy; older people, men and the highest educated are more strongly motivated to contribute to social security, while welfare use and income level only have a modest influence. The main patterns can be understood from the encompassing character of the Dutch social security system, from which (nearly) all Dutch citizens and/or their family members and close friends profit personally.
Fraternal learning and interdependency: celebrating differences within reciprocal commitments
Authors: Smith Steven R. 
Published: February 2003

English
The value of reciprocity is often promoted through contemporary policy making. In contrast, political philosophers, through developing critiques of the Rawlsian conception of justice as reciprocity, have often argued against such a principle forming a basis for legitimating policies. This article also offers a critique of contemporary policy making but using a recast form of the Rawlsian justification of reciprocity. The main argument is that the Rawlsian premise of ‘sharing’ fates is too weak (by itself) to underpin reciprocity. However, reciprocity might be more securely based on the premise of learning from each other’s fates, given the diversity of individual experiences.
The changing nature of the local state: a comparative perspective
Authors: DiGaetano Alan 
Published: February 2003

English
It has been observed that the local state in the United Kingdom and the United States has undergone fundamental restructuring since the 1970s. This transformation has been seen by some as a product of the ideological shift in national governing regimes, and by others of the reordering in the national and global political economy. Moreover, it has been contended that as a result of these changes, some convergence in patterns of local state development between the UK and the US has occurred. This article assesses the validity of these claims by tracing the changes in the size and functions of the local state by comparing local government expenditures in Britain and the US since the early 1970s.
‘How great expectations in Westminster may be dashed locally’: the local implementation of national policy on health inequalities
Authors: Exworthy Mark , Berney Lee , Powell Martin 
Published: February 2003

English
Tackling health inequalities is a policy priority for the Labour government in the UK. We use Kingdon’s model of ‘policy streams’ to explain how the issue of health inequalities gets onto the policy agenda nationally and locally, and how it is being implemented. Using empirical evidence from local agencies, we suggest that the issue of health inequalities is on the agenda nationally and locally but implementation is hampered by deficiencies in performance management, insufficient integration between policy sectors, and contradictions between health inequalities and other policy imperatives. Thus, the government’s expectations are not only dashed locally, but also local expectations are being dashed at the centre.
Addressing women’s economic disadvantage in local economies: the limitations and benefits of partnerships
Authors: Grant Linda 
Published: February 2003

English
This article considers whether partnerships of key actors are useful vehicles for addressing women’s economic disadvantage at the level of the local economy. It underlines the importance of women’s prosperity within the economic regeneration agenda. First, and by using a case study example, the article outlines examples of practical projects that can be developed at a local level. Second, it argues for better data and an improved understanding of the locality as a site in which economic inequalities between men and women are sustained. Third, it explores the limitations of partnership working focused on women’s issues and the precarious nature of the political commitment to women’s interest in depressed economies. Finally, the benefits of partnership working are reconsidered, while highlighting the importance of the active engagement of the public and private sectors as employers, not simply as actors with a broad interest in the local economy.