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 PALGRAVE is 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 Acknowledgements vii 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
This page intentionally left blank