Description
English local government is in a state of decline after 40 years of incremental but cumulative centralisation by central government.
This book is the first to directly address this trend's impact upon the institution of local government, a crucial element in the democratic viability of a unitary state. The process of centralisation, and its corrosive effect on the status and responsibilities of local government, have been widely recognised and deplored among politicians and senior officers within local government, and by academics with an interest in this field. However, there has been no study exploring in detail its impact, and, equally important, suggesting ways in which the growing imbalance between the powers of central and local government should be rectified. This book fills this gap.
This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of local government, and more generally to those interested in what has been happening to British politics and governance.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Plight of Local Government and Central-Local Relations
Part I: The Current Situation
1. The Justification for Local Government
2. How the Past can inform the Present; Five Stages in the Development of Local Government
3. The Myth of Localism
4. Central-Local Relations: An Interpretation
Part II: Moving Forward
5. The Need for Constitutional Change
6. Rethinking Local Government Finance
7. Politics, Parties and local Democracy
8. Central-Local Relations and Local Government Reorganisation
9. The Devolution Agenda
10. Reflections and Conclusions
