CENTRAL-LOCAL GOVERNMENT RELATIONS: THEORY AND PRACTICE

In: Political geography quarterly, Band 2, Heft 2, S. 119-138

Abstract

CONFLICT BETWEEN CENTRAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN BRITAIN HAS REACHED HEIGHTS IN THE 1980S. EARLY ATTEMPTS IN THE LATE 1970S TO THEORIZE THE NATURE OF LOCAL POLITICS AND THE STATE HAVE BEEN OVERTAKEN BY THE RADICAL RESTRUCTURING OF THE GEORGRAPHY OF CENTRAL-LOCAL GOVERNMENT RELATIONS. THIS ARTICLE TAKES SLTOCK OF KEY ISSUES IN THE ANALYSIS OF LOCAL POLITICS AND THE STATE AT THE LEVEL OF THEORY AND PRACTICE. IT LOOKS IN TURN AT: DEVELOPMENTS IN RADICAL SOCIAL THEORY: CENTRAL-LOCAL RELATIONS AND POLICY IMPLEMENTATION, HIGHLIGHTING THE EMERGING RADICAL CRITIQUE; THE INFORMAL POLITICS OF COMMUNITY ACTION AND BEYOND; THE POST-1979 CRISIS IN FORMAL CENTRAL-LOCAL GOVERNMENT RELATIONS; AND CONCLUDES BY DISCUSSING LOCAL POLITICAL RESPONSES TO THE SHIFTING GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL-LOCAL RELATIONS.