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Analysis of the development and implementation of local government performance improvement regimes in England, Scotland and Wales over the last decade reveals congruence in policy goals but divergence in policy implementation and outcomes. The governments in all three countries had a common aim of improving local government performance. However, differences in ideology, the nature of central–local government relations, the numbers of councils and a political imperative for newly devolved administrations to be seen to pursue 'home-grown' solutions limited policy learning between different parts of the United Kingdom (UK) and in the case of Wales fuelled determined policy avoidance by policy makers.

The Big Society agenda forms one of the main programmatic pillars of the Conservative– Liberal Democrat coalition government. Ostensibly based on the principles of decentralisation and empowerment, this envisions a shrinking of the state and a greater role for faith-based organisations in the provision of welfare and social services. For religious groups, involvement with the Big Society is seen as an opportunity to reverse a long-term process of waning social influence and to reshape the role of faith in the public sphere. In the way of these objectives being achieved, however, are a number of serious problems, including the current economic and political situation, the particular characteristics of faith groups themselves and general attitudes towards religion in public life. Given the importance attached to the participation of faith-based organisations in the Big Society project, these issues have significant implications both for the future role of religion in the public sphere and for the unfolding of the programme itself.

The United Kingdom (UK) End-of-Life Care Strategy, published in June 2008, recommends the identification, documentation and review of people's preferences for care and highlights the importance of choice at an individual level. Drawing on data from a qualitative research study, this article reflects on the complex range of interconnected factors impacting on older people's preferences and decision-making processes at the end of life. As older people consider not only themselves but also the impact on loved ones when making decisions, the pertinence of a relational conceptualisation of autonomy is considered. The impact of structural issues on the realisation of preferences is also explored.

This article explores institutional change and the role of ideas in Finnish public sector reform from the late 1970s to 2007. The main purpose of the study is to explore the ideas advanced in favour of legislative reforms – what have been the objectives behind them and to what extent have the objectives and arguments changed. The analysis illustrates that there have been ideational changes behind the public sector reforms and that they have served as policy blueprints, ideological weapons and cognitive locks. The article shows that ideas are an important locus of policy development and a source of institutional change.

Changing trends in governance have contributed to the development of 'capacity-building initiatives' in the third sector to enable them to take a greater role in partnership approaches, service delivery and social entrepreneurship. However, analysts have argued that such initiatives are more likely to serve the interests of professionalised welfare groups rather than engage with communities' own skills and interests. Drawing on in-depth individual interviews and case studies with those engaged in such activities in minority ethnic organisations in devolved Scotland, this paper reveals that 'capacity' is a socially constructed, negotiated process, which benefits some organisations more than others. We identify factors which are likely to either facilitate or hinder the process. While there is consensus among participants that such activities play a useful role in developing organisational capacity, we argue that the responsibility for addressing structural factors including socio-economic disadvantage and racism remains with government.