Suchergebnisse

Shows that changes in service expenditure in the decade following Proposition 13 exhibited patterns consistent with business and home owners exerting a notable influence on policy direction. Not that they were influential in lobbying for particular expenditure policies, merely that in deciding on expenditure changes budget-makers responded to these aspects of the socioeconomic environment in which they operated. (JLN)

The sale of local-authority-owned homes has been a controversial issue in Britain, especially since the 1980 Housing Act provided tenants with a 'right-to-buy' their homes. This paper is an analysis of whether the opposition of the Labour Party to these sales has been translated into a distinct antisales local government policy stance. All metropolitan and Greater London lower-tier authorities and a sample of one in five shire districts were investigated. The results show that Labour control was linked with reduced sales levels, even after allowance was made for council housing characteristics, tenants' wealth, and other relevant demand factors. Very recently Labour councils have had higher rates of public housing sales, suggesting that the Conservative Government has eventually been able to circumvent Labour opposition and 'release' previously 'bottled-up' demand for house purchasing.

EVIDENCE FROM COMPARATIVE STATISTICAL ANALYSES OF LOCAL AUTHORITY OUTPUTS SUGGESTS THAT POLITICAL PARTY CONTROL HAS AN INDEPENDENT EFFECT ON CURRENT EXPENDITURES. EVIDENCE FOR LOCAL AUTHORITY CAPITAL INVESTMENTS TENDS NOT TO SUPPORT THIS VIEW, WITH ONE RESEARCHER RECENTLY ARGUING THAT THIS IS DUE TO DIFFERENCES IN THE NATURE OF CURRENT AND CAPITAL EXPENDITURE DECISION MAKING. BY ANALYSING HIGHWAYS AND HOUSING INVESTMENTS IN 57 ENGLISH COUNTY BOROUGHS, THIS PAPER SEEKS TO SHOW THAT INDEPENDENT POLITICAL PARTY EFFECTS DO EXIST FOR CAPITAL INVESTMENTS. THE OBJECTIVE IS NOT SIMPLY TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE ON THE EXISTENCE OF PARTY EFFECTS BUT ALSO TO QUESTION THE APPROPRIATENESS OF STATISTICAL METHODOLOGIES UTILIZED IN MOST COMPARATIVE OUTPUT STUDIES. IT IS ARGUED THAT MOST OF THESE STUDIES HAVE UTILIZED RESEARCH DESIGNS THAT DO NOT ALLOW FOR AN ADEQUATE TESTING OF THEIR THEORETICAL PROPOSITIONS. EVEN WHEN INDEPENDENT PARTY EFFECTS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED, ANALYSES HAVE TENDED TO CONSIDER ONLY ONE OF THE POSSIBLE WAYS IN WHICH POLITICAL PARTY CONTROL CAN INFLUENCE OUTPUT LEVELS.

Pinch, in 1987, concluded that changing patterns of preschool services in England from 1977 to 1983 revealed a pattern of improvement in metropolitan areas dominated by the new left and cuts in Conservative-dominated shire counties. In this paper it is argued that Pinch's approach was too simplistic, because he did not differentiate between private and public services, took little account of other determinants of service change, and too readily grasped the influence of the new left as a determining factor. In this paper service change from 1977 to 1988 is assessed and it is found that, although there were political party effects on provision levels and provision change, these were reflected in different responses to local socioeconomic conditions. Provision in Conservative councils was notably affected by local wealth differences, whereas services in Labour areas appeared to be more responsive to female employment and local occupational structures.