Negotiating Austerity and Local Traditions

Gardner, Alison; Lowndes, Vivien

Abstract

Despite 30% cuts in English local government budgets since 2010, alongside rising demands for services, there has been little outward sign of crisis. On the contrary, political protest has been muted, public satisfaction remains steady and no local authority has suffered a major service failure, been declared bankrupt or attempted to set an unbalanced budget. This chapter addresses what we call the ‘austerity puzzle’. How can we explain the apparent disconnect between the pressures on local government and its continuing capacity to act? We argue that austerity policies are forcing a reconsideration of the ‘traditions’ that underpin contemporary local governance. We identify five core traditions (Civic, Collectivist, Professional, Enabling, and Communitarian traditions) and analyse case study data in relation to this framework, focusing on the emergence of two hybrid reform narratives: municipal enterprise and community commissioning. We find that local actors are not only ‘interpreting’ austerity, but actively negotiating a path through its limitations, drawing on generic local government traditions and locality specific knowledge. New and productive governance narratives and practices are emerging, but negotiations are also contested and in some cases incomplete.

Citation

Gardner, A., & Lowndes, V. (2016). Negotiating Austerity and Local Traditions. In M. Bevir, & R. Rhodes (Eds.), Rethinking Governance: Ruling, rationalities and resistance (125-143). Routledge

• Acceptance Date: Jul 1, 2016
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Nov 18, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 19, 2018
• Publisher: Routledge
• Pages: 125-143
• Series Title: Routledge studies in governance and public policy
• Book Title: Rethinking Governance: Ruling, rationalities and resistance
• Chapter Number: 8
• ISBN: 9781138889354
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1279589
• Publisher URL: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781317496465/chapters/10.4324%2F9781315712949-17