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Big change, little change?: punctuation increments and multi-layer institutional change for English local authorities under austerity

Gardner, Alison

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Abstract

This paper draws on new institutionalist theories to consider how we might characterise the process and outcomes of change occurring in English local government as a result of the UK’s austerity policies. It uses national and local empirical data to argue that changes are best understood as multi-layer processes, whereby radical ‘punctuated’ shifts in national funding can be mitigated to incremental adjustments in service delivery at a local level. However, the paper also suggests that the incremental appearance of change may be temporary, and that diminishing institutional resilience and emergent discursive shifts potentially prefigure a paradigm change in local governance. Hall’s (1993) framework of policy change is used to assess the extent of change to date.

Citation

Gardner, A. (2017). Big change, little change?: punctuation increments and multi-layer institutional change for English local authorities under austerity. Local Government Studies, 43(2),

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 21, 2016
Publication Date Jan 2, 2017
Deposit Date Jan 19, 2018
Publicly Available Date Jan 19, 2018
Journal Local Government Studies
Print ISSN 0300-3930
Electronic ISSN 1743-9388
Publisher Routledge
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 43
Issue 2
Keywords Local government; Austerity; New institutionalism; Change; Public administration
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/842331
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2016.1276451
Additional Information This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Local Government Studies on 02/01/2017 available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/080/03003930.2016.1276451
Contract Date Jan 19, 2018

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