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

Gardner, Alison

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