Local government passed unscathed through the political and economic upheavals which followed the Great Depression. Contemporary commentators had every reason to look forward to continued growth and expansion in the role of local government, which was seen as the main vehicle for the social programmes of the comeing Welfare State. That optimism was misplaced. Many of the trends of the early twentieth century have been reveresed. From the vantage point of 1985, local government was in crisis so severe that its continued existence was called into question. In this unique book eleven authors explain what happened and how the local government system weakened. Political, financial, economic and legal issues are explored, as are factors such as housing, planning, and social welfare. This book was first published in 1985.

'A superb book about the tribalism gripping British politics. Tribes is measured, searching, pitilessly self-scrutinising and would probably amaze anyone who knows its author only from his Twitter persona' Decca Aitkenhead, Sunday Times David was the first black Briton to study at Harvard Law School and practised as a barrister before entering politics. He has served as the Member of Parliament for Tottenham since 2000. Today, David is one of Parliament's most prominent and successful campaigners for social justice. He led the campaign for Windrush British citizens to be granted British citizenship and has been at the forefront of the fight for justice for the families affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. In 2007, inspired by the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act and looking to explore his own African roots, David Lammy took a DNA test. Ostensibly he was a middle-aged husband & father, MP for Tottenham and a die-hard Spurs fan. But his nucleic acids revealed that he was 25% Tuareg tribe (Niger), 25% Temne tribe (Sierra Leone), 25% Bantu tribe (South Africa), with 5% traces of Celtic Scotland and a mishmash of other unidentified groups. Both memoir and call-to-arms, Tribes explores both the benign and malign effects of our need to belong. How this need - genetically programmed and socially acquired - can manifest itself in positive ways, collaboratively achieving great things that individuals alone cannot. And yet how, in recent years, globalisation and digitisation have led to new, more pernicious kinds of tribalism. This book is a fascinating and perceptive analysis of not only the way the world works but also the way we really are.

Faith in the UK’s political system has reached new lows. Politicians and commentators are lining up to offer answers, but what if the problem goes beyond left and right, trust and bureaucracy? What if the system puts too much power in the hands of politicians in London and not enough in the hands of ordinary people? This important book addresses a key issue of our time: where should power and governance lie in our democracy? Simon Parker, a leading expert on public services and government, claims the answer is to give power away. Indeed, across the country, communities and cities are already starting to take matters into their own hands, reinventing citizenship for the 21st century. Including fascinating interviews with former ministers and officials about their experience of managing the central state, as well as illuminating international case studies, Parker offers policy recommendations and practical ideas for giving power away and creating a new kind of politics focused on unleashing society's creative potential. In so doing, he provides a route map for change, showing how decentralisation can make us happier, healthier and more equal.

Despite much recent interest in the area of urban governance, little work has been done on the changing ethical standards of urban leaderships, 'governing' institutions or the policing of public life. Yet the issue of ethical standards in public life has become a central concern in contemporary public discourse; with issues of public probity, moral order and personal standards re-emerging as central features of political debate. This volume places these debates into their historical perspective by examining the linkages between processes of 'modernisation', urbanisation and the ethical standards of governance and public life. It considers how ethical debates arise as a result of differential access to positions of authority and from competition for public resources. The contributions are drawn from a wide range of scholarly and disciplinary backgrounds and provide a broad analysis of the phenomenon of corruption, assessing how debates about corruption arose, the narratives used to criticise established modes of public conduct and their consequences for urban leadership.

This book provides an insightful sociological study of the declining Japanese population, using statistical analysis to establish the significance of municipal power using demographic data on national, regional, prefectural and municipal levels. Penned by one of Japan's eminent sociologists, it provides a quantitative characterization of population decline in Japan with a focus on regional variation, and identifies the principal explanatory factors through GPI statistical software tools such as G-census and EvaCva, within a historical perspective. Furthermore, it offers a qualitative assessment of what constitutes ‘municipal power’ as this relates to regional/local revitalization as a means of addressing municipal population decline. Using Goki-Shichido as a theoretical framework, this book pays special attention to municipal variations within the same prefecture, presenting a completely unique approach. In combining these two dimensions of analyses, the book successfully reveals the impact of municipal power and socio-cultural identity of social capital in the region, from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives at the municipal level. Demography issues in Japan have been receiving increasing attention among researchers given the growing number of declining populations in developed countries, in tandem with rapid aging and low fertility trends. Providing an original and unique contribution to regional population analysis in the fields of regional demography, historical demography and regional population policy, this book shows that the revitalization of the community is vital if Japan is to increase its population, so as to renew a community ‘raison d'être’. The book is of interest to scholars of Asian studies more broadly, and to sociologists, demographers, and policymakers interested in population studies, specifically. "Providing an informative and vivid overview of the demographic situation of Japan, the author offers excellent suggestions for effective regional policy in confronting a shrinking society. This book presents a unique analysis of the regional variations on small municipal levels, with demographic variables, social indicators and historical identities. An original contribution to regional population analysis in the fields of regional population policy, regional demography and historical demography." - Toshihiko Hara, Professor Emeritus, Sapporo City University

This book addresses the increasing regionalisation of urban governance and politics in an era of industrialisation, suburbanisation and welfare extension. It provides an important reassessment of the role, structure and activities of urban elites, highlighting their vitality and their interdependence and demonstrating the increasing regionalisation of municipal politics as towns sought to promote themselves, extend services and even expand physically onto a regional level. Moreover, it explores the discourses surrounding space in which gender, class, morality and community all feature prominently. How urban space and its uses were defined and redefined became key political weapons across the regions of England in the nineteenth century and these chapters show how a range of sources (maps, poems, songs, paintings, illustrated journalism, social investigations, historical texts) were employed by contemporaries to shape the urban and its image, often by placing it in a regional context or contributing to the creation of a regional image and identity. This collection illustrates the continuing vitality of the study of urban politics and governance and presents a rare attempt to place English urban history in a regional context. “Barry Doyle has assembled an impressive team of experts on urban politics to examine not just party politics but the wider machinery of government - the boards, agencies, and committees – that shaped British towns and cities after 1830. Space and place were contested and negotiated, and a distinctive sense of local identity emerged. In so doing, the collection challenges some of the generalisations about the governance of urban Britain and reminds us that, despite a shrinking globe, the local and regional are crucial to our everyday lives. The book should be read by all interested in, and especially those working for, local government.” —Professor Richard Rodger, University of Edinburgh “In Urban Politics and Urban Space in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Regional Perspectives Barry Doyle brings together nine original essays by both established and younger authors to explore three inter-related themes in urban history – politics, space and region from the early to mid nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. The book is conveniently divided into three sections dealing with structures of politics, politics, institutions and urban management, and governance discourses and space. Each of the contributions to this volume promises to both enrich our knowledge of specific moments in British politico-urban development (through the study of discrete developments in time and space), and to open up and extend the debate on the British variant of urban modernity. Each examines the ways in which local power, space and regional relations developed and changed between the early nineteenth and mid-twentieth century. Localities, their politics and communal identities are never really far from a national context; indeed, they largely shaped it, as these essays make clear. Doyle is to be commended for his endeavour, not just as the editor but in particular for his introduction to the volume. In a richly referenced essay that comes in at just over seven and half thousand words, he casts a panoramic view over the field in the last few decades, making connections where few contemporary urban historians care to tread. Doyle gives us a forceful challenge to what he sees as a particularly English malaise in this period, namely that of failing to recognise the potential of regional and local government to shape and manage the major reallocation of space and power; a vital sphere of public life that is contemporary to our own times. It is a masterly and well-informed piece of writing that will set the standard for some years to come.” —Professor Anthony McElligott, University of Limerick.

During its 13 years of office, Labour's modernization agenda transformed the world of UK local government. Amidst a starkly altered political and economic climate the coalition government formed in 2010 pledged to implement equally radical changes to the system. Taking account of the coalition's programme for government and its first round of spending cuts, the completely revised and updated fifth edition of this popular and established text is timed to take full advantage of this historic juncture. David Wilson and Chris Game provide readers with systematic coverage of the UK's local government. The book examines its defining features, its history, changing structure, operations, functions, financing, and its relations with central government. The fifth edition gives additional emphasis to local government in the devolved regions of the UK, and provides more extensive analysis of centre-local government relations. The authors deliver a thorough critique of Labour's third term in office. Looking ahead, the book anticipates the future of local government under the coalition government. Two themes look likely to dominate policy making: decentralization and cuts to public spending. With its clear, accessible, non-technical style and popular illustrations, Local Government in the United Kingdom will be essential reading for students, practitioners, and anyone with an interest in local politics.