The Institute for Fiscal Studies Report: English Council Funding: What’s Happened and What’s Next?

The article reviews the recent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfFS) report, English Council Funding: What’s Happened and What’s Next. The article provides an overview of the main themesand findings of the report which examines the consequences of a sustained period of austerity for English local government and the impact of austerity on certain key council services.The article explores what the report has to say about the way councils have responded to reductions in government funding and the strategies they have developed to protect certain frontline services. The article reviews the suggestions made in the IfFS report for changing English local government funding and finds that they reflect a form of centralist thinking which lacks a radical edge when it comes to reform

Could local government govern? Rethinking the role of councillors

What is the meaning of ‘government’ in local government? Colin Copus writes that, although local government understandably clings to its service provision functions, there is a broader role that councillors could assume, and argues that the concept of public accountability would be key in that role

In the post-Brexit world, England deserves its own Parliament

When Scotland has a Parliament - and Wales and Northern Ireland their own assemblies - the lack of an English Parliament represents a serious democratic deficit, writes Colin Copus (De Montfort University). Instead, regionalists have preferred to divide England into EU-delineated regions. The absence of a forum for specifically English concerns and national identity, together with the rejection of the supranational EU, arguably helped to bring about the Leave vote. As Brexit takes shape, the weakness of the arguments against an English Parliament are exposed

The Brexit Referendum: Testing the Support of Elites and their Allies for Democracy; or, Racists, Bigots and Xenophobes, Oh My!

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI linkThe referendum on the United Kingdom’s continued membership of the European Union was the largest exercise in mass public democracy in political history. Yet, the result of that referendum has seen a sustained campaign by remain supporting elite groups and their allies, to undermine, delay and ultimately prevent withdrawal from the European Union. The paper explores the reaction of elite groups and their allies to the referendum result for what it tells us about attitudes towards mass democracy, the thin veneer of tolerance of public dissent from perceived elite wisdom, how elite groups and their allies seek to undermine and de-legitimise the result and nature of the majority of voters. The paper also explores what the neo-reactionary elite response to the result tells us about relationships between elite groups in a liberal democratic state and whether popular, mass democracy will transform into a post-democratic polity

How to maintain high ethical standards in local government: a perspective on the committee on standards in public life’s review so far

Colin Copus offers his perspective on some of the evidence heard so far by the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s review into ethical standards in local government. He argues that it is a difficult task to balance the issues at stake in refining the current system. There are also important arguments surrounding whether or not to nationalise or localise standards in local government. But the work of the Committee is vital if we are to maintain high standards of ethical behaviour in local government

The influence of the political party group on the representative activities of councillors

PhDThis thesis studies the influence of the political party group on the processes of local political representation. It sets out to discover how party groups are able to position themselves between councillor and the electorate, to demand the loyalty of councillors, and to ensure that they act publicly in a cohesive fashion in respect of local issues. The study distinguishes between different theatres of representation, the more or less open arenas within which councillors speak and act. This distinction is used to investigate the actual and likely behaviour of councillors in a range of situations from the closed and private to the open and public. The study also introduces the concept of crises of representation, which arise when a councillor experiences the competing pulls of party group loyalty and local feelings on contentious issues affecting his or her ward or division. To explore this tension, the study introduces the concept of event-driven democracy to describe those situations which motivate the community to protest council decisions and compete with the party group for councillors' loyalty. Evidence from a survey of 629 councillors in 20 authorities in the Midlands and surrounding area was gathered in order to compare and contrast reports of past and hypothetical actions in open and closed theatres of representation. Interviews were used to supplement and illuminate these data. Three case studies examine the actual responses of councillors faced with crises of representation. Comparison is made with national data. Differences between the political parties are explored and political affiliation examined as a factor in party group influence on local representation

Grad London: problemi, perspektive i ovlasti

Devising a system of government for London has had to balance two conflicting objectives. First, providing the capital with a system of government that recognises, and can direct, the unique political, economic, social and spatial power that the city has. Secondly, limiting and constraining the political power of London and its governing arrangements, to ensure neither could undermine the power of the national government, based as it is, in London. The paper sets out a history of the development of London government, the current arrangements for governing London that were created by the 1999 Greater London Authority Act and examines the role of the London Assembly and Mayor, including the most recent set of 2012 London elections. It also considers whether the current London arrangements represent a new and more imaginative way for citizens to engage with the political processes, or whether any public participation in a representative democracy will face political problems.Kreiranje sustava vlasti u Londonu trebalo je pomiriti dva suprotstavljena cilja. Prvo, trebalo je osigurati sustav lokalne vlasti koji priznaje i sposoban je usmjeriti jedinstvenu političku, ekonomsku, društvenu i prostornu snagu koju glavni grad ima. Drugo, trebalo je ograničiti i zauzdati političku snagu Londona i njegovih struktura vlasti, kako bi se osiguralo da ne podrivaju snagu i ovlasti središnje vlade smještene u Londonu. Analizira se razvoj lokalne samouprave u Londonu, uređenje londonske gradske samouprave po Zakonu o tijelima vlasti u Velikom Londonu 1999. (Greater London Authority Act). Istražuje se uloga skupštine i gradonačelnika Londona, uključujući i posljednje izbore održane 2012. U radu se razmatra je li sadašnji način upravljanja Londonom dovoljno nov i inovativan da može uključiti njegove građane u političke procese ili će sudjelovanje javnosti u predstavničkoj demokraciji naići na značajne političke probleme

Ideologija ili realizam u lokalnoj vladavini: realpolitika u engleskoj lokalnoj samoupravi

The paper reports the results of research conducted among councillors in England which explored how they operate in complex governing networks where they interact with a range of public and private bodies. Councillors cannot control such networks or their members. Rather, councillors are faced with devising strategies to exert influence over and to try to shape and direct the policy decisions taken by the individual players and to draw a myriad of decisions into an overall direction and coherence. Councillors can either act ideologically (a key set of political principles and goals) or pragmatically (an assessment of what it is possible to achieve). The paper explores the approaches councillors have developed to engage in governance networks and assesses whether or not they act deologically or pragmatically. It introduces the concept of RealLokalPolitik to explain the tension and choice between these approaches. The paper also explores how the need to operate in governance networks re-shapes our understanding of councillors as trustees, delegates or party loyalists.Rad analizira rezultate istraživanja provedenog među lokalnim vijećnicima u Engleskoj koje se bavilo načinom na koji oni djeluju unutar složenih mreža vladavine u kojima se nalaze u međudjelovanju sa širokim rasponom javnih i privatnih tijela. Vijećnici takve mreže ni njihove članove ne mogu kontrolirati. Naprotiv, suočeni su s potrebom stvaranja načina da ostvare utjecaj na njih i pokušaju oblikovati i usmjeravati odluke o javnim politikama koje donose pojedini akteri te tom mnoštvu odluka dati zajednički smjer i koherentnost. Vijećnici mogu djelovati s ideoloških stajališta (skup političkih načela i ciljeva) ili pak pragmatično (procjenjujući što je moguće ostvariti). U radu se razmatraju pristupi koje su vijećnici razvili da bi se uključili u mreže vladavine i procjenjuje se ponašaju li se oni ideološki ili pragmatično. Rad uvodi koncept realpolitike na lokalnoj razini (RealLokalPolitik) kako bi se objasnila napetost koja vlada te izbor između tih dvaju pristupa. Također se istražuje na koji način potreba djelovanja unutar mreža vladavine preoblikuje naše poimanje vijećnika kao upravljača, delegata ili pak stranačkih lojalista

Are Independent Councillors Really Conservatives in Disguise?

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.A feature of English local political folk-lore is the belief among national political parties, that Independent councillors are Conservatives in disguise. Yet, little evidence is given to support this idea because little is known about these councillors’ beliefs and assumptions or how they distinguish themselves from the party politics they eschew. In this paper we address the question: Are all Independent councillors really Conservatives? The paper answers the question by reporting the finings of research conducted among Independent and Conservative councillors in England to explore the complex, multi-dimensional and fluid world that is Independent politics