Public Choice Theory and the Reform of Local Government in Britain: From Government to Governance
| Date | 01 June 1993 |
| DOI | 10.1177/095207679300800202 |
| Published date | 01 June 1993 |
| Author | Stephen J. Bailey |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
7
Public
Choice
Theory
and
the
Reform
of
Local
Government
in
Britain:
From
Government
to
Governance
Stephen
J.
Bailey
Glasgow
Caledonian
University
ABSTRACT
This
paper
describes
and
analyses
current
and
ongoing
reforms
of
British
local
government
in
a
public
choice
framework.
These
involve
a
shift
from
a
vertically-integrated
corporate
institutional
form
of
direct
service
provision
by
British
local
government
to
one
of
an
enabling
function
within
a
horizontally-
coordinated
network
of
multi-agency
service
provision.
It
considers
a
fundamental
reappraisal
of
the
form
of
democracy
and
the
way
in
which
it
can
be
secured,
a
questioning
of
the
behavioural
characteristics
of
local
government
in
relation
to
the
public
interest,
a
reinstatement
of
the
public
interest,
a
reinstatement
of
the
rights
and
responsibilities
of
the
individual
and
of
the
family,
a
reduction
of
local
government’s
role
in
providing
the
welfare
state
and
a
preference
for
multiple
solutions
provided
by agencies
in
place
of
monolithic
provision
by
local
government
monopolies.
Such
functional
decentralisation
is
in
marked
contrast
to
the
political
decentralisation
in
other
European
countries.
Introduction
Local
government
politicians
in
Britain
are
elected
on
a
’first-past-the-post’
system
of
electoral
representation
where
only
one
politician
is
elected
per
constituency
(ie
the
candidate
gaining
the
most
votes).
This
tends
to
polarise
central-local
politics,
socialist-dominated
urban
local
governments
often
operating
alongside
Conservative
central
governments
during
the
1980s.
Not
surprisingly,
central
government
in
Britain
became
distrustful
of
local
government
as
central
and
local
expenditure
policies
diverged
and
it
sought
to
constrain
local
political
power.
8
Whilst
there
are
considerable
differences
between
political
parties
about
the
acceptability
of
individual
measures,
there
is
a
general
acceptance
of
the
need
for
reform
in
order
to
make
local
councils
more
responsive
to
the
needs
of
citizens
in
their
localities.
This
perceived
need
for
increased
responsiveness
reflects
long
term
developments
in
both
society
and
in
the
economy,
for
example
changing
demographic
and
ethnic
structures,
expectations
of
increased
choice
and
availability
of
service,
technological
changes
and
economic
restructuring.
Previous
discussion
concerning
the
reform
of
structure,
functions
and
finance
of
local
government
broadly
accepted
the
conventional
argument
for
local
government:
that
it
is
a
crucial
component
of
the
democratic
state,
promoting
pluralism,
participation,
and
public
choice
(Young
1988).
Local
government’s
role
is
not
simply
an
instrumental
one
concerned
with
the
provision
of
services.
Nonetheless,
local
government
with
substantial
local
tax
powers
was
seen
as
the
most
suitable
institutional
form
for
securing
the
expansion
of
the
post-war
welfare
state
sought
by
central
governments
of
differing
political
persuasions.
The
democratic
argument
for
local
government
is
predicated
on
the
assumption
that
it
secures
the
public
interest
in
facilitating
representative
democracy.
However,
this
assumption
has
been
increasingly
brought
into
question
by
the
development
of
public
choice
theory
which
suggests
that
the
self-
serving
behaviour
of
politicians,
officers
and
bureaucrats
will
frustrate
promotion
of
the
public
interest
and
subvert
the
representative
function.
In
practice,
traditional
local
government
may
do
little
to
stimulate
participative
democracy
and
there
is
no
reason
why
this
participation
should
be
restricted
to
formal
political
voting
mechanisms.
Current
reforms
seek
to
increase
the
power
of
both
the
individual
citizen
and
the
private
market
through
functional
decentralisation,
where
centrally
financed
agencies
operate
within
market
and
pseudo-market
systems.
This
is
in
marked
contrast
to
the
increasing
political
decentralisation
of
other
European
countries.
The
Changing
Service
Role
of
British
Local
Government
British
local
government
lost
responsibility
for
electricity
and
gas
early
this
century,
followed
by
health
in
the
late
1940s
and
water
supply
and
sanitation
in
the
1970s
(except
Scotland).
All
but
health
care
were
sold
to
the
private
sector
during
the
1980s
and
early
1990s.
Privatisation
was
intended
to
constrain
public
choice
inefficiencies
by
introducing
market
forces.
Internal
markets
are
being
introduced
into
the
National
Health
Service
for
the
same
reasons.
Services
remaining
the
responsibility
of
British
local
government
presently
include
school
education,
police,
fire,
personal
social
services,
public
transport
(but
not
railways),
roads
(but
not
motorways),
refuse
collection
and
disposal,
libraries,
museums
and
galleries,
environmental
services,
leisure
and
recreation,
spatial
planning
and
rental
housing.
The
rapid
postwar
growth
in
service
expenditures
went
hand-in-hand
with
the
growth
of
the
welfare
state
and
was
consolidated
by
the
mid
1970s
reforms
which
created
large
and
powerful
local
governments
throughout
Britain.
However,
the
general
consensus
about
the
desirability
of
continued
expenditure
growth
began
to
break
down
with
the
onset
of
a
recessionary
economic
climate
and
as
central
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