IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/polstu/v52y2004i2p358-375.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Local Autonomy, Local Democracy and the ‘New Localism’

Author

Listed:
  • Lawrence Pratchett

Abstract

Most studies of local autonomy and local democracy fail to distinguish adequately between the two terms. As a consequence, there is an assumed bilateral relationship between them in which changes in one are always deemed to affect the other – particularly in policy formulations. This article develops a stronger analytical distinction between them by considering local autonomy in three separate ways: as freedom from central interference; as freedom to effect particular outcomes; and as the reflection of local identity. Each of these conceptualisations raises different challenges for local democracy and its relationship to broader forms of democratic practice. When used to analyse the recent emergence of the ‘new localism’ as a policy approach within Britain, this separation also shows significant limitations in current policies towards democratic renewal and central policies that are supposedly focused on outcomes rather than processes. Although localities are being afforded some autonomy, most initiatives are not supporting the enhancement of local democracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Lawrence Pratchett, 2004. "Local Autonomy, Local Democracy and the ‘New Localism’," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 52(2), pages 358-375, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:polstu:v:52:y:2004:i:2:p:358-375
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2004.00484.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2004.00484.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2004.00484.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gurr, Ted Robert & King, Desmond, 1987. "The State and the City," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226310909, December.
    2. Michael Saward, 2003. "Enacting Democracy," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 51(1), pages 161-179, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Philip Catney & John M Henneberry, 2016. "Public entrepreneurship and the politics of regeneration in multi-level governance," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(7), pages 1324-1343, November.
    2. Yaniv Reingewertz & Itai Beeri, 2018. "How effective is central enforcement? Evidence from convened committees in failing local authorities," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(2), pages 357-380, March.
    3. Harriet Bulkeley & Andrés Luque-Ayala & Colin McFarlane & Gordon MacLeod, 2018. "Enhancing urban autonomy: Towards a new political project for cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(4), pages 702-719, March.
    4. Alibegović Dubravka Jurlina & Hodžić Sabina & Bečić Emira, 2019. "The Level of Fiscal Autonomy: Evidence from Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina," NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy, Sciendo, vol. 12(1), pages 91-112, June.
    5. Wendy Godek, 2021. "Food sovereignty policies and the quest to democratize food system governance in Nicaragua," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(1), pages 91-105, February.
    6. Thaneshwar Bhusal & Keshav Kumar Acharya, 2024. "Five years of local democracy in federal Nepal (2017–2022)," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), May.
    7. Jung, Hoyong, 2022. "Voter Turnout Effects on Local Public Finance and Legislation: Evidence from South Korea," Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 63(1), pages 1-23, June.
    8. Jin Lee, 2021. "New Localism in the Neoliberal Era: Local District Response to Voluntary Open-School Markets in Ohio," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, June.
    9. Fiseha Assefa, 2020. "Local Level Decentralization in Ethiopia: Case Study of Tigray Regional State," The Law and Development Review, De Gruyter, vol. 13(1), pages 95-126, January.
    10. John Sturzaker & Michael Gordon, 2017. "Democratic tensions in decentralised planning – Rhetoric, legislation and reality in England," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(7), pages 1324-1339, November.
    11. Kimiora Raerino & Alex Macmillan & Adrian Field & Rau Hoskins, 2021. "Local-Indigenous Autonomy and Community Streetscape Enhancement: Learnings from Māori and Te Ara Mua—Future Streets Project," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-17, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vladimir Gel'man, 2003. "In search of local autonomy: the politics of big cities in Russia's transition," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 48-61, March.
    2. R Imrie & H Thomas, 1993. "The Limits of Property-Led Regeneration," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 11(1), pages 87-102, March.
    3. Loïc Wacquant, 2008. "Relocating Gentrification: The Working Class, Science and the State in Recent Urban Research," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 198-205, March.
    4. Kai Zhou & Jaroslav Koutský & Justin B. Hollander, 2022. "URBAN SHRINKAGE IN CHINA, THE USA AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC: A Comparative Multilevel Governance Perspective," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 480-496, May.
    5. George A. Boyne, 1993. "Central Policies and Local Autonomy: the Case of Wales," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 30(1), pages 87-101, February.
    6. Jeroen van der Veer, 1994. "Metropolitan Government and City-Suburban Cleavages: Differences between Old and Young Metropolitan Areas," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 31(7), pages 1057-1079, August.
    7. Jaime Palomera, 2014. "How Did Finance Capital Infiltrate the World of the Urban Poor? Homeownership and Social Fragmentation in a Spanish Neighborhood," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 218-235, January.
    8. J G Groenendijk, 1998. "Local Policymaking under Fiscal Centralism in the Netherlands: Consequences for Local Environmental Policy," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 16(2), pages 173-189, April.
    9. Dominique Lorrain, 2005. "Urban Capitalisms: European Models in Competition," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 231-267, June.
    10. Anttiroiko, Ari-Veikko, 2015. "Networks in Manuel Castells’ theory of the network society," MPRA Paper 65617, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Richard Child Hill & Kuniko Fujita, 2000. "State Restructuring and Local Power in Japan," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 37(4), pages 673-690, April.
    12. Ramos Chavez, Hector Alejandro, 2010. "De la Producción Agroalimentaria al Afianzamiento de Redes de Cooperación Solidaria en una Comunidad de México," 116th Seminar, October 27-30, 2010, Parma, Italy 95220, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. A.J. Jacobs, 2003. "Embedded Autonomy and Uneven Metropolitan Development: A Comparison of the Detroit and Nagoya Auto Regions, 1969-2000," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(2), pages 335-360, February.
    14. R A Kearns & J R Barnett, 1992. "Enter the Supermarket: Entrepreneurial Medical Practice in New Zealand," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 10(3), pages 267-281, September.
    15. Paul Kantor & H.V. Savitch, 2005. "How to Study Comparative Urban Development Politics: A Research Note," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 135-151, March.
    16. Mike Morrissey & Frank Gaffikin, 2006. "Planning for Peace in Contested Space," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 873-893, December.
    17. Mike Goldsmith, 1992. "Local Government," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 29(3-4), pages 393-410, May.
    18. Stuart Wilks-Heeg, 1996. "Urban Experiments Limited Revisited: Urban Policy Comes Full Circle?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 33(8), pages 1263-1279, October.
    19. Yonn Dierwechter, 2020. "New Urbanism as Urban Political Development: Racial Geographies of ‘Intercurrence’ across Greater Seattle," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 417-428.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:polstu:v:52:y:2004:i:2:p:358-375. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0032-3217 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.