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Rescuing Aunt Sally: Taking Institutional Theory Seriously in Urban Politics

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  • Vivien Lowndes

    (Department of Public Policy, De Montfort University, Scraptoft Campus, Leicester, LE79SU, UK, vlowndes@dmu.ac.uk)

Abstract

The sub-discipline of 'urban politics' has been constructed in opposition to a traditional version of 'institutional theory'-an approach that collapsed the political processes affecting urban communities with the workings of elected local government. Attention has shifted towards the broader influences on local decision-making and to the growing fragmentation of urban government and the rise of 'partnerships'. The article argues that recent developments, far from signifying the last gasp of 'institutionalism', call for a reformulated theory of the (diverse) institutional constraints within which urban political processes operate. Drawing on insights from the 'new institutionalism', the article discusses processes of institutional change and differentiation ; the underlying shift from strong to weak forms of institutional constraint; and the challenges involved in redesigning local political institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Vivien Lowndes, 2001. "Rescuing Aunt Sally: Taking Institutional Theory Seriously in Urban Politics," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 38(11), pages 1953-1971, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:38:y:2001:i:11:p:1953-1971
    DOI: 10.1080/00420980120080871
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Colin Hay & Daniel Wincott, 1998. "Structure, Agency and Historical Institutionalism," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 46(5), pages 951-957, December.
    2. Geoffrey Dudley & Jeremy Richardson, 1998. "Arenas without Rules and the Policy Change Process: Outsider Groups and British Roads Policy," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 46(4), pages 727-747, September.
    3. King, Desmond, 1995. "Actively Seeking Work?," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226436227.
    4. Hall, Peter A. & Taylor, Rosemary C. R., 1996. "Political science and the three new institutionalisms," MPIfG Discussion Paper 96/6, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Valeria Guarneros‐Meza, 2009. "Mexican Urban Governance: How Old and New Institutions Coexist and Interact," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 463-482, June.

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