Changing local governance, changing citizens

Description

The relationship between citizens and local decision makers is a long standing policy pre-occupation and has often been the subject of debate by politicians across parties. Recent governments have sought to empower, activate and give responsibility to some citizens, while other groups have been abandoned or ignored. Drawing on extensive up-to-date empirical work by leading researchers in the field, "Changing local governance, changing citizens" aims to explain what debates about local governance mean for local people. Questions addressed include: what new demands are being made on citizens and why? Which citizens are affected and how have they responded? What difference do changing forms of local governance make to people's lives? The book explores governance and citizenship in relation to multiculturalism, economic migration, community cohesion, housing markets, neighbourhoods, faith organisations, behaviour change and e-democracy in order to establish a differentiated, contemporary view of the ways that citizens are constituted at the local level today. "Changing local governance, changing citizens" provides a pertinent and robustly empirical contribution to current debates amongst policy makers, academics, practitioners and local communities about how to respond to this changing policy framework. It will be of interest to post-graduate students and academic researchers in politics, public and social policy, sociology, local government and urban studies, as well as policy makers and practitioners.

Catherine Durose is a Research Councils UK research fellow in the Local Governance Research Unit at De Montfort University. Stephen Greasley is a lecturer in comparative public policy in the School of Political, Social and International Studies, University of East Anglia. Liz Richardson is a research fellow at the Institute for Political and Economic Governance, University of Manchester.

"A robust and prescient empirical analysis of the changing relationship between citizens and the local state, offering a unique perspective on how a citizen centred approach can reshape local governance." Helen Sullivan, Research Director and Palmer Chair of Public Service Partnerships, University of Birmingham "It seems everyone wants to engage citizens more fully in local governance. This excellent collection will be an invaluable guide for policy makers intent on learning from the past, understanding what works and building practice on sound conceptual foundations." Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive, RSA "...accessibly written and provides a valuable introduction to.many of the themes that will continue to exercise policy makers and practitioners in.the future." Marilyn Taylor in Local Government Studies