Understanding Governance: Policy Networks, Governance, Reflexivity and Accountability

Abstract

Understanding Governance asks:<br/><br/>* What has changed in British government over the past two decades, how and why?<br/><br/>* Why do so many government policies fail?<br/><br/>* What does the shift from government to governance mean for the practice and study of British government?<br/><br/>This book provides a challenging reinterpretation which interweaves an account of recent institutional changes in central, local and European Union government with methodological innovations and theoretical analysis. It emphasizes: the inability of the 'Westminster model', with its accent on parliamentary sovereignty and strong executive leadership, to account for persistent policy failure; the 'hollowing out' of British government from above (the European Union), below (special purpose bodies) and sideways (to agencies); and the need to respond to the postmodern challenge, rethinking the methodological and theoretical assumptions in the study of British government.