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Limits of Devolution: Localism, Economics and Post‐democracy
Author(s) -
Tomaney John
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the political quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.373
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-923X
pISSN - 0032-3179
DOI - 10.1111/1467-923x.12280
Subject(s) - devolution (biology) , localism , scrutiny , accountability , democracy , public administration , government (linguistics) , underpinning , political science , corporate governance , political economy , economics , sociology , law , politics , linguistics , philosophy , civil engineering , finance , anthropology , human evolution , engineering
Abstract This article challenges the narrowly founded but untroubled consensus about the alleged benefits of the Conservative government's devolution programme. It suggests that too much attention has been paid to purported benefits and too little regard to the potential risks, and draws attention to international evidence that suggests that the distribution of the benefits of devolution is crucially dependent on its design. It critically examines the case for the currently offered model of devolution and finds the underpinning economic model and limited forms of democratic accountability are likely to produce regressive social outcomes and the reinforcement of existing local elites. It calls for a wider public debate and fuller democratic scrutiny of the model of devolution on offer.