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A NEW POLITICS OF GOVERNANCE OR AN OLD POLITICS OF CENTRAL–LOCAL RELATIONS? LABOUR'S REFORM OF SOCIAL HOUSING TENANCIES IN ENGLAND
Author(s) -
LAFFIN MARTIN
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.313
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-9299
pISSN - 0033-3298
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9299.2011.02009.x
Subject(s) - corporate governance , politics , local government , service delivery framework , public administration , political economy , economics , political science , service (business) , economy , law , finance
This article questions the orthoxody that government has been eclipsed by governance and uses the reform of English social housing tenancies as a critical test of governance theory. The preconditions for governance exist in social housing as its delivery has been largely removed from local authorities and disaggregated into a multiplicity of non‐profit housing associations. Yet, contrary to the implications of governance theory, central policymakers have maintained their ascendancy over central‐local relations in the service delivery chain. Moreover, the political party, rather than any policy network, was the key source of policy change and its role is crucial in understanding how why and how the service delivery chain was reformed and the implications for social housing tenants as a dependent social group.