Understanding Governance

Preface

Part one: Introduction

Governing without government
order and change in British politics

Part two: Theory

Policy networks in British political science
The new governance

Part three: Methodology

The institutional approach

Part four: Applications

Reinventing Whitehall
the hollowing out of the state
Now nobody understands the system
the changing face of local government
The European Union, cohesion policy and sub-national authorities in the United Kingdom

Part five: Developments

From institutions to dogma
tradition, eclecticism and ideology in the study of British public administration
Towards a postmodern Public Administration
epoch, epistemology or narrative
Bibliography
Index.

Understanding Governance asks:

* What has changed in British government over the past two decades, how and why?

* Why do so many government policies fail?

* What does the shift from government to governance mean for the practice and study of British government?

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. Professor Rhodes makes a significant and timely contribution to our understanding of government and governance.