Gerry Stoker

This book presents a detailed analysis of the new management of public services at the local level, drawing on the work of the ESRC Local Governance Programme. The radical transformation of public service delivery is assessed in terms of its overall impact as well as its operation in particular service areas. Efficiency has improved and services have gained a user focus yet the new management appears to be full of contradictions and distortions, in many respects creating as many problems as it solves.

Remaking Planning challenges the common misconception that planning under the Conservative government has been dismantled and abandoned to market forces. This new edition of a very well received text brings the original study up to date with an analysis of how planning in the 1990s has responded to continuing economic restructuring, political fragmentation and social change, and developed a new awareness of uncertainty and risk. The book illustrates how planning remains as a never-ending attempt to reconcile the demands of economic efficiency with those of democratic legitimacy.

The transformation of British local government into a new and complex system of local governance raises fundamental theoretical questions as well as empirical ones. Rethinking Local Democracy argues that traditional defences of local government are no longer adequate and that the case for local autonomy and local democracy needs to be radically rethought. It brings together a set of specially-commissioned chapters by leading academics designed to stimulate and contribute to debate on these issues.

The comprehensively revised second edition of this successful text provides an up-to-date analysis of the changing world of local politics in Britain. Substantial new sections have been added on local political parties, hung councils, the politics of non-elected local government, recent developments in privatisation, and the politics of the poll tax. The book now provides a systematic treatment of the Thatcher legacy in local politics, the philosophy and strategy which underpinned it and likely futures in the post-Thatcher era. Reviews of the 1st edition: '...should be read by anyone seeking to understand local government and its possible futures.' George Jones, Local Government Chronicle '...an excellent and stimulating introductory text.' Peter McLaverty, Sociological Review

Written by experts from all over Europe, this book provides an overview of issues and developments in European local government and in-depth analysis of its changing status, functions, management and control in each of the main countries. 'Local Government in Europe' is a stimulating and thought-provoking book, well produced and attractively presented by the publishers, which adds to the incentive to read it rather than just buy it and shelve it for future use'. John Benington, Public Administration.

The last decade has seen an increase in political and ideological conflict in local government. This book analyzes this context and examines both the operation of elected local authorities and the rise of a non-directly elected local governement.