An enterprising municipality? Municipalisation, corporatisation and the political economy of Birmingham City Council in the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries

Chris Skelcher

Local Government Studies, 2017, vol. 43, issue 6, 927-945

Abstract: English local authorities not only have a high level of path dependency but also are capable of significant path-breaking innovations. Conventional ‘great man’ and punctuated equilibrium explanations of path-switching undervalue material factors. Theoretical sampling is used to develop and illuminate the way in which material conditions impact two significant changes in the institutional path of Birmingham City Council – the late nineteenth-century municipalisation of private providers (gas and water) and the early twenty-first century corporatisation of public services (back-office functions, building control, educational support, and museums and art galleries). Data are drawn from secondary sources including Council documents and contemporary accounts. Centrifugal pressure in the early twenty-first century result in arm’s length companies offering greater financial resilience. This contrasts with late nineteenth-century centripetal pressure to minimise the patchwork of private providers and trade for a wider public benefit.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1080/03003930.2017.1359163

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