Big change, little change? Punctuation, increments and multi-layer institutional change for English local authorities under austerity

Alison Gardner

Local Government Studies, 2017, vol. 43, issue 2, 150-169

Abstract: This paper draws on new institutionalist theories to consider how we might characterise the process and outcomes of change occurring in English local government as a result of the UK’s austerity policies. It uses national and local empirical data to argue that changes are best understood as multi-layer processes, whereby radical ‘punctuated’ shifts in national funding can be mitigated to incremental adjustments in service delivery at a local level. However, the paper also suggests that the incremental appearance of change may be temporary, and that diminishing institutional resilience and emergent discursive shifts potentially prefigure a paradigm change in local governance.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1080/03003930.2016.1276451

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