9780719067068; 9780719067068; Copyright Page; Contents; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Preface; 1 Local government before 1832; 2 The impact of industrialisation; 3 Compromise and confusion: the ad hoc local governments of mid-Victorian Britain; 4 Municipal government to its zenith; 5 Restructuring local government; 6 The turning point: growth with decline; 7 The slow road to 'modernisation'; 8 War and social democracy; 9 'Modernising' the system 1951-79; 10 Professionalism and alienation; 11 Thatcher and Major; 12 New Labour; 13 Accounting for the evolution of local government in Britain
Summary
""Explaining Local Government"" uniquely presents a history of local government in Britain since 1800 until the present day. The study explains how local government in Britain has evolved from a structure that appeared to be relatively free from central government interference to, as John Prescott observes, 'one of the most centralised systems of government in the Western world'. The book is accessible to 'A' level and undergraduate students as an introduction to the development of local government in Britain but also balances values and political practice in relation to the evolving structure
