From the Urban Left to the New Right: Normative Theory and Local Government

Abstract

British local government has undergone major changes since 1989.¹ These changes reject conventional conceptions about the purposes of local government and the political values which should be embodied in the political institutions of local authorities. This chapter reviews the political values commonly imputed by the Left and the Right to local government institutions and assesses how these values have fared in national and local policy during the 1980s. The chapter is therefore concerned with normative arguments and not simply with describing government policy. It is not assumed that there is any direct relationship between political values and public policy but it is assumed that political principles constitute relevant criteria with which to discuss public policy.²