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Adrian Bua

De Montfort University, Centre for Urban Research on Austerity, Faculty Member

University of East Anglia, School of Political, Social and International Studies, Graduate Student

De Montfort University, Politics and Public Policy, Faculty Member

New Economics Foundation, Democracy and Local Economy, Faculty Member

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Political and social scientist, specialising in participatory and deliberative democracy and public administration, with an interest in political economy. Experienced in policy oriented as well as academic research; public and stakeholder engagement; political campaigning; research design and management; and university teaching.

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Jelizaveta Krenjova

Tallinn University of Technology

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

Santa Clara University

Carleton University

University of Greenwich

Roberto Falanga

Universidade de Lisboa

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Papers by Adrian Bua

TaxTrack': Introducing a Democratic Innovation for Taxation

In this article we introduce an input-oriented democratic innovation-that we term 'TaxTrack'-whic... more In this article we introduce an input-oriented democratic innovation-that we term 'TaxTrack'-which offers individual taxpayers the means to engage with their political economies in three ways. After joining the TaxTrack program, an individual can: (1) see and understand how much, and what types, of taxes they have contributed, (2) see and understand how their tax contributions are, or have been, used, and (3) control what their tax contributions can, or cannot, be spent on. We explain this democratic innovation in two ways. The first is through evocation to prefigure what the innovation could look like in future practise which raises the prospects for both good and problematic outcomes. The second is through formal theory to produce a detailed model of the innovation to assist theory building. We conclude by discussing three interactive outcomes of 'TaxTrack' through the democratic innovations literature to establish the beginnings of a theory for the model. This theory tells us that 'TaxTrack' can return benefits to its users and the democratic regimes in which they are located but it may also place restrictions on output-oriented innovations like Participatory Budgeting.

Understanding the crisis of New Municipalism in Spain: The struggle for urban regime power in A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela

Urban Studies

New municipalism in Spain arose from a major political wave, now in a period of crisis and electo... more New municipalism in Spain arose from a major political wave, now in a period of crisis and electoral retreat. This paper applies a regime-theoretic framework to analyse new municipalist governance in two smaller city cases: A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela. It argues that whilst new municipalist electoral victories inaugurated a crisis for established regimes, the crucial weakness was that they did not consolidate new urban regimes. Municipalists faced severe governability challenges linked to the enduring power of older urban regimes. The paper suggests that this is explained by problems in establishing regime incumbency, the consolidation of the necessary governing capacity by a resource coalition to deliver its agenda and succeed politically. Although established regimes were weakened enough to lose elections, they maintained considerable capacity to constrain the municipalist project and shape urban governance, a significant degree of incumbency. This ultimately enabled them ...

Rescaling through Austerity Governance

New Developments in Urban Governance

In this chapter, we show how the study of scale is enlightening when trying to understand how aus... more In this chapter, we show how the study of scale is enlightening when trying to understand how austerity has functioned in our eight case study cities. In order to put forth a clear definition of how we use the concept, we also propose a definition of scale and promote a synthetic and multi-faceted definition such as the one suggested by Byron Miller (2009: 62; emphasis in the original): “a set of territorially nested, malleable relationships among territorially embedded or constituted agents and institutions, shaping their responsibilities, capacities, opportunities, and constraints through territory-specific rule regimes, resources, and identities”. The chapter explores several different dimensions of scale, as it pertains to neoliberalism, austerity and the struggle for social justice – which also takes the form of struggles over the definition and classification of scale and territory.

Urban Cultural Diversity and Economic Migration in Austere Times

New Developments in Urban Governance

This chapter discusses the way that (neoliberal) austerity has impacted social, racial and cultur... more This chapter discusses the way that (neoliberal) austerity has impacted social, racial and cultural inequalities and the ability of collaboration to support more inclusive democratic cities or resist exclusions. The basic premise is that cities play a fundamental role in the dynamics of social inclusion or exclusion of economic migrants and other racial and ethnic minorities, and in the way that societies cope with the challenge of recognising and accommodating cultural diversity. The chapter argues that the social impacts of neoliberalisation and austerity have disproportionally injured cultural and racial minorities living in lower-income city areas. However, it also reveals the existence of signals of hope – signals that are intimately related with the new collaborative dynamics that have emerged in urban areas as a reaction to austerity conditions in some cities.

The Local State in Austerity Governance

New Developments in Urban Governance

This chapter seeks to better understand how austerity governance has been experienced in the eigh... more This chapter seeks to better understand how austerity governance has been experienced in the eight cities, from the perspective of the local state. The chapter is divided into three parts. First, we consider literature on the local state and governance to frame contemporary changes in structure and function. Second, returning to the economic crisis of 2008 and the concerns about social solidarity and welfare measures arising from it, we consider local state responses and adaptations. Third, drawing from our case studies, we consider how local states adapt to and manage demands linked to austerity struggles.

Crisis and Austerity in Eight Cities: An Overview

New Developments in Urban Governance

Chapter 1 focuses on how the eight cities encountered, worked with and against austerity in the p... more Chapter 1 focuses on how the eight cities encountered, worked with and against austerity in the period after the GEC. It begins by providing a flavour of the histories and traditions which contribute to explaining how austerity was experienced and mediated. It then turns to a discussion of Athens, Baltimore, Dublin, Leicester and Montréal, where more-or-less harsh forms of forms of austerity were implemented in the decade after GEC. It then looks at the three cities which, in different ways, provide a contrast with the story of austerity. These are Barcelona, Melbourne and Nantes.

Afterword: From Austerity to COVID-19 and Beyond

New Developments in Urban Governance

Our research concluded some time before the outbreak of COVID-19, but we suggest that many of the... more Our research concluded some time before the outbreak of COVID-19, but we suggest that many of the insights drawn from it, about austerity and collaboration, will be useful in considering ways forward from the pandemic. In the first instance, it seems clear that austerity made COVID-19 an iniquitous disease, with cities and urban peripheries the heart of both contagion and suffering. The disease has unsurprisingly had a multitude of impacts on our cities, often linked to austerity. We therefore conclude further with Afterwords from the eight, including reflections on events since the end of the research, impacts of COVID-19 and possible signs that it might be possible to “build back better”.

Collaborative Governance After the Global Economic Crisis

New Developments in Urban Governance

From the basis of multiple definitions and mixed practices of collaborative governance, this chap... more From the basis of multiple definitions and mixed practices of collaborative governance, this chapter explores trends found through the comparative study of our eight cities, in the decade after the GEC. We aim to examine the impact of austerity on localised collaborative structures of policymaking. Specifically, the chapter elaborates three dimensions where interesting comparisons and contrasts were identified: in discourse, in agency and in the spaces utilised to facilitate alliance-building and joint working. Trends in discourse, agency, and spaces of collaboration after the GEC are linked to the historical events and traditions highlighted in the introductory chapter.

Austerity Governance, Political Resistance and Urban Transformation

New Developments in Urban Governance, 2022

This chapter critically assesses the forms of social and political resistance that emerged across... more This chapter critically assesses the forms of social and political resistance that emerged across the eight cities in our study. Building on themes introduced in chapters 1 and 2, it argues that cities serve as crucibles for a diverse set of political contestations, responses and initiatives, but they exhibit differential capacities to shape their environments. It draws particular attention to the shifting locus of resistance to austerity across communities and neighbourhoods. Our analysis and evaluation suggest that the future projection of cities as “spaces of hope” rests on the twin challenges of “scaling up” neighbourhood protests into broad and anti-systemic political projects, while reinvesting in the construction of progressive relations with the local state that open local spaces of manoeuvre to challenge national regimes of austerity.

A Critical Appraisal of the Greater Manchester Devolution Deal

There has never been a more urgent sense across the UK of how desperately we need to rebalance th... more There has never been a more urgent sense across the UK of how desperately we need to rebalance the regional economic differences that see wealth and decision-making so concentrated in the capital, and leave so many communities feeling left out of both entirely. The devolution agenda of recent years has been heavily promoted by its proponents as the key to tackling both economic imbalance and democratic deficits. Yet it has not, to date, represented the kind of fundamental paradigm shift in how we design economic strategy nationally as well as regionally, which would really transform the centralisation of our economy in a way that shifts wealth and prosperity substantially to the communities that feel so left behind.

UNDERSTANDING DEVOLUTION: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE GREATER MANCHESTER DEVOLUTION DEAL

New Economics Foundation, 2017

There has never been a more urgent sense across the UK of how desperately we need to rebalance th... more

El sistema político del Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte

Sistemas políticos en Europa, 2021, ISBN 978-84-1397-701-0, págs. 165-185, Sep 8, 2021

Embedding participatory governance

Critical Policy Studies, 2022

New Developments in Urban Governance

Understanding and Enhancing the Community Value of Traditional Retail Markets in UK Cities, 2018-2020

This dataset has been supplied by the project 'Understanding and Enhancing the Community Valu... more This dataset has been supplied by the project 'Understanding and Enhancing the Community Value of Traditional Retail Markets in UK cities' (Project Reference: ES/P010547/1) conducted by the University of Leeds, the Open University, the National Market Traders Federation, and the New Economics Foundation. The dataset contains interview transcripts, workshop notes, and focus group transcripts that are applicable for qualitative analysis, and survey data that is applicable for statistical analysis. The qualitative dataset includes transcripts of interviews, workshops, and focus groups about the community value of Traditional Retail Markets (TRM); the context and particularities of Bury Market, Grainger Market, and Queen's Market; and the market users' everyday life experiences of these three markets. The quantitative dataset includes the responses of Bury Market, Grainger Market, and Queen's Market users regarding the economic, social, and cultural value of these ma...

The urban governance of austerity in Europe

The Routledge Handbook of International Local Government, 2018

The 2008 financial crash and ensuing austerity have brought critical perspectives on political ec... more The 2008 financial crash and ensuing austerity have brought critical perspectives on political economy into academic debates in democratic theory and public administration. One important area of contention regards "collaborative" and "network" forms of governance. Advocates argue that these comprise an epochal shift that resolves many pitfalls of state and market oriented governance, a consensus that was especially popular during the 1990's and early 2000's. This chapter reports research carried out in five cities in Europe (Athens, Barcelona, Dublin, Leicester, Nantes) exploring the impact of austerity politics on the ideology and practice of collaborative governance-would it endure, or be unravelled by, post-crash exposure to austerity and distributional conflict? The chapter concludes that severe austerity erodes the foundations for strong collaborative governance. The inability to survive the return of distributional conflict leads us to conclude that collaborative governance is fully functional only in times of growth.

Handbook of Democratic Innovation and Governance

Participatory-deliberative processes and public policy agendas: lessons for policy and practice

Policy Design and Practice, 2018

Participatory and deliberative processes have proliferated over recent decades in public administ... more Participatory and deliberative processes have proliferated over recent decades in public administration. These seek to increase the effectiveness and democratic quality of policy making by involving citizens in policy. However, these have mainly operated at local levels of governance, and democratic theorists and practitioners have developed an ambition to scale these up in order to democratize higher tiers of government. This paper draws policy lessons from research on a "multi-level" process that held a similar ambition. The Sustainable Communities Act sought to integrate the results of various locally organized citizen deliberations within the policy development processes of central UK government. In doing so, it aimed to democratize central government problem definition and agenda-setting processes. The paper distinguishes between achievements and failures explained by process design, and more fundamental obstacles to do with broader contextual factors. As such, it identifies lessons for the amelioration of design features, while recognizing constraints that are often beyond the agency of local practitioners. The findings offer practical insights for policy workers and democratic reformers seeking to institutionalize participatory and deliberative innovations.

Scale and Policy Impact in Participatory-Deliberative Democracy: Lessons from a Multi-Level Process

Public Administration, 2017

This article addresses two interrelated critiques of participatory-deliberative democratic instit... more This article addresses two interrelated critiques of participatory-deliberative democratic institutions: that they are beset by problems of scale and that they achieve weak policy impact. This article tests these criticisms through the case of the UK Sustainable Communities Act (SCA), a multi-level process that is relatively strongly institutionalized. The evidence lends qualified support to these critiques. The article differentiates between contextual factors, related to the attempt to institutionalize participatory-deliberative processes within existing socioeconomic and political structures, and design factors to do with institutional and process design. The case of the SCA calls for caution about the claim that multi-level participatory-deliberative processes can overcome problems of scale and policy impact, but the question remains open. The article ends by suggesting that expectations of direct policy impact might be too high. Rather than determinants of policy, multi-level participatory-deliberative processes might function best as agenda-setters. INTRODUCTION 'Participatory-deliberative processes' (PDPs) aim to engage citizens in deliberative forms of participation, oriented towards influencing public policy-making (Smith 2009a; Hoppe 2010). Advocates argue that they can reduce the 'distance' between state and non-state actors by allowing citizens to explore preferences and influence policy through public participation and deliberation (Burgess and Chilvers 2006). They have been valued for their potential to increase the reflexivity and responsiveness of policy-making (Hoppe 2010), and to reduce social inequities by directly empowering citizens (Fung and Wright 2003; Johnson and Gastil 2015). However, PDPs have been criticized on the grounds of their poor scalability and low impact-especially when operating at high tiers of governance. Unlike direct democratic processes that aggregate millions of preferences through voting, PDPs are predicated on deliberative interactions between participants, and are often oriented towards consensus. For this reason they face problems of 'scalability', meaning that the impact that they can, both practically (Dahl 1989) and legitimately (Parkinson 2006), claim to have on policy-making decreases as scale increases. It is in no small part for this reason most PDPs are consultative, and exert a weak influence upon decisions (Goodin and Dryzek 2006), and those processes that are 'empowered' (Fung and Wright 2003; Johnson and Gastil 2015) tend to operate at the local scale. Even in more strongly institutionalized cases, claims of impact can be tenuous. Suspicions abound that public authorities tend to 'cherry pick' recommendations that cohere with decisions that are already made, and analysts have argued that elites might accept PDPs in order to preempt more contentious forms of political action (Hoppe 2011). This has led sympathetic critics to argue that PDPs are often limited to local issues of little strategic importance (Wainwright 2003), sceptics argue that they offer little more than 'therapeutic' (Chandler 2001) forms of participation that do little in way of engaging real power structures (Davies 2011, 2012).

Agenda Setting and Democratic Innovation: The Case of the Sustainable Communities Act (2007)

Politics, 2012

This article suggests that a common feature among democratic innovations is the lack of an agenda... more This article suggests that a common feature among democratic innovations is the lack of an agenda setting function. First, it argues that a lack of control over their own agendas opens democratic innovations to manipulation by elites. Second, it argues that democratic innovations focused on setting the policy agendas of public authorities can serve to democratise the policy process by providing citizens with a tool to place issues on the public agenda. The article analyses a series of actual and potential institutional designs that divert from the dominant ‘direct-democratic’ nature of agenda setting innovations. It finishes with a discussion of the UK Sustainable Communities Act (2007), a process designed to allow communities to propose policy to government through their councils.

TaxTrack': Introducing a Democratic Innovation for Taxation

In this article we introduce an input-oriented democratic innovation-that we term 'TaxTrack'-whic... more In this article we introduce an input-oriented democratic innovation-that we term 'TaxTrack'-which offers individual taxpayers the means to engage with their political economies in three ways. After joining the TaxTrack program, an individual can: (1) see and understand how much, and what types, of taxes they have contributed, (2) see and understand how their tax contributions are, or have been, used, and (3) control what their tax contributions can, or cannot, be spent on. We explain this democratic innovation in two ways. The first is through evocation to prefigure what the innovation could look like in future practise which raises the prospects for both good and problematic outcomes. The second is through formal theory to produce a detailed model of the innovation to assist theory building. We conclude by discussing three interactive outcomes of 'TaxTrack' through the democratic innovations literature to establish the beginnings of a theory for the model. This theory tells us that 'TaxTrack' can return benefits to its users and the democratic regimes in which they are located but it may also place restrictions on output-oriented innovations like Participatory Budgeting.

Understanding the crisis of New Municipalism in Spain: The struggle for urban regime power in A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela

Urban Studies

New municipalism in Spain arose from a major political wave, now in a period of crisis and electo... more New municipalism in Spain arose from a major political wave, now in a period of crisis and electoral retreat. This paper applies a regime-theoretic framework to analyse new municipalist governance in two smaller city cases: A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela. It argues that whilst new municipalist electoral victories inaugurated a crisis for established regimes, the crucial weakness was that they did not consolidate new urban regimes. Municipalists faced severe governability challenges linked to the enduring power of older urban regimes. The paper suggests that this is explained by problems in establishing regime incumbency, the consolidation of the necessary governing capacity by a resource coalition to deliver its agenda and succeed politically. Although established regimes were weakened enough to lose elections, they maintained considerable capacity to constrain the municipalist project and shape urban governance, a significant degree of incumbency. This ultimately enabled them ...

Rescaling through Austerity Governance

New Developments in Urban Governance

In this chapter, we show how the study of scale is enlightening when trying to understand how aus... more In this chapter, we show how the study of scale is enlightening when trying to understand how austerity has functioned in our eight case study cities. In order to put forth a clear definition of how we use the concept, we also propose a definition of scale and promote a synthetic and multi-faceted definition such as the one suggested by Byron Miller (2009: 62; emphasis in the original): “a set of territorially nested, malleable relationships among territorially embedded or constituted agents and institutions, shaping their responsibilities, capacities, opportunities, and constraints through territory-specific rule regimes, resources, and identities”. The chapter explores several different dimensions of scale, as it pertains to neoliberalism, austerity and the struggle for social justice – which also takes the form of struggles over the definition and classification of scale and territory.

Urban Cultural Diversity and Economic Migration in Austere Times

New Developments in Urban Governance

This chapter discusses the way that (neoliberal) austerity has impacted social, racial and cultur... more This chapter discusses the way that (neoliberal) austerity has impacted social, racial and cultural inequalities and the ability of collaboration to support more inclusive democratic cities or resist exclusions. The basic premise is that cities play a fundamental role in the dynamics of social inclusion or exclusion of economic migrants and other racial and ethnic minorities, and in the way that societies cope with the challenge of recognising and accommodating cultural diversity. The chapter argues that the social impacts of neoliberalisation and austerity have disproportionally injured cultural and racial minorities living in lower-income city areas. However, it also reveals the existence of signals of hope – signals that are intimately related with the new collaborative dynamics that have emerged in urban areas as a reaction to austerity conditions in some cities.

The Local State in Austerity Governance

New Developments in Urban Governance

This chapter seeks to better understand how austerity governance has been experienced in the eigh... more This chapter seeks to better understand how austerity governance has been experienced in the eight cities, from the perspective of the local state. The chapter is divided into three parts. First, we consider literature on the local state and governance to frame contemporary changes in structure and function. Second, returning to the economic crisis of 2008 and the concerns about social solidarity and welfare measures arising from it, we consider local state responses and adaptations. Third, drawing from our case studies, we consider how local states adapt to and manage demands linked to austerity struggles.

Crisis and Austerity in Eight Cities: An Overview

New Developments in Urban Governance

Chapter 1 focuses on how the eight cities encountered, worked with and against austerity in the p... more Chapter 1 focuses on how the eight cities encountered, worked with and against austerity in the period after the GEC. It begins by providing a flavour of the histories and traditions which contribute to explaining how austerity was experienced and mediated. It then turns to a discussion of Athens, Baltimore, Dublin, Leicester and Montréal, where more-or-less harsh forms of forms of austerity were implemented in the decade after GEC. It then looks at the three cities which, in different ways, provide a contrast with the story of austerity. These are Barcelona, Melbourne and Nantes.

Afterword: From Austerity to COVID-19 and Beyond

New Developments in Urban Governance

Our research concluded some time before the outbreak of COVID-19, but we suggest that many of the... more Our research concluded some time before the outbreak of COVID-19, but we suggest that many of the insights drawn from it, about austerity and collaboration, will be useful in considering ways forward from the pandemic. In the first instance, it seems clear that austerity made COVID-19 an iniquitous disease, with cities and urban peripheries the heart of both contagion and suffering. The disease has unsurprisingly had a multitude of impacts on our cities, often linked to austerity. We therefore conclude further with Afterwords from the eight, including reflections on events since the end of the research, impacts of COVID-19 and possible signs that it might be possible to “build back better”.

Collaborative Governance After the Global Economic Crisis

New Developments in Urban Governance

From the basis of multiple definitions and mixed practices of collaborative governance, this chap... more From the basis of multiple definitions and mixed practices of collaborative governance, this chapter explores trends found through the comparative study of our eight cities, in the decade after the GEC. We aim to examine the impact of austerity on localised collaborative structures of policymaking. Specifically, the chapter elaborates three dimensions where interesting comparisons and contrasts were identified: in discourse, in agency and in the spaces utilised to facilitate alliance-building and joint working. Trends in discourse, agency, and spaces of collaboration after the GEC are linked to the historical events and traditions highlighted in the introductory chapter.

Austerity Governance, Political Resistance and Urban Transformation

New Developments in Urban Governance, 2022

This chapter critically assesses the forms of social and political resistance that emerged across... more This chapter critically assesses the forms of social and political resistance that emerged across the eight cities in our study. Building on themes introduced in chapters 1 and 2, it argues that cities serve as crucibles for a diverse set of political contestations, responses and initiatives, but they exhibit differential capacities to shape their environments. It draws particular attention to the shifting locus of resistance to austerity across communities and neighbourhoods. Our analysis and evaluation suggest that the future projection of cities as “spaces of hope” rests on the twin challenges of “scaling up” neighbourhood protests into broad and anti-systemic political projects, while reinvesting in the construction of progressive relations with the local state that open local spaces of manoeuvre to challenge national regimes of austerity.

A Critical Appraisal of the Greater Manchester Devolution Deal

There has never been a more urgent sense across the UK of how desperately we need to rebalance th... more There has never been a more urgent sense across the UK of how desperately we need to rebalance the regional economic differences that see wealth and decision-making so concentrated in the capital, and leave so many communities feeling left out of both entirely. The devolution agenda of recent years has been heavily promoted by its proponents as the key to tackling both economic imbalance and democratic deficits. Yet it has not, to date, represented the kind of fundamental paradigm shift in how we design economic strategy nationally as well as regionally, which would really transform the centralisation of our economy in a way that shifts wealth and prosperity substantially to the communities that feel so left behind.

UNDERSTANDING DEVOLUTION: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE GREATER MANCHESTER DEVOLUTION DEAL

New Economics Foundation, 2017

There has never been a more urgent sense across the UK of how desperately we need to rebalance th... more

El sistema político del Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte

Sistemas políticos en Europa, 2021, ISBN 978-84-1397-701-0, págs. 165-185, Sep 8, 2021

Embedding participatory governance

Critical Policy Studies, 2022

New Developments in Urban Governance

Understanding and Enhancing the Community Value of Traditional Retail Markets in UK Cities, 2018-2020

This dataset has been supplied by the project 'Understanding and Enhancing the Community Valu... more This dataset has been supplied by the project 'Understanding and Enhancing the Community Value of Traditional Retail Markets in UK cities' (Project Reference: ES/P010547/1) conducted by the University of Leeds, the Open University, the National Market Traders Federation, and the New Economics Foundation. The dataset contains interview transcripts, workshop notes, and focus group transcripts that are applicable for qualitative analysis, and survey data that is applicable for statistical analysis. The qualitative dataset includes transcripts of interviews, workshops, and focus groups about the community value of Traditional Retail Markets (TRM); the context and particularities of Bury Market, Grainger Market, and Queen's Market; and the market users' everyday life experiences of these three markets. The quantitative dataset includes the responses of Bury Market, Grainger Market, and Queen's Market users regarding the economic, social, and cultural value of these ma...

The urban governance of austerity in Europe

The Routledge Handbook of International Local Government, 2018

The 2008 financial crash and ensuing austerity have brought critical perspectives on political ec... more The 2008 financial crash and ensuing austerity have brought critical perspectives on political economy into academic debates in democratic theory and public administration. One important area of contention regards "collaborative" and "network" forms of governance. Advocates argue that these comprise an epochal shift that resolves many pitfalls of state and market oriented governance, a consensus that was especially popular during the 1990's and early 2000's. This chapter reports research carried out in five cities in Europe (Athens, Barcelona, Dublin, Leicester, Nantes) exploring the impact of austerity politics on the ideology and practice of collaborative governance-would it endure, or be unravelled by, post-crash exposure to austerity and distributional conflict? The chapter concludes that severe austerity erodes the foundations for strong collaborative governance. The inability to survive the return of distributional conflict leads us to conclude that collaborative governance is fully functional only in times of growth.

Handbook of Democratic Innovation and Governance

Participatory-deliberative processes and public policy agendas: lessons for policy and practice

Policy Design and Practice, 2018

Participatory and deliberative processes have proliferated over recent decades in public administ... more Participatory and deliberative processes have proliferated over recent decades in public administration. These seek to increase the effectiveness and democratic quality of policy making by involving citizens in policy. However, these have mainly operated at local levels of governance, and democratic theorists and practitioners have developed an ambition to scale these up in order to democratize higher tiers of government. This paper draws policy lessons from research on a "multi-level" process that held a similar ambition. The Sustainable Communities Act sought to integrate the results of various locally organized citizen deliberations within the policy development processes of central UK government. In doing so, it aimed to democratize central government problem definition and agenda-setting processes. The paper distinguishes between achievements and failures explained by process design, and more fundamental obstacles to do with broader contextual factors. As such, it identifies lessons for the amelioration of design features, while recognizing constraints that are often beyond the agency of local practitioners. The findings offer practical insights for policy workers and democratic reformers seeking to institutionalize participatory and deliberative innovations.

Scale and Policy Impact in Participatory-Deliberative Democracy: Lessons from a Multi-Level Process

Public Administration, 2017

This article addresses two interrelated critiques of participatory-deliberative democratic instit... more This article addresses two interrelated critiques of participatory-deliberative democratic institutions: that they are beset by problems of scale and that they achieve weak policy impact. This article tests these criticisms through the case of the UK Sustainable Communities Act (SCA), a multi-level process that is relatively strongly institutionalized. The evidence lends qualified support to these critiques. The article differentiates between contextual factors, related to the attempt to institutionalize participatory-deliberative processes within existing socioeconomic and political structures, and design factors to do with institutional and process design. The case of the SCA calls for caution about the claim that multi-level participatory-deliberative processes can overcome problems of scale and policy impact, but the question remains open. The article ends by suggesting that expectations of direct policy impact might be too high. Rather than determinants of policy, multi-level participatory-deliberative processes might function best as agenda-setters. INTRODUCTION 'Participatory-deliberative processes' (PDPs) aim to engage citizens in deliberative forms of participation, oriented towards influencing public policy-making (Smith 2009a; Hoppe 2010). Advocates argue that they can reduce the 'distance' between state and non-state actors by allowing citizens to explore preferences and influence policy through public participation and deliberation (Burgess and Chilvers 2006). They have been valued for their potential to increase the reflexivity and responsiveness of policy-making (Hoppe 2010), and to reduce social inequities by directly empowering citizens (Fung and Wright 2003; Johnson and Gastil 2015). However, PDPs have been criticized on the grounds of their poor scalability and low impact-especially when operating at high tiers of governance. Unlike direct democratic processes that aggregate millions of preferences through voting, PDPs are predicated on deliberative interactions between participants, and are often oriented towards consensus. For this reason they face problems of 'scalability', meaning that the impact that they can, both practically (Dahl 1989) and legitimately (Parkinson 2006), claim to have on policy-making decreases as scale increases. It is in no small part for this reason most PDPs are consultative, and exert a weak influence upon decisions (Goodin and Dryzek 2006), and those processes that are 'empowered' (Fung and Wright 2003; Johnson and Gastil 2015) tend to operate at the local scale. Even in more strongly institutionalized cases, claims of impact can be tenuous. Suspicions abound that public authorities tend to 'cherry pick' recommendations that cohere with decisions that are already made, and analysts have argued that elites might accept PDPs in order to preempt more contentious forms of political action (Hoppe 2011). This has led sympathetic critics to argue that PDPs are often limited to local issues of little strategic importance (Wainwright 2003), sceptics argue that they offer little more than 'therapeutic' (Chandler 2001) forms of participation that do little in way of engaging real power structures (Davies 2011, 2012).

Agenda Setting and Democratic Innovation: The Case of the Sustainable Communities Act (2007)

Politics, 2012

This article suggests that a common feature among democratic innovations is the lack of an agenda... more This article suggests that a common feature among democratic innovations is the lack of an agenda setting function. First, it argues that a lack of control over their own agendas opens democratic innovations to manipulation by elites. Second, it argues that democratic innovations focused on setting the policy agendas of public authorities can serve to democratise the policy process by providing citizens with a tool to place issues on the public agenda. The article analyses a series of actual and potential institutional designs that divert from the dominant ‘direct-democratic’ nature of agenda setting innovations. It finishes with a discussion of the UK Sustainable Communities Act (2007), a process designed to allow communities to propose policy to government through their councils.

Why is austeriy governable? A Gramscian urban regime analysis of Leicester, UK

by Mercè Cortina-Oriol and Adrian Bua

Journal of Urban Affairs, 2018

Austerity has been delivered in the UK without durably effective resistance. Read through a dialo... more Austerity has been delivered in the UK without durably effective resistance. Read through a dialogue between urban regime theory and Gramsci’s theory of the integral state, the article considers how austerity was normalized and made governable in the city of Leicester. It shows how Leicester navigated waves of crisis, restructuring, and austerity, positioning itself as a multicultural city of entrepreneurs. The article explores historical influences on the development of the local state, inscribed in the politics of austerity governance today. From a regime-theoretical standpoint, it shows how the local state accrued the governing resources to deliver austerity while disorganizing and containing resistance. Imbued with legacies of past struggles, this process of organized disorganization produced a functional hegemony articulated in the multiple subjectivities of “austerian realism.” The article elaborates six dimensions of Gramscian regime analysis to inform further research.

The Urban Governance of Austerity in Europe

by Adrian Bua and Mercè Cortina-Oriol

The 2008 financial crash and ensuing austerity have brought critical perspectives on political ec... more The 2008 financial crash and ensuing austerity have brought critical perspectives on political economy into academic debates in democratic theory and public administration. One important area of contention regards " collaborative " and " network " forms of governance. Advocates argue that these comprise an epochal shift that resolves many pitfalls of state and market oriented governance, a consensus that was especially popular during the 1990's and early 2000's. This chapter reports research carried out in five cities in Europe (Athens, Barcelona, Dublin, Leicester, Nantes) exploring the impact of austerity politics on the ideology and practice of collaborative governance – would it endure, or be unravelled by, post-crash exposure to austerity and distributional conflict? The chapter concludes that severe austerity erodes the foundations for strong collaborative governance. The inability to survive the return of distributional conflict leads us to conclude that collaborative governance is fully functional only in times of growth.

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