Operating Codes in the Emerging System of Local Governance: From ‘Top-Down State’ to ‘Disciplined Pluralism’?

By focusing on the intentional interventions of recent governments, many accounts of UK local governance have under-estimated the significance of evolutionary local institutional change. This article corrects that imbalance. Following an exploration of ideas associated with the ‘adaptive state’, the article considers the relevance of the concept of ‘disciplined pluralism’ to an appropriate rebalancing of the legitimate interests of the different stakeholders in local public services. The author also examines the fundamental issue of the desirable future operating code for managing local institutional innovation.