What is localism, and what implications do different models have for managing the local economy?

This article considers what emerging localism might mean for managing local economies. It develops a simple framework to explore localism in the context of roles and relationships between the centre, local government and communities. It develops three models: ‘conditional localism’, ‘representative localism’ and ‘community localism’. It also identifies some basic characteristics that enable comparisons between each model to be made. Finally, it uses this framework to consider what implications the coalition government's localism rhetoric and legislation might have for management of the local economy.