The approaches and opinions of economists often dominate public policy discussion. Economists have gained this privileged position partly (or perhaps mainly) because of the obvious relevance of their subject matter, but also because of the unified methodology (neo-classical economics) that the...

This book suggests that the scope and breadth of regulatory reforms since the mid-1980s and particularly during the 1990s, are so striking that they necessitate a reappraisal of current approaches to the study of the politics of regulation. The authors call for the adoption of different and...

After evaluating the stature of Duncan Black as one of the founders of the modern theoretical study of politics, we show how frustrated Black was by the lack of recognition accorded to his work, especially in the UK. This led to considerable difficulty in getting his work published. In...

The UK Government places ever-greater weight on performance assessment of local public bodies through comprehensive performance assessments (CPA). However, the CPA assessment framework has been criticised for its disregard of local factors that are beyond the control of local authorities but...

Policy makers have an interest in evaluating what government and taxpayers get for their money. In the United Kingdom, central government has developed elaborate oversight mechanisms involving a plethora of indicators, targets, and inspections to assess public sector performance across a wide...

Scottish devolution is an accomplished fact. It will not be reversed. Even the political agents who originally opposed it now benefit from its continuation. But will it remain unchanged? Is Scottish devolution a slippery slope towards independence, or a stable resting point? This article studies...

The distribution of UK revenue to the regional and territorial governments, administrations and authorities that spend the money is based on a hotchpotch of badly designed formulae. This is widely recognised. The Barnett formula, which allocates money to the devolved territories, has been...