Sarah Ayre
Biographic Data
| ID | 4128528 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sarah Ayre |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sarah |
| FAMILY NAME | Ayre |
| SIGNATURE | AYRE S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Bristol |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5791-6955 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 35 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 237 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 35 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Prioritising public health in mission-oriented industrial strategy
The aim of this article is to identify the opportunities to prioritise public health in industrial strategy. The resurgence of industrial policy has prompted calls for a sector-specific, people-focused, place-based and mission-oriented approach. Absent from the literature is its role in improving public health. We use the UK as a case study to explore policy opportunities and implementation considerations for a ‘healthy industrial strategy’. Thro…
How to improve collaboration across government departments to achieve healthy urban environments
Insufficient cross-departmental collaboration within Government is a major barrier to prioritising health in urban development. This article explores practical ways to improve collaboration to achieve healthier urban environments. The findings are drawn from a knowledge exchange workshop attended by 79 key decision makers. Data was analysed using Rapid Qualitative Analysis. Five avenues for change were identified: (1) upscaling existing collabora…
Beyond blunders: British political studies and successful public policy
British political studies has traditionally focused on the analysis of policy failures. This is reflected in a vast literature on catastrophes and crises which has uncovered a range of specific and systemic factors to explain failure. The central argument of this article is that this intense disciplinary negativity-bias risks creating an intellectual form of path dependency in which examples of successful public policy are rarely acknowledged, le…
A Chequered History but Positive Future for British Public Administration
Public services, public servants, and the study of Public Administration are operating in a context of global turbulence. Our review of the state of the discipline suggests that a core strength of British Public Administration has been the complementarity between scholarship and practice, responding to existential threats. We analyze changing relationships between the discipline and practice in British public administration over three eras: Appli…
How democratically elected mayors can achieve mission-oriented policies in turbulent times
The aim of this article is to explore how democratically elected mayors can achieve mission-oriented policies in turbulent times. Drawing on 132 interviews with decision makers in England, this article uses the case of healthy urban development to explore the role of elected mayors in mission delivery. Findings show that mayors can be figureheads for a place, work directly towards national missions, implement cross-cutting programmes, convene par…
Are we any closer to tackling health inequalities in England
The aim of this article is to examine the recent progress made by Government to improve public health and address health inequality. Elected in July 2024, the Labour government has promised to deliver a transition from reactive to preventative health policy and tackle social and geographic disparities in public health. However, this government pledge is not new and recent progress has been limited. This article examines progress in an area of pol…
Power with Purpose? Further Reflections on Strengthening the Centre of Government
On 10 March 2024 the Commission on the Centre of Government published its final report: Power with Purpose . The aim of the commission had been to explore why Number Ten, the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury do not always work as well as they should and to explore what could be done to improve the centre of government radically. Perennial concerns about the existence of a ‘hollow crown’ at the centre of British government were, the final report rec…
The state of British policymaking: How can UK government become more effective
How can UK and devolved governments be more effective when addressing chronic problems like inequalities or crises like climate change? The dominant story is of pessimism: policymaking is bound to a Westminster tradition of short-termism, elitism, and centralization, and reform efforts are doomed to failure. We present a more cautiously optimistic account about the prospects for a more effective government, grounded in theory-informed lessons fro…
What needs to happen to ‘level up’ public health
The aim of this article is to examine what needs to happen in central, sub-regional and local government to 'level up' public health in the United Kingdom (UK). The Government's recent Levelling Up White Paper outlined ambitious targets for reducing regional disparities, including a 'mission' to tackle inequalities in healthy life expectancy and reduce inequalities in the social determinants of health outcomes. However, the approach has been crit…
Operationalising a large research programme tackling complex urban and planetary health problems: A case study approach to critical reflection
Addressing increasingly urgent global challenges requires the rapid mobilisation of new research groups that are large in scale, co-produced and focussed explicitly on investigating root causes at a systemic level. This requires new ways of operationalising and funding research programmes to better support effective interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary (ID/TD) partnerships between a wide range of academic disciplines and stakeholder groups. Un…
Understanding how to create healthier places: A qualitative study exploring the complex system of urban development decision-making
Tackling complex system challenges like creating healthy environments requires understanding priorities and structures affecting multiple actors. This qualitative study, involving 132 multi-sectoral stakeholders spanning the urban development decision-making system, explores how to influence healthier place-making. Using thematic analysis we develop themes around competing stakeholder priorities; structural 'rules' and influential relationships; …
What types of health evidence persuade policy actors in a complex system
The aim of this article is to explore the types of health evidence that diverse actors find most persuasive in a complex policy system. The impact of evidence depends on many factors, including how it is presented and translated to audiences. If diverse actors are to address complex health challenges collectively, it helps if they can draw on evidence that is accessible and meaningful to all. We explore how this can be done through a case study o…
Balancing Autonomy and Collaboration in Large-Scale and Disciplinary Diverse Teams for Successful Qualitative Research
Large scale, multi-organisational collaborations between researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds are increasingly recognised as important to investigate and tackle complex real-world problems. However differing expectations, epistemologies, and preferences across these teams pose challenges to following best practice for ensuring high-quality and rigorous qualitative research, while maintaining goodwill and team cohesion across team mem…
A decentred assessment of the impact of ‘informal governance’ on democratic legitimacy
The aim of this article is to examine the impact of informal governance on democratic legitimacy. It draws on the literatures on informal governance and decentred theory to examine how governance mechanisms that are un-written, un-codified and non-institutional impact on democratic legitimacy in governance networks. Drawing on a case study of English devolution in the United Kingdom, this article explores how informal governance impacts on differ…
Towards research impact: Using Place-Based Policy to Develop New Research Methods for Bridging the Academic/Policy Divide
There is increasing pressure on academics to show the impact of their research. At the same time, policy-makers are expected to draw upon a wide base of evidence, including academic research, to develop innovative solutions to often intractable societal problems. Despite these complementary objectives of impact and use of evidence, the relationship between academics and policy-makers is often difficult. Some have characterized these groups as ‘tw…
Place leadership and regional economic development: A framework for cross-regional analysis
This paper examines the leadership of places – cities, regions, communities – in Australia, Finland, Germany, Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom and explores the capacity of vignettes to generate new, theoretical and empirical insights. It uses vignettes to identify the features of place leadership evident in 12 case studies across six nations. The research finds significant commonalities in place leadership with respect to the impor…
How can network leaders promote public value through soft metagovernance
The aim of this article is to explore the opportunities and challenges of employing ‘soft’ metagovernance to promote public value in governance networks. Soft metagovernance can be defined as a form of relational leadership that is exercised through face‐to‐face contact. This involves making an emotional connection with people to exert influence through a collaborative endeavour, rather than employing bureaucratic authority. Drawing on a case stu…
Policy-making ‘front’ and ‘back’ stage: Assessing the implications for effectiveness and democracy
The aim of this article is to examine the complex interrelationship between ‘front’ and ‘back’ stage policy-making. ‘Front stage’ describes the activities of visible and accountable office holders in elected bodies, constrained by established bureaucratic rules. ‘Back stage’ describes the world of unseen decision-making where public officials are less constrained by formal rules and public scrutiny. Drawing on a recent case study of English devol…
Territory, power and statecraft: Understanding English devolution
In recent decades, the devolution of power to subnational regional authorities has formed a key element of what has been termed the ‘unravelling’ or ‘unbundling’ of the state in many parts of the world. Even in the United Kingdom, with its distinctive global reputation as a power-hoarding majoritarian democracy, the devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland since 1998 can be located within this broader devolutionary dynamic. In…
Place-based leadership: Reflections on Scale, Agency and Theory
This article draws on the concepts of scale, agency and theory to offer some reflections on the leadership of regions, cities and communities. It builds upon the work of A. Beer and T. Clower ([Citation2013]. Mobilizing leadership in cities and regions, Regional Studies, Regional Science, forthcoming) who call for a more focussed and theoretically informed enquiry on place-based leadership. First, it argues that scale matters in the leadership of…
Years of Policy & Politics: Critical Reflections and Strategies for the Future
1972 and since then has been one of the leading international journals in the field of public and social policy.In that time the nature of policy and politics has undoubtedly witnessed significant transformations.Recent changes have included the increasing importance of global governance, a reframing of the state in delivering public services, the global economic downturn and associated austerity measures.This has been combined with rising public…
Reflections on contemporary debates in policy studies
This article offers reflections on contemporary debates in policy studies. It starts by mapping the contours of the terrain covered by Policy & Politics over the last 40 years. It does so under four headings: (1) theorising policy (2) evidence and the policy process (3) transforming structures and processes and (4) implementation and practice. It then uses these headings to draw out themes from the articles comprising this 40th anniversary specia…
Throwing the Baby Out With the Bath Water? The Impact of Coalition Reforms on Identifying Sub-National Transport Priorities in England
The coalition government has set out plans to dismantle the regional tier and return powers to localities and Whitehall departments. These changes will have significant implications for the way in which transport policy is formulated and delivered in England. When in power, New Labour introduced a range of measures to strengthen governance arrangements for promoting a more joined-up and decentralised approach to transport policy, including Region…
Back to the Local? Recalibrating the Regional Tier of Governance in England
By contrast to the far-reaching devolution settlements elsewhere in the UK, political agreement on the governance of England outside London remains unsettled. There is cross party consensus on the need to ‘decentre down’ authority to regions and localities, but limited agreement on how this should be achieved. This paper explores the welter of initiatives adopted by the recent Labour Government that were ostensibly designed to make the meso level…
Managing Complexity and Uncertainty in Regional Governance Networks: A Critical Analysis of State Rescaling in England
Ayres S. and Stafford I. Managing complexity and uncertainty in regional governance networks: a critical analysis of state rescaling in England, Regional Studies. Network management is viewed as a way of dealing with uncertainty in complex policy networks, but little is known about the types of network management strategies employed by regional actors to manage vertical and horizontal relations. Two central questions guide this paper. What networ…
Territory, power and statecraft: Understanding English devolution
In recent decades, the devolution of power to subnational regional authorities has formed a key element of what has been termed the ‘unravelling’ or ‘unbundling’ of the state in many parts of the world. Even in the United Kingdom, with its distinctive global reputation as a power-hoarding majoritarian democracy, the devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland since 1998 can be located within this broader devolutionary dynamic. In…
Place leadership and regional economic development: A framework for cross-regional analysis
This paper examines the leadership of places – cities, regions, communities – in Australia, Finland, Germany, Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom and explores the capacity of vignettes to generate new, theoretical and empirical insights. It uses vignettes to identify the features of place leadership evident in 12 case studies across six nations. The research finds significant commonalities in place leadership with respect to the impor…
How can network leaders promote public value through soft metagovernance
The aim of this article is to explore the opportunities and challenges of employing ‘soft’ metagovernance to promote public value in governance networks. Soft metagovernance can be defined as a form of relational leadership that is exercised through face‐to‐face contact. This involves making an emotional connection with people to exert influence through a collaborative endeavour, rather than employing bureaucratic authority. Drawing on a case stu…
The state of British policymaking: How can UK government become more effective
How can UK and devolved governments be more effective when addressing chronic problems like inequalities or crises like climate change? The dominant story is of pessimism: policymaking is bound to a Westminster tradition of short-termism, elitism, and centralization, and reform efforts are doomed to failure. We present a more cautiously optimistic account about the prospects for a more effective government, grounded in theory-informed lessons fro…
Policy-making ‘front’ and ‘back’ stage: Assessing the implications for effectiveness and democracy
The aim of this article is to examine the complex interrelationship between ‘front’ and ‘back’ stage policy-making. ‘Front stage’ describes the activities of visible and accountable office holders in elected bodies, constrained by established bureaucratic rules. ‘Back stage’ describes the world of unseen decision-making where public officials are less constrained by formal rules and public scrutiny. Drawing on a recent case study of English devol…
Place-based leadership: Reflections on Scale, Agency and Theory
This article draws on the concepts of scale, agency and theory to offer some reflections on the leadership of regions, cities and communities. It builds upon the work of A. Beer and T. Clower ([Citation2013]. Mobilizing leadership in cities and regions, Regional Studies, Regional Science, forthcoming) who call for a more focussed and theoretically informed enquiry on place-based leadership. First, it argues that scale matters in the leadership of…
Balancing Autonomy and Collaboration in Large-Scale and Disciplinary Diverse Teams for Successful Qualitative Research
Large scale, multi-organisational collaborations between researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds are increasingly recognised as important to investigate and tackle complex real-world problems. However differing expectations, epistemologies, and preferences across these teams pose challenges to following best practice for ensuring high-quality and rigorous qualitative research, while maintaining goodwill and team cohesion across team mem…
Managing Complexity and Uncertainty in Regional Governance Networks: A Critical Analysis of State Rescaling in England
Ayres S. and Stafford I. Managing complexity and uncertainty in regional governance networks: a critical analysis of state rescaling in England, Regional Studies. Network management is viewed as a way of dealing with uncertainty in complex policy networks, but little is known about the types of network management strategies employed by regional actors to manage vertical and horizontal relations. Two central questions guide this paper. What networ…
Regional Governance in England: A Changing Role for the Government’s Regional Offices
Debates about the appropriate territorial scales of government to meet the challenges of economic, political and social change have gained momentum in Western Europe in recent years. In the UK, political mobilization has transformed constitutional arrangements in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. By contrast, in the English regions, a less radical approach has been adopted, but the outcome has been a strengthening of the institutions of regio…
Back to the Local? Recalibrating the Regional Tier of Governance in England
By contrast to the far-reaching devolution settlements elsewhere in the UK, political agreement on the governance of England outside London remains unsettled. There is cross party consensus on the need to ‘decentre down’ authority to regions and localities, but limited agreement on how this should be achieved. This paper explores the welter of initiatives adopted by the recent Labour Government that were ostensibly designed to make the meso level…
What types of health evidence persuade policy actors in a complex system
The aim of this article is to explore the types of health evidence that diverse actors find most persuasive in a complex policy system. The impact of evidence depends on many factors, including how it is presented and translated to audiences. If diverse actors are to address complex health challenges collectively, it helps if they can draw on evidence that is accessible and meaningful to all. We explore how this can be done through a case study o…
Reflections on contemporary debates in policy studies
This article offers reflections on contemporary debates in policy studies. It starts by mapping the contours of the terrain covered by Policy & Politics over the last 40 years. It does so under four headings: (1) theorising policy (2) evidence and the policy process (3) transforming structures and processes and (4) implementation and practice. It then uses these headings to draw out themes from the articles comprising this 40th anniversary specia…
Power with Purpose? Further Reflections on Strengthening the Centre of Government
On 10 March 2024 the Commission on the Centre of Government published its final report: Power with Purpose . The aim of the commission had been to explore why Number Ten, the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury do not always work as well as they should and to explore what could be done to improve the centre of government radically. Perennial concerns about the existence of a ‘hollow crown’ at the centre of British government were, the final report rec…
What needs to happen to ‘level up’ public health
The aim of this article is to examine what needs to happen in central, sub-regional and local government to 'level up' public health in the United Kingdom (UK). The Government's recent Levelling Up White Paper outlined ambitious targets for reducing regional disparities, including a 'mission' to tackle inequalities in healthy life expectancy and reduce inequalities in the social determinants of health outcomes. However, the approach has been crit…
Governance in the English Regions: The Role of the Regional Development Agencies
In the absence of regional government, New Labour has pursued a process of administrative decentralisation in the English regions outside London, including the appointment of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), charged with stimulating economic modernisation and assisting in reducing regional economic disparities. They have acquired a key position as strategic power-brokers situated between the agendas of Whitehall and the demands of sub-nation…
Emerging Patterns of Governance in the English Regions: The Role of Regional Assemblies
Pearce G. and Ayres S. (2007) Emerging patterns of governance in the English regions: the role of Regional Assemblies, Regional Studies 41, 699–712. The case for elected English regional government outside London has lost momentum, but the machinery of regional governance continues to expand. This paper explores the significance of this process through an examination of the evolution of Regional Assemblies. Each has progressed differently, but al…
How democratically elected mayors can achieve mission-oriented policies in turbulent times
The aim of this article is to explore how democratically elected mayors can achieve mission-oriented policies in turbulent times. Drawing on 132 interviews with decision makers in England, this article uses the case of healthy urban development to explore the role of elected mayors in mission delivery. Findings show that mayors can be figureheads for a place, work directly towards national missions, implement cross-cutting programmes, convene par…
Building regional governance in England: The view from Whitehall
English Constitutional arrangements in parts of the UK have been transformed by political devolution. In England, however, reliance has been placed on strengthening the regional tier through administrative decentralisation. Drawing on the views of Whitehall civil servants, this article explores how central–regional relations are being recalibrated and how government is building a regional perspective into its activities. We conclude that, in the …
A Chequered History but Positive Future for British Public Administration
Public services, public servants, and the study of Public Administration are operating in a context of global turbulence. Our review of the state of the discipline suggests that a core strength of British Public Administration has been the complementarity between scholarship and practice, responding to existential threats. We analyze changing relationships between the discipline and practice in British public administration over three eras: Appli…
Operationalising a large research programme tackling complex urban and planetary health problems: A case study approach to critical reflection
Addressing increasingly urgent global challenges requires the rapid mobilisation of new research groups that are large in scale, co-produced and focussed explicitly on investigating root causes at a systemic level. This requires new ways of operationalising and funding research programmes to better support effective interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary (ID/TD) partnerships between a wide range of academic disciplines and stakeholder groups. Un…
Understanding how to create healthier places: A qualitative study exploring the complex system of urban development decision-making
Tackling complex system challenges like creating healthy environments requires understanding priorities and structures affecting multiple actors. This qualitative study, involving 132 multi-sectoral stakeholders spanning the urban development decision-making system, explores how to influence healthier place-making. Using thematic analysis we develop themes around competing stakeholder priorities; structural 'rules' and influential relationships; …
Decentralisation and devolution to the English regions: Assessing the implications for rural policy and delivery
Central government responses to governance change in the English regions
The consequence of recent devolution is that territories in the UK are now governed in different ways. Elected government has yet to be extended to the English regions but they, too, have experienced institutional change in the form of administrative decentralization. Regional governance should provide the opportunity for increased co-ordination of regional strategies but it is frustrated by lack of policy co-ordination within central government.…
Are we any closer to tackling health inequalities in England
The aim of this article is to examine the recent progress made by Government to improve public health and address health inequality. Elected in July 2024, the Labour government has promised to deliver a transition from reactive to preventative health policy and tackle social and geographic disparities in public health. However, this government pledge is not new and recent progress has been limited. This article examines progress in an area of pol…
Towards research impact: Using Place-Based Policy to Develop New Research Methods for Bridging the Academic/Policy Divide
There is increasing pressure on academics to show the impact of their research. At the same time, policy-makers are expected to draw upon a wide base of evidence, including academic research, to develop innovative solutions to often intractable societal problems. Despite these complementary objectives of impact and use of evidence, the relationship between academics and policy-makers is often difficult. Some have characterized these groups as ‘tw…
Central government responses to governance change in the English regions
The consequence of recent devolution is that territories in the UK are now governed in different ways. Elected government has yet to be extended to the English regions but they, too, have experienced institutional change in the form of administrative decentralization. Regional governance should provide the opportunity for increased co-ordination of regional strategies but it is frustrated by lack of policy co-ordination within central government.…
Decentralisation and devolution to the English regions: Assessing the implications for rural policy and delivery
Building regional governance in England: The view from Whitehall
English Constitutional arrangements in parts of the UK have been transformed by political devolution. In England, however, reliance has been placed on strengthening the regional tier through administrative decentralisation. Drawing on the views of Whitehall civil servants, this article explores how central–regional relations are being recalibrated and how government is building a regional perspective into its activities. We conclude that, in the …
Emerging Patterns of Governance in the English Regions: The Role of Regional Assemblies
Pearce G. and Ayres S. (2007) Emerging patterns of governance in the English regions: the role of Regional Assemblies, Regional Studies 41, 699–712. The case for elected English regional government outside London has lost momentum, but the machinery of regional governance continues to expand. This paper explores the significance of this process through an examination of the evolution of Regional Assemblies. Each has progressed differently, but al…
The New Governance of the English Regions ‐ by Mark Sandford
Regional Governance in England: A Changing Role for the Government’s Regional Offices
Debates about the appropriate territorial scales of government to meet the challenges of economic, political and social change have gained momentum in Western Europe in recent years. In the UK, political mobilization has transformed constitutional arrangements in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. By contrast, in the English regions, a less radical approach has been adopted, but the outcome has been a strengthening of the institutions of regio…
Transforming regional governance in Europe
Governance in the English Regions: The Role of the Regional Development Agencies
In the absence of regional government, New Labour has pursued a process of administrative decentralisation in the English regions outside London, including the appointment of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), charged with stimulating economic modernisation and assisting in reducing regional economic disparities. They have acquired a key position as strategic power-brokers situated between the agendas of Whitehall and the demands of sub-nation…
Back to the Local? Recalibrating the Regional Tier of Governance in England
By contrast to the far-reaching devolution settlements elsewhere in the UK, political agreement on the governance of England outside London remains unsettled. There is cross party consensus on the need to ‘decentre down’ authority to regions and localities, but limited agreement on how this should be achieved. This paper explores the welter of initiatives adopted by the recent Labour Government that were ostensibly designed to make the meso level…
Managing Complexity and Uncertainty in Regional Governance Networks: A Critical Analysis of State Rescaling in England
Ayres S. and Stafford I. Managing complexity and uncertainty in regional governance networks: a critical analysis of state rescaling in England, Regional Studies. Network management is viewed as a way of dealing with uncertainty in complex policy networks, but little is known about the types of network management strategies employed by regional actors to manage vertical and horizontal relations. Two central questions guide this paper. What networ…
Policy & Politics 40th anniversary
Promoting decentralized and flexible budgets in England: Lessons from the past and future prospects
The UK has traditionally been viewed as a classic example of a unitary state in which central institutions dominate decision making. The recent Labour Government sought to counter this convention through devolution to Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and London and administrative decentralization to the English regions. This article examines New Labour’s efforts to promote sub-national policy discretion and fiscal autonomy via the Regional Fundi…
Place-based leadership: Reflections on Scale, Agency and Theory
This article draws on the concepts of scale, agency and theory to offer some reflections on the leadership of regions, cities and communities. It builds upon the work of A. Beer and T. Clower ([Citation2013]. Mobilizing leadership in cities and regions, Regional Studies, Regional Science, forthcoming) who call for a more focussed and theoretically informed enquiry on place-based leadership. First, it argues that scale matters in the leadership of…
Years of Policy & Politics: Critical Reflections and Strategies for the Future
1972 and since then has been one of the leading international journals in the field of public and social policy.In that time the nature of policy and politics has undoubtedly witnessed significant transformations.Recent changes have included the increasing importance of global governance, a reframing of the state in delivering public services, the global economic downturn and associated austerity measures.This has been combined with rising public…
Reflections on contemporary debates in policy studies
This article offers reflections on contemporary debates in policy studies. It starts by mapping the contours of the terrain covered by Policy & Politics over the last 40 years. It does so under four headings: (1) theorising policy (2) evidence and the policy process (3) transforming structures and processes and (4) implementation and practice. It then uses these headings to draw out themes from the articles comprising this 40th anniversary specia…
Throwing the Baby Out With the Bath Water? The Impact of Coalition Reforms on Identifying Sub-National Transport Priorities in England
The coalition government has set out plans to dismantle the regional tier and return powers to localities and Whitehall departments. These changes will have significant implications for the way in which transport policy is formulated and delivered in England. When in power, New Labour introduced a range of measures to strengthen governance arrangements for promoting a more joined-up and decentralised approach to transport policy, including Region…
Policy-making ‘front’ and ‘back’ stage: Assessing the implications for effectiveness and democracy
The aim of this article is to examine the complex interrelationship between ‘front’ and ‘back’ stage policy-making. ‘Front stage’ describes the activities of visible and accountable office holders in elected bodies, constrained by established bureaucratic rules. ‘Back stage’ describes the world of unseen decision-making where public officials are less constrained by formal rules and public scrutiny. Drawing on a recent case study of English devol…
Territory, power and statecraft: Understanding English devolution
In recent decades, the devolution of power to subnational regional authorities has formed a key element of what has been termed the ‘unravelling’ or ‘unbundling’ of the state in many parts of the world. Even in the United Kingdom, with its distinctive global reputation as a power-hoarding majoritarian democracy, the devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland since 1998 can be located within this broader devolutionary dynamic. In…
Place leadership and regional economic development: A framework for cross-regional analysis
This paper examines the leadership of places – cities, regions, communities – in Australia, Finland, Germany, Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom and explores the capacity of vignettes to generate new, theoretical and empirical insights. It uses vignettes to identify the features of place leadership evident in 12 case studies across six nations. The research finds significant commonalities in place leadership with respect to the impor…
How can network leaders promote public value through soft metagovernance
The aim of this article is to explore the opportunities and challenges of employing ‘soft’ metagovernance to promote public value in governance networks. Soft metagovernance can be defined as a form of relational leadership that is exercised through face‐to‐face contact. This involves making an emotional connection with people to exert influence through a collaborative endeavour, rather than employing bureaucratic authority. Drawing on a case stu…
Towards research impact: Using Place-Based Policy to Develop New Research Methods for Bridging the Academic/Policy Divide
There is increasing pressure on academics to show the impact of their research. At the same time, policy-makers are expected to draw upon a wide base of evidence, including academic research, to develop innovative solutions to often intractable societal problems. Despite these complementary objectives of impact and use of evidence, the relationship between academics and policy-makers is often difficult. Some have characterized these groups as ‘tw…
A decentred assessment of the impact of ‘informal governance’ on democratic legitimacy
The aim of this article is to examine the impact of informal governance on democratic legitimacy. It draws on the literatures on informal governance and decentred theory to examine how governance mechanisms that are un-written, un-codified and non-institutional impact on democratic legitimacy in governance networks. Drawing on a case study of English devolution in the United Kingdom, this article explores how informal governance impacts on differ…
What needs to happen to ‘level up’ public health
The aim of this article is to examine what needs to happen in central, sub-regional and local government to 'level up' public health in the United Kingdom (UK). The Government's recent Levelling Up White Paper outlined ambitious targets for reducing regional disparities, including a 'mission' to tackle inequalities in healthy life expectancy and reduce inequalities in the social determinants of health outcomes. However, the approach has been crit…
Operationalising a large research programme tackling complex urban and planetary health problems: A case study approach to critical reflection
Addressing increasingly urgent global challenges requires the rapid mobilisation of new research groups that are large in scale, co-produced and focussed explicitly on investigating root causes at a systemic level. This requires new ways of operationalising and funding research programmes to better support effective interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary (ID/TD) partnerships between a wide range of academic disciplines and stakeholder groups. Un…
Understanding how to create healthier places: A qualitative study exploring the complex system of urban development decision-making
Tackling complex system challenges like creating healthy environments requires understanding priorities and structures affecting multiple actors. This qualitative study, involving 132 multi-sectoral stakeholders spanning the urban development decision-making system, explores how to influence healthier place-making. Using thematic analysis we develop themes around competing stakeholder priorities; structural 'rules' and influential relationships; …
Political science (30 works) · Sociology (26 works) · Public Administration (21 works) · Economics (19 works) · Public Administration (19 works) · Corporate governance (15 works) · Law (15 works) · Politics (14 works) · Law (13 works) · Management (13 works)