Colin Copus
Biographic Data
| ID | 4128914 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Colin Copus |
| GIVEN NAMES | Colin |
| FAMILY NAME | Copus |
| SIGNATURE | COPUS C |
| AFFILIATIONS | De Montfort University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 182 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Politics in England
This chapter explores the nature of the politics of England by examining the asymmetrical British governing system and identifies the consequences for English politics and government of that asymmetry. It examines how the funding and provision of public services has been influenced by ‘austerity’ and the need to keep the United Kingdom intact. The chapter discusses the issues it raises to the ‘Brexit’ referendum result and explores what Brexit te…
Municipal Socialism
The entry explores how the term municipal socialism can be seen as somewhat of a misnomer and more generally refers to a period of social reform introduced through municipal government by those that were often far from socialist in their political views. The entry, using English local government as a context, examines two identifiable phases of what might be termed “municipal socialism”: the first, when early municipal reformers used local govern…
The Institute for Fiscal Studies Report: English Council Funding: What’s Happened and What’s Next
The article provides an overview of the main themes and findings of the report which examines the consequences of a sustained period of austerity for English local government and the impact of austerity on certain key council services. The article explores what the report has to say about the way councils have responded to reductions in government funding and the strategies they have developed to protect certain frontline services. The article re…
The Brexit referendum: Testing the support of elites and their allies for democracy; or, racists, bigots and xenophobes, oh my
In Defence of Councillors
Councillors’ perspectives on democratic legitimacy in English local government: Politics through provision
Much has been made of the dual-polity concept of local government. By comparison less has been made of conceptualising local government’s dual-purpose role. The political and service provision roles of local government tend to be kept separate for purposes of scholarly investigation. Local government is synonymous with service provision, but its governing role is often overlooked or downplayed by higher levels of government. Is local government a…
Are Independent Councillors Really Conservatives in Disguise
A feature of English local political folklore is the belief among national political parties, that Independent councillors are Conservatives in disguise. Yet, little evidence is given to support this idea because little is known about these councillors’ beliefs and assumptions or how they distinguish themselves from the party politics they eschew. In this article we address the question: Are all Independent councillors really Conservatives? The a…
Repoliticising and redemocratising local democracy and the public realm: Why We Need Councillors and Councils
There has been a gradual decline in the status of local government within the English governance framework as a result of central unwillingness to see it as either local or government. The centre has been aided in the depoliticising of local government by literature which minimises, ignores or seeks to remove any element of the political from local government. The paper reviews the process by which local government has been delocalised and depoli…
Parties in Local Government: A Review
‘Party decline’ and ‘crisis’ have been a long-standing observation of the state of party politics explaining: how parties have lost touch with their electorates, the concentration of power in a small elite disconnected from rank-and-file members and poor internal party democracy. In a local setting we can expect those indicators of decline to be magnified and in this article, we suggest some lessons which may be learned, for the concept of ‘party…
Whatever happened to local democracy
This article explores change in local democracy through analysis of the views of councillors in Britain. It is argued that within an overarching representative process, local democracy takes representative, participatory, market and network forms. Using data gathered by questionnaire and interview, the article analyses the views of councillors on these different forms. It finds that there are differences between councillors in their attitudes to …
Independent Politics: Why Seek to Serve and Survive as an Independent Councillor
While Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats continue to dominate local and national politics, recent decades have also seen non-mainstream politics make inroads into votes and seats in English local government. The paper explores Independent politics and politicians and examines the motivations that encourage those that are not members of the three main national political parties to stand for local elected office. Findings suggest that …
The Councillor: Governor, Governing, Governance and the Complexity of Citizen Engagement
Citizen participation in local government has the potential to augment local political efficacy, that is, the expectation among citizens of being able to wield effective political action. Locally, political efficacy is a product of the way councillors respond to citizen engagement and the attitudes they have to the means available to citizens to engage in politics and about what drives that engagement. Political efficacy is linked to councillors'…
Changing Municipalities in the Information age
English national parties in post-devolution UK
More Similar Than They'd Like to Admit? Ideology, Policy and Populism in the Trajectories of the British National Party and Respect
English Councillors and Mayoral Governance: Developing a New Dynamic for Political Accountability
Much has been written about the arrival of directly elected mayors into the English political landscape. The responses of the councillors serving on those councils to the arrival of elected mayors, has by comparison, been neglected. Yet, the construction, by councillors of a new role as the guarantor of local political accountability within mayoral councils, requires councillors to develop new patterns of political behaviour which challenge long‐…
Visions of Urban Reform: Comparing English and U.S. Strategies for Improving City Government
This article compares the logics and institutional consequences of urban government reform in the United States and in England. We focus on the politics of ideas, identifying four common visions of urban reform: efficient public interest management, improved representation, local political leadership, and metropolitan-wide governance. National pressure groups, locality effects, and the status of city charters and council constitutions are key fac…
Minor Party and Independent Politics beyond the Mainstream: Fluctuating Fortunes but a Permanent Presence
The three main political parties which dominate British politics, at all levels, face a continuing challenge from smaller political parties and independent candidates. Such alternatives to the main three parties, however, have been a long-standing feature of the political landscape at both national and local levels. Yet, little is known of the way in which smaller parties and independent politicians contribute to politics and government and the i…
Liberal Democrat Councillors: Community Politics, Local Campaigning and the Role of the Political Party
Liberal Democrats have long displayed the success of community politics since its adoption at the Liberal Party Assembly in 1970. Community politics, however, brings with it not only electoral success but an expectation amongst voters that Liberal Democrat councillors will act in certain ways as local representatives. The article presents the results of national research conducted amongst councillors of the three main parties, and compares the at…
British Local Government: A Case for a New Constitutional Settlement
As a creature of Statue, British local government is subject to constant change emanating from a superior constitutional source: central government. Much of the change that is imposed upon local government because of the need for governing institutions to respond to two competing sets of requirements: those that drive and are driven by either, technocracy or democracy. In all major reorganisations of local government, the attempts tofind a struct…
Scrutiny and the Political Party Group in UK Local Government: New Models of Behaviour
The introduction, via the Local Government Act 2000, of political executives held to account by influential overview and scrutiny committees challenges fundamentally the traditional operations of the party group system. This paper uses evidence from a variety of sources (including the experience of Parliamentary select committees) to explore how councillors are managing the tensions between party group loyalty and the expectation surrounding the …
Local Democratic Renewal: An Introduction
2004). Local Democratic Renewal: An Introduction. Local Government Studies: Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 459-466
Directly Elected Mayors: A Tonic for Local Governance or Old Wine in New Bottles
The introduction of directly elected mayors into the landscape of English local politics has the potential to change the dynamics of local political leadership and the relationship between citizens and local government. The paper explores whether the conditions exist locally for such potential to be realised. It focuses on the reaction to the mayoral experiment of both mayors and the councillors that sit on mayoral authorities, as it is the react…
Local government reform: Introducing a New Set of Political Dynamics
Re-Engaging Citizens and Councils: The Importance of the Councillor to Enhanced Citizen Involvement
This article results from a number of research projects exploring councillor attitudes towards citizen participation and the role of the party group in local democracy. It considers how the cornerstone of the local government modernisation agenda – reengaging citizens and communities with the councils that represent them – rests on councillors' responses to an increased participatory element in local representative democracy. Citizens wishing to …
Minor Party and Independent Politics beyond the Mainstream: Fluctuating Fortunes but a Permanent Presence
The three main political parties which dominate British politics, at all levels, face a continuing challenge from smaller political parties and independent candidates. Such alternatives to the main three parties, however, have been a long-standing feature of the political landscape at both national and local levels. Yet, little is known of the way in which smaller parties and independent politicians contribute to politics and government and the i…
Directly Elected Mayors: A Tonic for Local Governance or Old Wine in New Bottles
The introduction of directly elected mayors into the landscape of English local politics has the potential to change the dynamics of local political leadership and the relationship between citizens and local government. The paper explores whether the conditions exist locally for such potential to be realised. It focuses on the reaction to the mayoral experiment of both mayors and the councillors that sit on mayoral authorities, as it is the react…
Scrutiny and the Political Party Group in UK Local Government: New Models of Behaviour
The introduction, via the Local Government Act 2000, of political executives held to account by influential overview and scrutiny committees challenges fundamentally the traditional operations of the party group system. This paper uses evidence from a variety of sources (including the experience of Parliamentary select committees) to explore how councillors are managing the tensions between party group loyalty and the expectation surrounding the …
The political party group: Model standing orders and a disciplined approach to local representation
This paper considers how the three main political parties — and the two nationalist parties ‐ use model standing orders to bring cohesion and discipline to their council party groups. The paper explores how these models indicate the national party's expectations of the organisation and activities of the group and the relationship between the group and its members. It compares the key similarities and differences in the parties' approaches to regu…
Re-Engaging Citizens and Councils: The Importance of the Councillor to Enhanced Citizen Involvement
This article results from a number of research projects exploring councillor attitudes towards citizen participation and the role of the party group in local democracy. It considers how the cornerstone of the local government modernisation agenda – reengaging citizens and communities with the councils that represent them – rests on councillors' responses to an increased participatory element in local representative democracy. Citizens wishing to …
Whatever happened to local democracy
This article explores change in local democracy through analysis of the views of councillors in Britain. It is argued that within an overarching representative process, local democracy takes representative, participatory, market and network forms. Using data gathered by questionnaire and interview, the article analyses the views of councillors on these different forms. It finds that there are differences between councillors in their attitudes to …
The Councillor: Governor, Governing, Governance and the Complexity of Citizen Engagement
Citizen participation in local government has the potential to augment local political efficacy, that is, the expectation among citizens of being able to wield effective political action. Locally, political efficacy is a product of the way councillors respond to citizen engagement and the attitudes they have to the means available to citizens to engage in politics and about what drives that engagement. Political efficacy is linked to councillors'…
The Local Councillor and Party Group Loyalty
English The political party group, that coherent and disciplined body of councillors acting under the same political label within the council chamber, has long been an important influence within British local government. The party group brings form and substance to the activities of political colleagues; it is the private venue where councillors conduct representation, and make decisions, binding councillors in their public activities. This artic…
English Councillors and Mayoral Governance: Developing a New Dynamic for Political Accountability
Much has been written about the arrival of directly elected mayors into the English political landscape. The responses of the councillors serving on those councils to the arrival of elected mayors, has by comparison, been neglected. Yet, the construction, by councillors of a new role as the guarantor of local political accountability within mayoral councils, requires councillors to develop new patterns of political behaviour which challenge long‐…
British Local Government: A Case for a New Constitutional Settlement
As a creature of Statue, British local government is subject to constant change emanating from a superior constitutional source: central government. Much of the change that is imposed upon local government because of the need for governing institutions to respond to two competing sets of requirements: those that drive and are driven by either, technocracy or democracy. In all major reorganisations of local government, the attempts tofind a struct…
Are Independent Councillors Really Conservatives in Disguise
A feature of English local political folklore is the belief among national political parties, that Independent councillors are Conservatives in disguise. Yet, little evidence is given to support this idea because little is known about these councillors’ beliefs and assumptions or how they distinguish themselves from the party politics they eschew. In this article we address the question: Are all Independent councillors really Conservatives? The a…
The party group: A barrier to democratic renewal
Repoliticising and redemocratising local democracy and the public realm: Why We Need Councillors and Councils
There has been a gradual decline in the status of local government within the English governance framework as a result of central unwillingness to see it as either local or government. The centre has been aided in the depoliticising of local government by literature which minimises, ignores or seeks to remove any element of the political from local government. The paper reviews the process by which local government has been delocalised and depoli…
More Similar Than They'd Like to Admit? Ideology, Policy and Populism in the Trajectories of the British National Party and Respect
Local government reform: Introducing a New Set of Political Dynamics
Independent Politics: Why Seek to Serve and Survive as an Independent Councillor
While Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats continue to dominate local and national politics, recent decades have also seen non-mainstream politics make inroads into votes and seats in English local government. The paper explores Independent politics and politicians and examines the motivations that encourage those that are not members of the three main national political parties to stand for local elected office. Findings suggest that …
Visions of Urban Reform: Comparing English and U.S. Strategies for Improving City Government
This article compares the logics and institutional consequences of urban government reform in the United States and in England. We focus on the politics of ideas, identifying four common visions of urban reform: efficient public interest management, improved representation, local political leadership, and metropolitan-wide governance. National pressure groups, locality effects, and the status of city charters and council constitutions are key fac…
Liberal Democrat Councillors: Community Politics, Local Campaigning and the Role of the Political Party
Liberal Democrats have long displayed the success of community politics since its adoption at the Liberal Party Assembly in 1970. Community politics, however, brings with it not only electoral success but an expectation amongst voters that Liberal Democrat councillors will act in certain ways as local representatives. The article presents the results of national research conducted amongst councillors of the three main parties, and compares the at…
Local Democratic Renewal: An Introduction
2004). Local Democratic Renewal: An Introduction. Local Government Studies: Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 459-466
The Brexit referendum: Testing the support of elites and their allies for democracy; or, racists, bigots and xenophobes, oh my
The party group and modernising local democracy
Colin Copus examines how the political party group vitiates openness, transparency and accountability in local government decision‐making
The Local Councillor and Party Group Loyalty
English The political party group, that coherent and disciplined body of councillors acting under the same political label within the council chamber, has long been an important influence within British local government. The party group brings form and substance to the activities of political colleagues; it is the private venue where councillors conduct representation, and make decisions, binding councillors in their public activities. This artic…
The political party group: Model standing orders and a disciplined approach to local representation
This paper considers how the three main political parties — and the two nationalist parties ‐ use model standing orders to bring cohesion and discipline to their council party groups. The paper explores how these models indicate the national party's expectations of the organisation and activities of the group and the relationship between the group and its members. It compares the key similarities and differences in the parties' approaches to regu…
The party group: A barrier to democratic renewal
The attitudes of Councillors since Widdicombe: A Focus on Democratic Engagement
The Widdicombe committee's survey of councillors' attitudes towards democracy provided an assessment of how councillors interpret the processes of local representation and their position as representatives. Taking some of Widdicombe's research findings, this article compares it with the results of more recent research into councillors' attitudes. It explores how councillor's view the prospect of enhanced citizen participation in council affairs a…
Local government reform: Introducing a New Set of Political Dynamics
Re-Engaging Citizens and Councils: The Importance of the Councillor to Enhanced Citizen Involvement
This article results from a number of research projects exploring councillor attitudes towards citizen participation and the role of the party group in local democracy. It considers how the cornerstone of the local government modernisation agenda – reengaging citizens and communities with the councils that represent them – rests on councillors' responses to an increased participatory element in local representative democracy. Citizens wishing to …
Scrutiny and the Political Party Group in UK Local Government: New Models of Behaviour
The introduction, via the Local Government Act 2000, of political executives held to account by influential overview and scrutiny committees challenges fundamentally the traditional operations of the party group system. This paper uses evidence from a variety of sources (including the experience of Parliamentary select committees) to explore how councillors are managing the tensions between party group loyalty and the expectation surrounding the …
Local Democratic Renewal: An Introduction
2004). Local Democratic Renewal: An Introduction. Local Government Studies: Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 459-466
Directly Elected Mayors: A Tonic for Local Governance or Old Wine in New Bottles
The introduction of directly elected mayors into the landscape of English local politics has the potential to change the dynamics of local political leadership and the relationship between citizens and local government. The paper explores whether the conditions exist locally for such potential to be realised. It focuses on the reaction to the mayoral experiment of both mayors and the councillors that sit on mayoral authorities, as it is the react…
British Local Government: A Case for a New Constitutional Settlement
As a creature of Statue, British local government is subject to constant change emanating from a superior constitutional source: central government. Much of the change that is imposed upon local government because of the need for governing institutions to respond to two competing sets of requirements: those that drive and are driven by either, technocracy or democracy. In all major reorganisations of local government, the attempts tofind a struct…
Liberal Democrat Councillors: Community Politics, Local Campaigning and the Role of the Political Party
Liberal Democrats have long displayed the success of community politics since its adoption at the Liberal Party Assembly in 1970. Community politics, however, brings with it not only electoral success but an expectation amongst voters that Liberal Democrat councillors will act in certain ways as local representatives. The article presents the results of national research conducted amongst councillors of the three main parties, and compares the at…
More Similar Than They'd Like to Admit? Ideology, Policy and Populism in the Trajectories of the British National Party and Respect
English Councillors and Mayoral Governance: Developing a New Dynamic for Political Accountability
Much has been written about the arrival of directly elected mayors into the English political landscape. The responses of the councillors serving on those councils to the arrival of elected mayors, has by comparison, been neglected. Yet, the construction, by councillors of a new role as the guarantor of local political accountability within mayoral councils, requires councillors to develop new patterns of political behaviour which challenge long‐…
Visions of Urban Reform: Comparing English and U.S. Strategies for Improving City Government
This article compares the logics and institutional consequences of urban government reform in the United States and in England. We focus on the politics of ideas, identifying four common visions of urban reform: efficient public interest management, improved representation, local political leadership, and metropolitan-wide governance. National pressure groups, locality effects, and the status of city charters and council constitutions are key fac…
Minor Party and Independent Politics beyond the Mainstream: Fluctuating Fortunes but a Permanent Presence
The three main political parties which dominate British politics, at all levels, face a continuing challenge from smaller political parties and independent candidates. Such alternatives to the main three parties, however, have been a long-standing feature of the political landscape at both national and local levels. Yet, little is known of the way in which smaller parties and independent politicians contribute to politics and government and the i…
English national parties in post-devolution UK
The Councillor: Governor, Governing, Governance and the Complexity of Citizen Engagement
Citizen participation in local government has the potential to augment local political efficacy, that is, the expectation among citizens of being able to wield effective political action. Locally, political efficacy is a product of the way councillors respond to citizen engagement and the attitudes they have to the means available to citizens to engage in politics and about what drives that engagement. Political efficacy is linked to councillors'…
Changing Municipalities in the Information age
Independent Politics: Why Seek to Serve and Survive as an Independent Councillor
While Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats continue to dominate local and national politics, recent decades have also seen non-mainstream politics make inroads into votes and seats in English local government. The paper explores Independent politics and politicians and examines the motivations that encourage those that are not members of the three main national political parties to stand for local elected office. Findings suggest that …
Parties in Local Government: A Review
‘Party decline’ and ‘crisis’ have been a long-standing observation of the state of party politics explaining: how parties have lost touch with their electorates, the concentration of power in a small elite disconnected from rank-and-file members and poor internal party democracy. In a local setting we can expect those indicators of decline to be magnified and in this article, we suggest some lessons which may be learned, for the concept of ‘party…
Whatever happened to local democracy
This article explores change in local democracy through analysis of the views of councillors in Britain. It is argued that within an overarching representative process, local democracy takes representative, participatory, market and network forms. Using data gathered by questionnaire and interview, the article analyses the views of councillors on these different forms. It finds that there are differences between councillors in their attitudes to …
Repoliticising and redemocratising local democracy and the public realm: Why We Need Councillors and Councils
There has been a gradual decline in the status of local government within the English governance framework as a result of central unwillingness to see it as either local or government. The centre has been aided in the depoliticising of local government by literature which minimises, ignores or seeks to remove any element of the political from local government. The paper reviews the process by which local government has been delocalised and depoli…
Councillors’ perspectives on democratic legitimacy in English local government: Politics through provision
Much has been made of the dual-polity concept of local government. By comparison less has been made of conceptualising local government’s dual-purpose role. The political and service provision roles of local government tend to be kept separate for purposes of scholarly investigation. Local government is synonymous with service provision, but its governing role is often overlooked or downplayed by higher levels of government. Is local government a…
Are Independent Councillors Really Conservatives in Disguise
A feature of English local political folklore is the belief among national political parties, that Independent councillors are Conservatives in disguise. Yet, little evidence is given to support this idea because little is known about these councillors’ beliefs and assumptions or how they distinguish themselves from the party politics they eschew. In this article we address the question: Are all Independent councillors really Conservatives? The a…
Political science (29 works) · Law (28 works) · Politics (28 works) · Public Administration (26 works) · Sociology (22 works) · Law (21 works) · Public Administration (20 works) · Local government (17 works) · Political economy (17 works) · Democracy (14 works)