The 'British Policy Style' and Mental Health
Beyond the Headlines
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2115107 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Paul Cairney (0000-0002-9956-832X, University of Aberdeen, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 671-688 |
| Publication date | 2009-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Social Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-2794 • E-ISSN: 1469-7823 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0047279409003249 |
| OpenAlex | W2156848659 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 18 |
| References cited | 26 |
Recent Mental Health Acts provide evidence of diverging UK and Scottish government policy styles. The UK legislative process lasted almost ten years following attempts by ministers to impose decisions and an unprecedented level of sustained opposition from interest groups. In contrast, the consultation process in Scotland was consensual, producing high levels of stakeholder 'ownership'. This article considers two narratives on the generalisability of this experience. The first suggests that it confirms a 'majoritarian' British policy style, based on the centralisation of power afforded by a first-past-the-post electoral system (Lijphart, 1999). Diverging styles are likely because widespread hopes for consensus politics in the devolved territories have been underpinned by proportional representation. The second suggests that most policy-making is consensual, based on the diffusion of power across policy sectors and the 'logic of consultation' between governments and interest groups (Jordan and Richardson, 1982). The legislative process deviated temporarily from the 'normal' British policy style which is more apparent when we consider mental health policy as a whole. Overall, the evidence points to more than one picture of British styles; it suggests that broad conclusions on 'majoritarian' systems must be qualified by detailed empirical investigation
Centralisation · Government (linguistics) · Legislation · Legislature · Mental health · Narrative · Opposition (politics) · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Sociology · Style (visual arts) · History · Law · Policy Transfer and Learning · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Psychology · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies
Evidence-based best practice is more political than it looks
The ‘Scottish approach’ to policy and policymaking
The Territorialisation of Interest Representation in Scotland
One cheer for Jordan and Cairney
What is the ‘dominant model’ of British policymaking? Comparing majoritarian and policy community ideas
Policy consultation and political styles
Beyond power/knowledge—developing a framework for understanding knowledge ‘flow’ in international social work
Policy Convergence, Transfer and Learning in the UK under Devolution
Is Scotland a Westminster-style Majoritarian Democracy or a Scandinavian-style Consensus Democracy? A Comparison of Scotland, the UK and Sweden
Territorial Policy Communities and the Scottish Policy Style
Feminising Politics to Close the Evidence‐Policy Gap
Reframing Governance
Policy Style and Governing without Consensus
Stakeholder Consultation as Social Mobilization
The relationship between Europeanisation and policy styles
Implementation and the Governance Problem
Public administration in an age of austerity
Time and its uses in accounts of conditional discharge in forensic psychiatry
Changing Patterns of Government
Governance Stories
Theories of the Policy Process
Patterns of Democracy
Territorial policy communities and devolution in the UK
Has Devolution Changed the ‘British Policy Style’
New Public Management and the Thatcher Healthcare Legacy
Accounting for Sub Governments
Interest Groups and Public Policy
Comparative analysis of policy networks in Western Europe
Theories of the Policy Process
Government, Interest Groups and Policy Change
Interest Groups and Public Policy
New 'Mental Health' Legislation for England and Wales
| Unique citing works | 18 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,06 |
| Citation span | 2009 - 2021 (13) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 17 |