Abstract
‘Community management’, especially of local social services, began to emerge as a policy option for government in the mid 1970s. It promised highly responsive and personalised services run by people with direct local knowledge and a high level of commitment. It would not only be more effective, but possibly even cheaper, than the traditionally impersonal and hierarchical bureaucratic organisations that dominated government welfare programmes. This was because the principle which underlay community management was participation – by consumers and by interested local people, who would give their time, energy and experience to the stewardship of organisations in which they had a direct stake. After more than two decades of experience with this style of state practice, most of it during a period of ascendancy of neo-liberal economic policy and the attendant discourse of management, the construct of ‘community management’ now presents not as a panacea, but as a whole new problematic for those who would seek to resolve the problems of making the process of government both efficient and democratic.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Critical Quarterly |
Publication status | Published - 2002 |
Keywords
- #VALUE!