Borscheid, Matthias
(2007)
Theorising neo-liberal reforms and the shifting contours
of local governance in Dublin:
A case study on the metamorphosis
of the local partnership model under the
2000-2006 Local Development and Social Inclusion Programme.
PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.
Abstract
This thesis explores the relationship between contemporary governance restructuring
in Dublin and funding arrangements for Area Partnership Companies (APCs) under
the 2000-2006 Local Development and Social Inclusion Programme (LDSIP) by
means of an empirical case study. It analyses how governance changes and
associated impacts on funding arrangements for APCs are experienced, perceived
and explained by individuals from different professional and institutional backgrounds.
Particular emphasis is placed on the rise of control-focused business-like performance
and monitoring practices and their impact on the plans and activities of APCs.
The analysis of empirical material indicates that contemporary neo-liberal policies and
practices associated with the Strategic Management Initiative (SMI) have been
instrumental in modifying the local partnership model in Ireland and more specifically,
the governance framework and practices of APCs. These policies and practices are
investigated against the backdrop of three sets of key themes that have been identified
based on the review of empirical material: first, the gradual alignment of APCs with the
apparatus of the state; second, the design and implementation of accountability
procedures underlying the allocation of funding; and, third, the adoption of managerial
practices and value-for-money (VFM) criteria for the public sector. This thesis
underscores that the re-organisation of the local partnership model has been
influenced by the ethos of the New Public Managerialism (NPM), which became a
prominent strategy for governance re-structuring in OECD countries throughout the
1990s.
Empirical evidence suggests that the influence of governance restructuring on
contemporary funding arrangements for APCs in Dublin facilitated:
• their transition from quasi independent players into a new regulatory framework for
local development controlled by the state, and
• their transformation from area-based development models based on the ethos of
local partnership and participatory democracy towards service delivery agencies of
the state.
The key objective of the research is to investigate the extent to which the theoretical
frameworks provided by actor-network theory (ANT), urban regime theory (URT) and
the regulation approach (RA) can explain the current design of funding arrangements
for APCs in the context of contemporary governance restructuring in Ireland and the
associated proliferation of market-led principles and practices. The assessment of the
empirical data in the light of the three competing theories suggests that theoretical
concepts associated with the regulation approach are best suited to explain the
observed relationship between governance restructuring and funding arrangements for
APCs during the metamorphosis of the local partnership model in Dublin.
| Item Type: |
Thesis
(PhD)
|
| Keywords: |
Theorising neo-liberal;
metamorphosis;
2000-2006 Local Development and Social Inclusion Programme; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography |
| Item ID: |
5312 |
| Depositing User: |
IR eTheses
|
| Date Deposited: |
14 Aug 2014 11:16 |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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