Law and Governance

The governing habits of the UK and most of the developed world have been changing rapidly over the past 20 years. Many formerly public services have been privatised, contracted out, and so on, resulting in the emergence of both numerous regulatory regimes and broad-based administrative discretion, largely shielded from either legal or parliamentary scrutiny. In the UK this has also occurred against a recent background of devolution and regionalisation which has enriched the spectrum of partnerships now expected to carry out public purposes. Partnerships and networks are the new 'buzz' concepts and require close scrutiny by students of public law and administration. What is clear is that central government now acts more as ringmaster than a performer. This book describes the nature of these changes and identifies the accountability gaps which have inevitably opened up in the absence of a written constitution or a considered Administrative Procedure Act. The old expectations of traditional public law need to be revolutionised in the light of these new developments. Law and Governance directly addresses these issues. Outlining the phenomenon of globalisation and its impact on governance, as well as the impact of the UK's membership of the EU, the book puts forward ways in which law and lawyers might become usefully engaged in the governance of the UK in the 21st century.

Professor N. Douglas Lewis is Director of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Sheffield.