Explaining Less Accountability: the Growth of Local Quangos

There has been substantial growth in the number of non-elected public bodies – or quangos – operating at the local level. This development presents a marked change from the model of elected local authorities as the main focus for the governance and delivery of local public services. Four interpretations of this change are examined: agency-type, ideological control, managerial restructuring and regulationist explanations. Agency-type explanations recognize a plurality of factors, but lack theoretical or predictive rigour. Ideological and managerial explanations have a stronger theoretical basis but fail to recognize the wider structural context. Regulationist explanations offer, but also suffer from the problems of, structuralist analysis. An integrating framework is developed. Three phases in the development of local quangos are presented as a process by which government has resolved tensions in the British state. A consequence, however, has been to raise questions about the state's longer term legitimacy.