Trust, contracts and leadership in local government

Andrew’s thinking on contracting and the different ways in which trust plays an essential part in relationships in local government is expressed in his introductory article in the edited collection Trust and Contracts:  Relationships in Local Government, Health and the Public Services, The Policy Press, 1998.

Local Government in Central and Eastern Europe

Andrew's book on Local Government in Eastern Europe: Establishing Democracy at the Grassroots was published by Edward Elgar in 1995. His second book Local Government in Central and Eastern Europe: The Rebirth of Local Democracy was published first as a special issue of Local Government Studies (Vol.32 No.5) and subsequently as a book edited by Andrew Coulson and Adrian Campbell , Routledge, 2007

Partnership working

His main article on partnership working is Caterina Ferrario and Andrew Coulson, ‘“Institutional Thickness”: Local Governance and Economic Development in Birmingham, England’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol.31, No.3 (2007). For a contemporary discussion of partnership working, see a chapter recently written with Martin Willis: ‘Local Authorities Working in Partnerships: Panacea or False Dawn’ in David Bailey and Caroline Chapain (eds.) The Recession and Beyond: Local Authority Responses to the Downturn 

Performance and Performance Indicators

On the use (and mis-use) of performance indicators see: 'Targets and Terror – Government by Performance Indicators'. Local Government Studies, Vol.35, No.2 (2009) pp.271-281.

The Future of Local Government

The UK Coalition Government legislated to enable local authorities that so wish to return to political government by the committee system. The New Options paper explores what this might mean.