The Ephemeral Return of Cities: Local Autonomy at the Test of State Recompositions

Extract

[...] A rationalization of public policies and the implementation of a New Public Management logic (autonomous agencies, end of political structuring in cities, competition, central competitiveness). The author shows that we are witnessing today an evolution of public policies towards new management principles from the private sector that give a central place to competitiveness and the effectiveness of missions. The autonomy of cities and redistribution are sacrificed in favor of the valorization of the most competitive and determined local authorities to implement the policies defended by the government. The facilitating state becomes a coaching state. [...]

[...] This is the return of the blocks of competences to the detriment of territorial logics and the region-agglomeration couple. This movement is reinforced both by the halt of the integration process of the European Union, which strongly supported the autonomization of cities, and by the resurgence of nation-states linked to security issues (with the 2001 attacks and terrorism), protection against globalization, and national identity problems. 2. The return of the central State - New stage of decentralization in the 2000s that translates into the strengthening of the regional level. [...]

[...] The administration provides the necessary budgets to local authorities to implement the pre-established policies. This marks the end of the decision-making autonomy of local authorities. Decentralized services only have an execution function of policies and reporting. - Public policy refactoring in 2007. New transfers of prerogatives to local authorities to lighten the state but more strongly controlled with precise objectives. Decentralized organizations gradually lose their attributions (end of DDE expertise, for example). Birth of targeted contracts instead of global contracts where the state delegates precise missions and not a role. [...]

[...] The ephemeral return of cities: Local autonomy at the test of state recompositions - Renaud Epstein (2008) - What role has the state played in the evolution of city autonomy since 1980? Renaud Epstein. The ephemeral return of cities: Local autonomy at the test of state recompositions - Editions Esprit pp.136-149 HAL Id: hal-00346784 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00346784 This article by Renaud Epstein shows the evolution of the autonomy of cities from 1980 to this day. Several dynamics distinguish themselves in the process of decentralization of public policies. [...]

[...] They benefit from increasing autonomy: end of the State lock, of stato-centrism and of the constraints of the State on cities. - Decentralization laws of 1982-1983 with decentralized prerogatives (urban planning for municipalities, social policy for departments, territorial development for regions). The State only plays the role of animator of territorial partnership, that is, it delimits and frames the activity of local authorities and ensures cooperation between them and the articulation between their different competences. These laws thus mark the reign of cities. [...]