Active Citizenship and Urban Governance

Abstract

British Conservative Governments of the late 1980s and early 1990s have promoted a strategy of 'active citizenship' as a means of fostering greater citizen responsibility for both the direct provision and management of public and welfare services. This strategy has been allied to objectives both of restructuring the welfare state through an increased involvement of voluntary organizations in the implementation of government policies, and of reforming the structure and functions of local government. Though the balance of emphasis may be different, these objectives are shared by the other main political parties in Britain. The paper discusses the political development and objectives of the active citizenship strategy, outlines its prospects and limitations, and highlights its implications for urban governance and the development of a participatory society based on citizens rights to involvement. The example of social rented housing, and of housing associations in particular, is used to illustrate the conflicts between active citizenship, autonomy and accountability. The paper warns of the potential emergence of new forms of paternalistic authority as instruments of urban governance.