Rethinking scale in public administration: Scalecraft and frontline work in England's localism agenda

Abstract

This article reviews how scale concepts feature in governance studies and demonstrates that scales are overwhelmingly used descriptively. Questioning the meaning of scales has been considered peripheral to pursuing the aims of public administration studies, and the article calls for this to change by conceptualizing scale as a political concept. Focusing on the localism agenda reflected in England's ‘academy schools policy’, the article empirically demonstrates the political nature of scale by identifying how ‘the local’ functions as a powerful political discourse. Analysis shows scales being used strategically by frontline workers, exposing scale as a malleable concept for resisting or supporting political agendas—a practice which is called ‘scalecraft’. Revealing contrasting meanings of the local enables analysis to suggest how and why localism has been met with contrasting degrees of controversy. The article suggests how this new approach to scale can be integrated in future studies of governance and frontline work.