Dilemmas of Implementation: ‘Integration’ and ‘Participation’ in Norwegian and Scottish Local Government

Recent shifts in local governance across Europe have emphasised ‘more public participation’ and ‘closer integration’ between the bodies involved in policy formulation and delivery. Researchers have only started to examine the mutual compatibility of these agendas. The focus of this analysis is a cross-national comparison between Norway and Scotland, using ethnographic methods to chart how various actors have used strategic planning (kommuneplan in Norway, community plans in Scotland) simultaneously to promote participation and integration. A study of local implementation practices reveals tensions between these agendas, but also the various contextually embedded ways in which local officers, politicians, and publics talk past, negotiate, or otherwise manage the problem. These are manifest in the balance between participatory and integrative activities in drawing up the plans; in the role of elected members; in combining steering and representative roles for partnerships; and in pressures for rationalisation. In the final analysis, we argue that these problems cannot simply be considered as local managerial muddles, but as reflecting deeper tendencies in ‘Third Way’ politics and the practical consequences of its emphasis on ‘what works’.