Depoliticisation: Principles, Tactics and Tools
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Depoliticisation: Principles, Tactics and Tools Matthew Flindersa and Jim Bullerb a Department of Politics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK. E-mail: m.v.flinders@sheffield.ac.uk b Department of Politics, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Although the concept of depoliticisation has existed as an important theme in a range of disciplines for some time, in recent years it has become a significant issue for scholars interested in European politics, governance and public policy. Within the same period depoliticisation has been championed by government ministers and proposed by think tanks and pressure groups at the national level as a solution to both public policy and constitutional challenges. At the global level depoliticisation has been promoted by the World Bank and United Nations as a means through which developing countries can enhance state capacity and market credibility. However, the wider literature on depoliticisation has arguably failed to offer any definitional clarity. Nor has it sought to tease apart and deconstruct the concept of depoliticisation in order to distinguish between different types of depoliticisation tactics or understand the interplay between them. This article gleans insights from a number of disciplines and synthesises the wider literature in order to offer a multilevel analytical framework. This framework, it is suggested, facilitates a deeper understanding of contemporary depoliticisation strategies, tools and tactics while also providing an insight into shifts in contemporary modes of governance. British Politics (2006) 1, 293–318. doi:10.1057/palgrave.bp.4200016 Keywords: depoliticisation; arena-shifting; governance; accountability; public policy
‘‘Depoliticisation is the oldest task of politics Ranciere,’’ (1995, 19).
Introduction Although the concept of depoliticisation has existed as an important theme in a range of disciplines for some time (see Table 1), in recent years it has become a significant issue for scholars interested in British politics, governance and public policy. Within the same period depoliticisation has been proposed by think-tanks and pressure groups as a solution to both public policy (Kings Fund, 2003) and constitutional challenges (Demos, 1998), and has been described by the European Policy Forum (2000, 11) as ‘one of the most promising developments since the last war — the depoliticisation of many government decisions’. At the global level the World Bank has advocated
Matthew Flinders and Jim Buller Depoliticisation
294 Table 1 Depoliticisation: an inter-disciplinary overview Discipline
Example
International politics Gender studies Critical/social theory American politics Central banking Business studies Economics History Environmental politics Development studies Third-world studies Anthropology Discourse analysis Social policy Sociology Political theory Philosophy
Meyer-Sahling, 2004 Togeby, 1995 Habermas, 1996 Blinder, 1997 Marcussen, 2005 Wong et al., 2004 Sheffrin, 1978 Huang, 1999 Hobson, 2004 White, 1996 Feldman,
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