Howard Elcock – författare

Since first publication in 1982, Howard Elcock's Local Government has established a reputation as a comprehensive and unbiased account of how British local government really works. This respected textbook has been completely revised and rewritten for its third edition, to take account of changes in local government and in the circumstances in which it operates. The third edition examines new management structures and accountabilities that follow the policy initiatives of the central Conservative administration. It appraises the impact of the three-pronged reform of the Thatcher years: impact on local authorities' financial resources, new structures of local government and new pressure to contract services out to the private and voluntary sectors.

This volume addresses the issues arising from the recent devolution referenda by exploring the historical development of the proposals, the importance of national and regional identities, the changing policies of the political parties and the approaches of business and other major groups towards devolution. It also looks at the impact on electoral reform coming from the proposal that proportional representation be used to elect the regional assemblies and how the new assemblies are to be financed. Finally the book discusses the implications of a devolved British state where different countries and regions achieve different levels of autonomy at different paces.

This volume addresses the issues arising from the recent devolution referenda by exploring the historical development of the proposals, the importance of national and regional identities, the changing policies of the political parties and the approaches of business and other major groups towards devolution. It also looks at the impact on electoral reform coming from the proposal that proportional representation be used to elect the regional assemblies and how the new assemblies are to be financed. Finally the book discusses the implications of a devolved British state where different countries and regions achieve different levels of autonomy at different paces.

First published in 1972, Portrait of a Decision drawing on materials like- Cabinet minutes, the Lloyd George and Lothian papers, Foreign Office correspondence- provides the first comprehensive reassessment of the negotiations in Paris since those who were present wrote their memoirs. The making of the Treaty of Versailles was a watershed between the diplomatic worlds of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. An enormously wide-ranging piece of diplomatic negotiation, it largely determined the shape of the modern international world.This book makes an attempt to portray the personalities and attitudes of the four principal actors in the drama: Woodrow Wilson, George Clemenceau, David Lloyd George and Vittorio Orlando. It was to be their decisions on such crucial questions as war guilt and reparations, military occupation, the redrawing of national boundaries and the application of the ‘Fourteen Points’, and the setting up of the League of Nations, which set the scene for the turbulence of the next two decades. This historical reference work is a must read for scholars and researchers of international relations, history, European history, modern history and diplomacy and strategic studies.

First published in 1976, Political Behaviour provides a systematic introduction to the methods and findings of the behavioural approach to the study of politics. Howard Elcock describes the subject matter of political sociology and the methodological problems to which it gives rise. He examines the behaviouralist’s claim to scientific status as an observer of society using precise techniques of measurement and research.Throughout, the discussion of theory is accompanied by the empirical data that will allow the student to evaluate issues and arguments for himself. The author considers general concepts such as political culture, socialization, participation, power and authority as well as the areas of politics to which sociological students of the subject have contributed most- the stability of political regimes, the process of political socialization, power and influence in local authorities and electoral behaviour. This book will be immensely helpful for the students of political science and political sociology.

Since first publication in 1982, Howard Elcock's Local Government has established a reputation as a comprehensive and unbiased account of how British local government really works. This respected textbook has been completely revised and rewritten for its third edition, to take account of changes in local government and in the circumstances in which it operates. The third edition examines new management structures and accountabilities that follow the policy initiatives of the central Conservative administration. It appraises the impact of the three-pronged reform of the Thatcher years: impact on local authorities' financial resources, new structures of local government and new pressure to contract services out to the private and voluntary sectors.

Political leadership is a concept central to understanding political processes and outcomes, yet its definition is elusive. Many disciplines have contributed to the study of leadership, including political theory, history, psychology and management studies. Political Leadership reviews the contributions of these disciplines along with a discussion of the work of classic authors such as Niccolo Machiavelli, Max Weber and Robert Michels. Howard Elcock develops an account of the various governing, governance and allegiance roles political leaders play and discusses the devices by which their ability to lead effectively can be improved. He examines the processes of uncertainty reduction, increasing creativity and facilitation of collective learning. He concludes that the preoccupation with 'new public management' over the last twenty years has caused fundamental debates about political and social values to be neglected. Only a new focus on leaders and leadership, he argues, can correct this problem and provide guidance for politicians and officials in a world of increasingly rapid and unpredictable change.As an eminently readable book, this will be welcomed by scholars of political science and history, public administration and management as well as anyone involved, or with an interest, in politics and government.

This book explores the significance of the post-First World War peace settlement negotiated at Versailles in 1919. Versailles has always been a controversial subject and it has long been contended that the Treaty imposed unnecessarily severe conditions upon the defeated nations, particularly Germany, and in large part can be held responsible for the outbreak of war in 1939. This book considers the critical question as to whether the Treaty of Versailles established a new international settlement that could produce a peaceful and prosperous Europe, something that many have alleged was impossible. In an exhaustive analysis of the events that followed the Paris Peace Conference, Howard Elcock argues that the Versailles Treaty created a more stable diplomatic framework than has commonly been recognised, and challenges the traditional understanding that the delegates at Versailles can be held responsible for the failure to secure long-term peace in Europe.