Taxation and Representation: Media, Political Communication and the Poll Tax (Acamedia Research Monograph) ppt

For
Jo
andJack
, with love: DD
ForJen:PG
Da
'li唯
d
Deacon is
Lec個
rerin
Co
mmu
剖開位
on
and
Media
S
個
dies
Peter Golding is
Pr
ofesωr
of
So
ciology
and
Head ofDepartment,
Depar
恤
ent

ofSocial
Sc
ienα
為Lo
ughborough
University
Taxation
and
Representation: The
Media, Political
Comm
口
nication
and
the
Poll
Tax
David Dcacon
and
Pctcr Golding
Department
of
Social Sclences,
Lo
U9
拙。
rOU9h
Universi
句
iv

British
Li
brary
Ca
個
lo
g1iin
g
in
Publica
位
oilDa
個
Deacon
, David
Taxation
and
Representation:
The
Media,
Poli
位
cal
Comtnunication
and
the
Poll
Tax
Acamedia
Research

Mo
Ii
ograph:
11
I.Ti位
e
II. Gölding,
Peter
m.
Series
336.25
的
BN:
0
86196
390
3
ISSN:
0956-9057
Published
by
John
Li
bbey & Company Ltd, 13
Smi
也
sy
，位
d
，

S
Uínm
erley Street,
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ndonSW18
4I罰，
En
gland.
Telephonè:
+44
(0)81-9472777:
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+44
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John
Li
bbey
Eurotext
Ltd,
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rue
de
la
Républiql
趟，
92120
Montro
1i
ge
，扭曲

ce.
John
Li
bbey -C.I.C. s.r.I., via
Lazzaro
Spallanzani 11, 00161
Rome
,
1
個
ly
。
1994
John
Li
bbey and
Co
mpany
Ltd.
All
rights reserved.
Unauthorised
duplica
位
on
contravenes applicable laws.
Printed
in
Great
Bri

偵旭
byWhits
組
ble
Li
thoL
瓜，
Whitstable, Kent, UK
Contents
Chapter1
Chapter2
Chapter3
Chapter4
Chapter 5
Chapter6
Chapter7
Chapter8
Appendix1
Appendix2
Appendix3
Acknowledgements vi
Preface
Vll
Citi
扭由包
p
，
éommunication
and
Politiês

一
The Tarnished Ideal 1
A BriefHistory
ofthe
Poll Tax
21
Selling Accountability:
Government Promotion
ofthe
Co
mmunity Charge
45
Promoting Dissent:
An
ti Poll
T
，也
Campaigr
血
g
71
Policy Made Public:
Media
Co
verage ofthe
Co
mmunity
Ch
訂
ge

111
Journalis
俗
and
the
Poll Tax
149
The Politics ofPolitical
Co
mmunication:
The Determinants
and
Im
pact ofPoll Tax News
181
Rethin
旭
ng
Political
Co
mmunication
199
Methods
205
Referenêes
207
In
dex
213
v

vi
Acknowledgements
The empirical
rese
缸
ch
that
forms
the basis
of
tbis book was funded by two grants
from
the
Economic
and Social Research
Co
uncil (reference numbers: R000231512
and R000233523).
We
are
gratefulωthe
Co
uncil
for
their support and
interest
旭
therese
位曲，
and to the anonymous referees who

cons
個
lctively
cO
lÌlID
ented on the
grant
submissions
阻
.d
end ofprojectreports.
We
would also like to thank
Jo
Al
dridge, Natalie Fenton,
Al
an
Brym
阻，
Karl
As
h-
worth
,
An
drew Shaw, Julie Johnson and other
co
lI
eagues

at
也
e
De
par
個
ent
of
Social
Scien
白
s
，
Lo
ughborough University
for
their
advi
間，倒也個
nce
and support.
Our
thanks
曲
o
to
Jo
Wakefield
for
her careful

transc
旬
tion
ofthe
interview
草，
Pe
記
r
Beaman
for
his technical
suppo
此，
Bob
Fran
蛤
in
for
his steady supply of
po
lI恤
clipp
旭函，
and Wendy Monk
for
her
me
位
culous

proofreading.
。田
fur
也
er
thanks to
all
也
ejournali
喲，
news editors,
poli
位
.cians
，
presSnre group
representa
卸的，
trade unionists, business men and women and press and publicity
officers
, who agreed to
be
interviewed
for
the research. Without their
co
-o
peration
and candour many important elements
of

也
is
story would have remained hidden
fromview.
Finally
, our
th
叩
ks
to
0
田
families
，
whose forebearance
and
悶
pport
during the
completion
of
tbis manuscript made the
crea
位
.vestraine
個
ier
切
be
且

Preface
'Lo
okl
Quickl
Wasn'tt
加
tapo
位
cy
Just
now?
Too
late.
It's
gone.
We
threw
the
proposer
out'.
Aris切
pheries
，
The Assembly ofWomèn
D
……刑
1990
也
eteform
of

叫
loc
叫
govemmentfmànce
wàs
one
Qfthe
mostnewsworthy
的
picson
the
intetnational
news agenda) Newspapers
as
geographicàlly
diverse
as
Zim.
babwe's
Harráre
Her
a1
d,
The
SöVÏet
Union's
Pravda
and
Iz
vest

駒，
France's
Le
Monde
,
It
aly's
La
Rep
的
licca
，
Thailand's
Bangkok Post
and
the
USA's Washington Post
ran
lead stories
on
也
e
issue,
and
in
Australia
Th
e Melboume
Age
edi

切
rialized
世
ataxco
叫
d
be
designed
to
sow
social dissent
and
e
缸
n
unpopul
缸
ity
for a
govemment
，也
is
is
it'
(3/4/90:
13).
Evenmediafarremovedfrom
也
e
intêmâtional

news
agency
rounds
felt compelled to
report
the
political
debate
it
provoked.
For
example,
down
in
the
Falkland
Islands,
The
PenguinNews
ruminated
on
the
political
rammcations
of
'a
good
scheme'
that
had

been
'poòr
甘
im
plemented'
(7/5/90:
12)
When
the
British Conservative
Govemment
aiJ.n
ounced
in
1986
i
tS
inten-
tion
to
replace
the
existing
method
of local domestic
taxation
with
a
new
'Community

Ch
缸醉，
it
couldn't
have
anticipated
the
controversy
it
w
自
unleashing.
Yet
within
fo
肘
ye
訂
s
，
'The
Poll
Tax'
一
as
it
became
more
publicly
and

pejora
位
vely
known
-
had
split
the
ruling
p
訂你仕
om
top
to
bottom
, precipitated serious breakdowns
in
public
order
,
conipro
血
isedthe
electoral
viab
血
ty
and
intemational
cred

晶晶
ty
of
the
Government
, incited
a
cacophony
of
derision from a
normally
quiescent
media
,
and
brought
down
a
Prime
Mini
stβr
who
merely
mönths
before
had
been
considering
扭曲直到
tely

postpon
姐
gherre
位
rement.
Úl
political
ter
n'is
alone
，也
e
晶晶-，
亢的
nofthe
Comm
叫你
Charge
ranks
as(one
ofthe
most
abject
(ailures
姐
i
British domestic
history.
、_)
This book

charts
the
development
of
血
1s
political crisis,
and
in
p
缸
tic
叫叮
(0
tl')
(/'
就
i
討
ii
T
缸
ation
and
Representatio
n: The
Media
,
Political
Cô

mmu
剖開
tionand
也
.ePo
lI
T
，坦
/
(心仙
ho
棚
w
血卸
e
切協岫
su
…
u
extends beyond
the
conten
位
ous
issues raised by
the
new
tax
, for its im-
ρplementation

and
subsequent abandonment
has
provideq
句
invaluable
j
啊。的凶妙的呻
lore
bro
咖
p
加
ciples
inv
伽他
thec()mm
叫
ca
位
on
\.
and
formation of public policy'; As a major fiscal rèform with
impor
個
nt
cons
位
tutional

and
political implications,
the
Co
血
munity
Charge was in-
troduced against a background of considerable
opposi
位.o
n.
The Govern-
ment energetically promoted
the
change;
an
q"
citizens were principally
dependent
on
the media for information
aboutl~t.
How did
such
promotion
occ
恥
and
with
what

effects?
What
form did public discussions take
and
with
what
effect
on
policy
forma
位
on?
An
d
how
far did the media çater for
a full public discussion of
such
a
血
a
吋
jo
肘
r
legislative
i
恤
nnovat
位

io
9'?攻，?
In
i
加
tω
s
i|!jJb
卸叫
r
mo
叮
're
general
c
∞
ont
缸肘
ri
跆
bu
泌咐
t
位
ion
to 0
盯
understanding
0
叫

ft
晶
hesi
站
g
趾
E
趾
c
祖
c
閃
eoft
也
he
l
…伽心旭恤血…
i
站蜘伽叫位伽岫削叫
C
阻叫仙
a
叫恥…
lc
agendasa
缸
repol
扭
it
位

ica
吋
II
蛤
y
generated.
For logistical
,
rather
than
ethnocen
仕
ic
reasons,
our
discussion
foc
u.
ses
on
the reporting ofthe
Co
mmunity
Ch
缸
gein
En
gl
祖
d

and
Wales,
rather
than
in
Scotland - which experienced both a diffetent implementative timetable
個
d
intensity of media
and
public debate. The first chapter contextualizes
/'
our
research within the broader debates currently active
wi
也
M
也
e
fields
of media sociology
, social policy
and
political science,
and
outlines several
conceptual
models
曲的
informo

盯
analysis.
The second chapter provides
r'
a contextual overview of the history of the poll
tax
,
and
the
main
poli
位
cal
issues its
introduc
位
on
raised. The third looks
at
the
strategies employed by
也
e
British
Governme
前，趾
st
to promote itsEagship policy,
and
then

to
J
ameliorate the political crisis
it
created. The fourth chapter provides a ,
comparative analysis
ofhow
opponents
ofthe
tax
mobilized publicly. The
扭曲，
provides a detailed
comp
缸
ative
analysis of national
and
local media J
coverage of the
t
缸，
and
explores
how
也
e
terms of reference of media
debate shifted as the policy cycle proceeded. The sixth chapter examines
the news gathering of

jo
凹
nalists
and
editors
in
reporting
the
t
缸，
andthe
political
and
strategic
fac
切扭曲的
shaped
their
percep
位
ons.
The seventh, /
draws together material from preceding discussions to explain the specific
fac
切
rs
that
in
f1
uenced the building ofmedia agendas

on
the poll tax.
It
also
explores the
in
f1
uence of media discourses over public perceptions of
the
tax. The
conduding
chapter considers
what
broader inferences
can
be
drawn from this case study of political communication.
Chapter 1
Citizenship, Communication,
and
Politics - The Tarnished Ide
aI
Democracy
in
troubled times:
on
being
an
informed citizen
T

峙的
ook
…………
which
people
盯
e
able to take
p
訂
t
怯
the
poli
位
callife
of their
society.
When
we
組
lk
of citizenship we soon
a
控
ive
at
notions
such
的

p
叮
ticipation
and
involvement,
but
above all we
w
血
隘的岫圳
umbleacro
啦
phantomof
伽叫
or
蚓
~itizen'~
./
Clichés about the 'information society'
and
the deluge of infôrmation to
whichwe
缸
e
all subject, have become so commonplace
that
we sometimes
lose sight of
so
血

e
simple
tru
也
s.
Democracies, even large scale cómplex
democracies
such
as ours,
in
which power is exercised by the few
and
the
remote,
assu
血
e
they
缸
'e
inhabitβd
by informed citizens. Without some
knowledge
ofwhat
the polity is
up
妞，
people
cannot
even begin to exercise

any
reasoned impact
on
the
可
stem
which govems their lives. We therefore
foster
an
ideal
，旭
which
people receive a wide range of political informa-
位.o
n
，
which they sift, consume
and
deploy
in
rational decision making. The
outcome
may
be a vote, a motion
at
a pressure group committee
meet
旭
g
，

a street riot, or a yawn of disinterest and contemp
t.
But
the
informed
ci
位
zen
exercises choice
on
the
basis of information received.
The
tβmpting
metaphor is
that
of the
supermarket
，祖
which
the
votβr
saunters among the shelves of ideas
and
policy
op
位。由，
making shrewd
calcula
位

ons
about cost benefit balances
and
the
comparative virtues
ofthe
ideological packages
on
offer. Trolley filled,
the
citizen strolls to
the
elec-
toralcheck-
。前，
votβin
hand. The problem, ifwe extend the metaphor
just
1
2
T
阻
a
位
onàndRep
悶
enta
鈍。n:
The
Media

,
PO
隘的問
1
臼
mmunication
and the
Poll
Tax
a little
furth
肘，
is
that
not
everyone
can
get to
the
same store. Some
can
afford bigger
and
better-filled trolleys. The
shelves
缸
e
f;
叮
from

full,
and
many
goods somehow never make it to the front ()fthe display stands. Some
個
rn
out
to
~
be very different (r
om
the
glittering
i
扭曲
prömised
on
the
νpackaging{
The
citizen
“
shoppe~
is exercising choice
wi
也祖
ve
可
d
挖出

ct
and
effectivè limits.
This book is
an
at
能
mpt
to
chart
those limits, to find
out
why
the
goods
are
packaged
the
way
they
缸
e
，
and
what
gets
them
on
to
the

shelves. For
the
ideal
of
也
e
informed
ci
位
zen
is precisely
that
,
an
ideal.
An
alysts have
always been
aw
盯
e
，
ofcour
鈍，
ofthe potential ofthe modern mass media to
interrupt
and
dis
的
rt

the flow of information from
the
political
叮
ena
to
voters.
It
is
a
long
位
me
since we
lived
祖
anyth
旭
g
approaching
the
Athe-
nian
polis. But in recent years we have been increasingly alive to
the
limits
of
our
ideal.
There

缸
'e
at
least two reasons for this.
,/
First, we have been witnessing dramatic changes
i
科組組但.anJ:Ù2盟住心
I
ofthe
media through which
poli
位
calinforma
位onp
Ìim訂
ilyreachβs
;i.
s.
In
recent decades the ownership ofmajor national newspapers
has
continuβd
ωfall
in
切
the
hands of a small number of large
corpora
位

ons
，
frequently
controlled by tycoons with uncompromising
and
naked political objectives
alongside
也
eir
commercial
的
pira
位
ons
(Golding
and
Murdock, 1991).
Several
仕
ends
have evolvedfrom the increasingly conglomerate character
of the media. The political profile of the national press
has
become steadily
less balanced
, with a preponderance ofConservative supporting, or
at
least
Labour
oppos

恆
g
titles
that
even the last Royal Commission
on
the
Press
recognized as creating a 'gap
in
political terms which could be filled with
advantage' (cited
in
ibi
d.).
The increasingly commercial
and
competi
位
ve
character
of
也
e
press
has
alSO
fostered
what
some commentators

iden
位穹
的
'de-politicization'
，
of the
popular
削
es
especially (Curran
and
Seat
凹，
1981:
123). Politics recedes before a rising tide
ofhuman
interest, show-
biz related stories which transform the
press
恤
to
an
appendage of
the
entertainment industry in both economic
andc
叫
turalform.
Broadc
部位

ng
，
too, reflects
this
仕
end;
'Television in Europe thus becomes increasingly
an
entertainment
medium'
但
e
Bens, Kelly
and
Bakke,
1992:
95). Television,
as
the
major and increasingly prominent altemative to the newspaper as a
medium for political
communica
位
on
，
has also entered
an
age
in
which

the
扭曲
ideals
of public service
broadcas
位時缸
e
being confronted
and
dis-
placed by the pressing imperatives of market driven
new
technologies of
dis
出
bution
(Gold
坦
g
，
forthcoming).
Chap
記
r
1:
Ci
tizenship
,
Co
mmunication, ànd

Politics
- The Tarnished
Ideal
Secondly,
our
ideal informed citize
p.
is further disadvantaged by
the
\growth
of
the
‘public relations state'
,)a.
phenomenon
切
which
we
return
shortly.
Inf
ormation designed to persuade
is
never the
same
由
information
passively offered as a service,
and
while this may naively understate

the
inevitably ideologïcal
ch
叮
ac
切
r
of anything we
can
sensibly
c
叫
l'
旭
forma
“
位
on'
,
it
does
reflect
，部
we
note below, a sea change
in
the
opera
位
onofthe

modern state.
For
many
writers within political science the anxieties
and
critiques im“
plicit
in
也
ese
observations
訂
e
unfounded.
Inf
ormation flows have
恤，
creased, electorates have become more sophisticated,
and
democracy
is
the
rich
紅的
a
res
叫
t.
Notions of 'cognitive
mob

也
za
位，
on'
suggest
that
rising
levels of education have created
better
equi
即
ed
p
石五日
ations
﹒
Together
with the gröwth
in
media
provision
也
Ìs
nourishes
thβdemocra
位，
cprocess
(Inglehart, 1977).
Th
間，

as
Dal
的
n
argues
,‘
At
the
same
time
也
at
the
co
俱
Ìtive
skills of Westem mass publics have improved, so too have
the
public'sresources
的
day
there is a
ne
盯
lyunli
凶能
d
supply
and
v

前
ietyof
political news
,
we c
aÍl
[now] be more sanguine about fhe
nature
ofbelief
systems
恤
co
臨時叮叮
publics.'
(Dalt
凹，
1988:
凹，
32).
As
will
becomβclear
throughout this book
our
views are far less confident.
/宜
'he
changing
nature
ofthβcommunication

system is
count
位
balancedby
\._
changes
祖
the
帥部
ta
伽
ns
of
citizenship~
0
盯
case
s
旭旬，
ofthe
m
咖
change
in
local taxation introduced
in
Britain
in
也，
e

1980s
, was centrally
conceived by
its
盯
chitects
旦旦
an
祖
itia
位，
ve
to change
the
bas
泌
of
citizenship.
At local
level
也
is
was designed to be
for
也
e
be
此
er
，

an
缸
gument
we
examine
in
the following chapters. The poll
tax
arrived
in
the wake of
considerable efforts by the ideologues of
the
newright
to seize the moral
,
high
且至!
and
citizenship proved
an
attractive
ba
函正高高屁立泣區
dβ
，i:t
te
about
the
怯

x
wound
on
，也
is
theme became
an
insis
切
nt
血
0
位
f
within
the
poli
位
cal
dialogue of
thβlate
1980s.
她
s.
Thatch
肘
's
speech to
the GeneralAssembly ofthe Church ofScotlandinMay
1988

，恤
sis
臼
dthat
句
'most
Chris
位
ans
would
reg
配
d
it as their personal Christian duty to help
their fellow
men
and
womβn'
，
from which premise shemovedrapidlyto
the
今
conclusion
fhat 'intervention by
thβstate
must
never become so great
that
it effectively removes personal responsibility' (see
Rab

間，
1989).
This
w
的
parallelβd
by influential articles by the
then
Home Secretary, Douglas
Hurd
,
in
which
he
argued
that
'the idea of active
ci
位
zenship
is
a
necess
缸
y
complement to
that
ofthe
enterpris
晦

culture.
Public service
may
once have
been the duty of
an
組妞，
but
today it
is
也
e
responsibility of all who have
可/
v
/
3
4
T
臨
ation
and
Represen
個
.tion:
The
Media
,
Poli
位

cal
Co
mmunica
位
on
and the
Poll
T
臨
位
me
or
money to
sp
缸
4
個肘
d
，
1989). The
ac
位.v
e
ci
討
zen
was someone
nurtured
by the fruits of free enterprise,
and

happy to
reinvest
也
eir
well
deserved
acquisitions
姐
to
reSponsible patronage
of
也
e
less fortunate.
lt
W
自
not
al
的
gether
surp
也
ing
that
也
e
debate about
the
poll

tax
came
to
/
adopt this
language.
的Mill
er
notes
，區血
e
battle over
the
t
路
'for
p
缸"
liamentary
and
public opinion
the
訂
guments
have
had
to
be p
ù.
tin

terms
of values
which
訂
e
more broadly
sh
叮
'ed.
These have centred largely
on
explicit
and
implicit
血
odels
of citizenship'.
(M
血
er
，
1989:
96).
\ The citizen found herseijl
constituted
祖
three
very differem
and
confused

(
'~~~e~:
如此，
mdmostMdiaonally
，部
informed
and
responsive
p
缸旭
erto
也
e
state
旭
theman
茍
ementofthe
而梅克耐高高站在孟晶石
EIZJs
than
encoura
到時，
with signs of continuous loss
offai
也
in
the
body politic,
也

e
fragmentation of a civic culture,
and
pluralist stagnation (see Topf,
少_
1989). Second, the
ci
位
zen
was being urged to become the
new

扭扭扭扭
J
thropic active citizen conjured
up
by the enthusiastic visionaries ofvolun-
k
、
teer
welfare capitalism.
The
citizen
豆豆豆豆豆豆豆路
received
her
most
仁
authorita
位

ve
acclamation from the Commission
on
the
subject established
by the Speaker of
the
House of Commons
in
1988.
In
these terms
ci
也阻"
ship became a target for schools in encouraging appropriate curricula,
and
thesumm
訂
y
description of community voluntary work (Commission
on
k
ci
恥的峙，
1990)t Finally, we
had
the
citizen
~s
consumer,_exerting civic

令~一一一一一
power
through
the
mechanics of the market, bullis
h1
y clamouring for
satisfaction
in
the glass
and
steel shop fronts of the town hall
cus
切
mer
service centre,
citizens'
也缸
terinhand.
Ami
dst such
confusion
也
e
血
.edia
have a strategic role, enshrining
and
已
/ç_

promo
伽
g
one or
another
面証
el
，
labelling
and
evaluati
時
theme
恥
and
7
話詢服冊商
ëñ
:-c而
êiãf
屆高豆豆
a
叫
eisthepa
句
layed
by
the
state as a
dominant

so
盯
ce
of information
and
imagery which becomes
the
raw
material for media work.
An
d
in
也
at
role we
cannot
ignore the massive
expansion of the public relations state.
The
rise
of
the
public relations
state
All
governments like to be well
thought
of.
They
pro

血
ote
their
own
policies
and
denigrate those of
oppos
坦
gp
缸位
.es
as
p
缸
t
of
the
routine business of
politicallife. Even Napoleon
invested
位
meandmoney
祖 m
暐旭
gsurethe
Moniteur
purveyed the right line. But
in
recent decades

the
scale
and
ferocity ofthis aspect ofpublic
life
have escalated substantially. Writing of
Chapter
1:
CitizensWp
,
Co
mmunica
位.o
n
，
and
Poli
位的明
TheT
缸
nished
Ideal
the United States, Oscar Gandy
has
drawn
attention to
the
rise of
the
information professionals within government. ‘At every level of gover

Ii-
me
此，
in
every agency,
thete
缸
e
information specialists whose responsi-
b
泌
ty
it
is
to
ensure
也
at
也
enation's
publicmediacarry
也
e
desiredmessage
forward to
the
general public, other government
0
血
cials

，
and
key corpor-
ate leaders who have a role to play
in
the formulation
and
implementation
ofpublic policy'
(G
祖旬，
1982:
74).
Gandy goes
on
to
缸
gue
that
this system works
through
what
he
terms
(‘凶
orma
伽叫咄
es'~Th
帥缸訟吋祉泌的
orm

體型戶臨的帥，
but
闊的盯
es
切
reducetheCost
切坦起草泣忘訴函區忌。
f
obtaining informa-
tion they need to construct news.
By
making
life
easy for
the
news seekers,
information managers
can
influence
and
even determine
the
flo
W'
and
character of coverage about their
ac
位
.vities
in

the
news media.
That
is,
obviously,
the
basis
on
which all public
rela
位
ons
and publicity work rests.
In
the
post-w
位
period
in Britain it was for long
assumed
曲的
politics
was
mo
社
ng
to a steady state of ideological convergence, in'which agreement
about the
nature
ofthe goodsocietywas disturbed only by minor squabbles

over its
administration. This
'consens
肘，
or
‘Butske
Ui
te' happy
statβcame
to a rude end, if
it
ever really
existβd
，
wi
也
the
return
of'
con viction politics'
and
the
launch
ofthe
Thatcherite project
in
the late
1970s.
Once more
government

was
扭曲
e
business of winning
he
叮
tsandm
扭曲.
The state
is
at
the
heart
of the news machine. Studies of news have pere
Ii-
nially plotted the dominance of items about the machinery of gover
Iim
ent
and
the routine drama of
Wes
個
lnster
life
wi
也旭
thebroad
缸
rayofnews
coverage. Though this has, as we noted above,

declined
自
a
proportion of
the whole
,
and
indeed its reduction
has
recently occasioned some distress
among politicians (Straw
,
1993)
, the predominant flavour
in
the
daily diet
of the news media continues to be
the
whiff of political grapeshot
and
the
odour ofWestminster's
hot
air. 'News prioritizes the state
and
its agents,
treating even minor state
activi
位的

as
inherently newsworthy, viewing
agents of the
sta
切
as
‘
reliable'
sources
and
as interesting speakers,
and
portraying the visible aspects ofrelations among states' (Kni
ght
and
Curt
詣，
1987:
的).
Of
course this portrayal
has
its own elisions
and
evasions
(Golding
, 1981).
But
也
is

combination of
ideolo
斟
cal
divergence
and
the
prom
垣
ence
of the state as
an
object of media attention
has
created
the
conditions for a substantial increase in public relations
ac
位
vity
by
the
state.
♂
Tλ
正與
v'
5
6
T

臨
ation
and
Represen
個
tio
n:
The
Media
,
PO
加叫“
mmunication
and the
Poll
T;
盟
Many observers have noted
the
importation of
the
machinery
and
prac
偏
低
ces
of
the
advertising industry into

poli
位
cs.
A
new
branch
of this craft
appears
,
in
whatNim
血
o
and
Combs
describe
扭扭‘
indus
仕
y
of experience
brokers'
, of'propartists' consisting of'professionalhypesters with a
v
前
iety
of specialities
and
s
泌

ls'
(Nimmo
and
Combs,
1990:
67).
That
poli
位
cs
is
nowg
盯
landed
by
an
app
盯
atus
of spin doctors, 10bbyists, consultants,
communication analysts, press officers,
and
their kin is only too familiar.
The
political
叮
ena
is a supreme1y image-conscious one.
Af
ter

all, as
the
architect of
the
Sun's dramatic rise
rather
innocent1y
puts
仗，
'it
is
poli
說，
cians,
rather
than
newspapermen, who tend to exaggerate
the
power
ofthe
press'ιamb
，
1989:
161).
f'
í Government
has
become a major
e
月

10yer
of press
and
public re1atio
n.
s
心
j
翩翩，
andof
帥的隘的In
1992
HM
Government
spent
的
3
別扭
on
r
on
advertising.
Betwee
叫
986
and
1991
theinc
自由
e

祖
its
expenditure
姐
」叫做
msw
帥的
out~er
cent,
and
the total expenditure
of
也
is
kind
\!.I
rough1y doub1ed
during
也
e
decade. The Government's advertising budget
dw
缸
fs
that
of
such
mega corporations as Ford, General
Motors
，個

dPr
∞"
如
r
and
Gamb1e.
Moreover
the
Government's figures
no
10nger include
privatized corporations
such
as British Te1ecom
(“
6 million
in
1992)
or
the
utilities.
In
deed, spending
on
the promotion ofprivatization initiatives
formed a
sig
祉
ficant
p

缸
t
of this
publici
可
e
fl'
ort.
The sell“ o
fl'
of
the
water
indus
佐
y
was supported by campaigns costing
f.
42
臨別
io
且，
more
也
an
twice
that
spent
on
the

earlier gas privatization.
In
May
1990
也
e
then
Government
En
ergy Secretary, John Wakeham,
w
部
appointed
to
c
心
ordi
nate
government publicity
and
information,
and
new
proposa1s to give
senior ministers PR 'minders' were revea1ed
(Independent
on
Sunday
,
17

June 1990). Growing politica1 protests about these deve10pments
1ed
to
the
appointment of a public enquiry
by
the
Nationa1 Audit
Office
, which
showed
也
e
very major programmes of expenditure
undertaken
旬，
for
examp1e
the
Dep
盯
tment
of Trade
and
In
dustry
on
its 'Enterprise
Ini
tia-

tive'. Perhaps
the
two key administrative measures, above all others,
whichcame
如
symbolize
the
force
of
也
is
shift
旭
government
promo
位
on
were the incorporation ofthe government statistica1 service into
the
super“
visory embrace of
the
Tr
easury,
and
the
assump
泣。
n
in

1989
by
愉
S
Thatcher
浴缸
enchant
ChiefPress Secretary,
Bernard
In
gha
血，
ofthero1e of
head
of
the
Government
Inf
ormation Service simultaneous1y
wi
也
his
otherduties (In
gham
,
1991:
367
一的;
Roya1
Statis

位
ca1
Society,
1990).
The promotion of good news
and
radica1 policy initiatives has continued to
Chapter 1:
Ci
tizenship
,
Co
mmunication,
andPolitiω
叫祖
eT
，缸
nisb
吋
Id
叫
a
位
ract
subs
個
ntial
reso
叮
ces.

In
J
an.
u
盯
y
1994
the
Secretary of State for
Education announced
that
he
was
個
spend
over
f.
2million sending a 1eaflet
intoev
，位
yhomein
也
e
country giving
the
Governme
肘，
s views
and
advice

onmorali
紗，
citizenship, discipline
and
family values. Between
1989/90
and1991/92Depar
恤
entofHeal
血
spendi
呵。
n
public re1ations rose from
f.
0.8
抽血
ion
to
f.1.
49m
血
ion
(Hansard
, WA
Co
l.
244
, 8
June

1993).
A
Corporate
Afl'airs
In
telligence Unit was
estab1ishβd
to seek
out
,
and
compile
form
恆
isterial
promotion, stories illustrating
the
success of
the
Govern-
ment' s
health
service reforms.
S
旭過缸
1y
，
in
housin
菇，

f.4
.5m
到抽
nw
部
spent
on
public re1ations
to
promote
the
'right to buy' policy betwëen
19
"8
0
and
1993.
It
is
in
this context
that
we should understand the promotion of
the
Com-
mu
國
ty
Charge
de心

cribed
in
t
垃
ss
個
dy.
Whilethe
吧空空空空豆豆些
d
promo-
/2.~
~.:♂
tiona1 e
fl'
ort
inv
哩哇旦出“空缸
gewer
色空穿白磁蛇頭
f
也控股!:~
entire1y
/-U
ν
←
consis
館益
tw
迪金主

~p
d.
inthe
血缸
kçtingof
也
.e
state which
had
been rising
區區已
yb
叫
Go1
，峙，
1990).(
那
poli
叫
promo
位
on
does
not
吋
happen
atna
位
onal1eve
l.

The 10cal state
has
not
been
s10w
to 1earn
thβse
new
肘
cks.
The appointment
ofpublic
叫甜
od
蕊迋京前
5
師布面前話証
予函諾諾8.
1
e
fl'
orts of varying kinds has become a common feature of
the
10ca1governmentscenβry
﹒
The
evo1ution of municipa1 newspapers, bring-
ing
the
good news to every doorstep

扭曲
e
community, is a good indicator
of this deve1opment
,
though
，扭扭曲姐恤an.
d
Murphy note, they are of
such
recent
orig
姐
that
they
were
討
rtually
overlooked
in
the
1977
Royal
Commission
on
the
Press
(fl
叫
detail

on
this phenomenon see Franklin
and
Murphy,
1991:
Ch. 6;
Fr
祖國恤，
1988).
In
all
thes
晦
ways
，也
en
，
the
marke
位
ng
of government
ac
位
.vity
has
become
a
臼
ntralac

位
vity
of modern statecraft.
In
evitab1y the 1aunch of
any
major
policy initiative
will be devised with this
app
缸
atus
of
promo
位
on
and
information management
in
mind.
祖旦旦旦
mmu
剖
ty
Charge became
a
臼
st
JP?
些做些單恆星

E
同仁暫住把堅.
We
neea
oriefly to assess
how
well
equipped students of political
co
血
munication
were to
understand
也
is
process.
Political
communication:
the
doub1e absence
To understand
the
process of political communication we need to
draw
on
the
insights of both policy analysis
and
of media
and

communication
rese
訂
'ch.
Unfortunate1y both have been curious1y silent
on
也
e
intercon-
o
c:;
7
8
T
阻
ation
and Representation: The
Medi
訟，
Po
加開
l
Co
mmuni
間越
on
and the
Poll
T
缸

nection between
the
two.
The
detailed intellectual history
and
disciplinary
evolution
which
explain
血
is
的哩
t
essential
to
0
凹
concerns
here
,
but
we
do need briefly
to
review them.
Poli
位
cal
studies frequentlý

pay
lip service
~o
the
impo
此
ance
of
the
media
and
communications.
In
p
甜詢問，
howe
Vé
r, this emerges
only
in
cursory
reference
to
血
e
role
ofthe
media, especi
a11
y

as
witness to
the
recurrentand
playful
cI
ash
of pressure groups
wi
血也
.e
poli
位
cal
system/Most
policy
analysis finds its roots
, implicitly
if
not
explic
設旬，
in
也
e
誼
nd
of
systemic
model developed

,
cI
assical
跡，
by writers like David
Easton
徊的恤，
1965).
<"
In
this model
the
policy process
becomes
，的
use
the
familiar
metaphor
, a
black box
,
which
produces
ou
句
uts
in
the
form of decisions

and
actions.
In
to
the
black box go inputs
in
也
e
form of demands
ànd
supports,
either
as
votes,
payment
of taxes,
and
obedience,
or
al
臼
rnatively
as
dissent, press-
ure
and
articulatβd
cIaims. While
it

is
not
diffic
叫
t
to
develop a critique of
functionalist models of
this
垣
nd
，
even
盲
refmed
and
moderated f()rm
they
underpin
a large
number
of policy analyses.
Im
portant
in
such
a view is
the
understanding
of

policy as a
process
函
ta
product,
and
that
insight releases
the
potential
('~
such
traditions
of
policy
ana
蟑螂
as
加
plementation
也
eory
and
incrementalis
哩
d
Each
of
them
，恤

prac
位
ce
，
however, retains
the
sense
of
this process evolving
within
an
'environment',
which
contains tl!e economic
and
social
s
仕
uctures
of
the
wider society beyond
the
polity
~
Our focus
in
this book is
0
的

h
已
medi~
個
d
也可
forma
cruci
刮過
art
of this
èÌìì忱。
mp9.Indeedwe
d
再叫起倒
也叮叮
'e
inherently
p
缸
t
of
the
modern
policy process,
which
is inconceiv-
able
without
the

rhetorical
and
publicity
app
缸
atus
ofpoli
位
cal
communi-
cation.
Thus
to
devolve so
much
of
the
essential
character
of
the
po
垃位
cal
process
to
a residual category of actions
in
the
'environmen

t'
is
拍
miss
much
ofthe
core
ofwhat
determines
and
shapes policy.
It
is
s
凶
Is
凹
prising
how
minimal
an
appe
前
ance
the
media
and
communications
make
in

many
policy analyses,
and
even
where
they
do
it
is organizational com-
munication
rather
than
media communication
which
dominates (Nixon,
1980).
Tν/A
郎
t
伽
same
t
拋iI加
me
血
med
社品曲
ia
st
仇叫

1
w
叫
it
也
h
the
rol
抬
e
of
j
知
O
盯
nali
諂
sm
and
the
careful
and
c
叫
ri
位伽
ca
叫
1
analysis of

the
symbolic world of media
out
句
pu
叫
t.
Where
it
has
been inclined
to
address
politics
it
has
remained resolutely
'media
-c
en
仗
ic'
，
rarely
drawing
on
the
research
and
theory available

within
political sociology
or
policy analysis.
、
2
Chapter
1:
Citizenship
,
Co
mmunica說
on
，
andPo
加
cs
且
TheT
缸
nished
Ideal
Perhaps
the
most
powerful concept
to
be developed
in
血

e
attempt
to
und
酬
and
叫你也粗的叫叫酬的呼叫加叮恤叮叮
The
notion
ofpri
血
ary
definition
was
formulated
by
Hall
and
his colleagues
in
也祉
analysis
of news coverage of‘mugging' (H
a11
et
a1.,
1978).
Domi-
nant
forces

in
society do
not
dictate directly
the
tβ:rms
and
vocabulary of
news coverage
, either conspiratorially
or
by
dictat.
They
缸
'e
able,
how-
ever,
through
the
s
仕
uctures
of news production,
to
ensure
that
news
reflects

the
interests
of
也
e
powerful. This reproduction,
in
也
e
last
instance
,
does
not
ignore
the
real
autonomy
ofnews
producers.
But
because
ofthe
importance of accredited sources
with
authority
to defme news salience
and
form,
and

the
unavoidable exigencies
and
speed
of
routine
news
production
，也
e
news process produces
'a
systematically
structured
over-
accessing
to
the
media of those
in
powerful
and
privileged
posi
位
ons.
The
media
thus
tend

, faithfully
and
impartially,
to
reproduce symbolic
a11
Y
the
J
e
油加
g
struc
個
reofpower
祖
society's
institutional order' (ibi
d.:
58).
The
media
thus
become secondary
defme間，
dependent
on
the
hegemonic defm-
ing

power of accredited sources,
the
representatives
ofm
吋
or
social
ins
位徊，
位
ons.
向三?至苦
I.l;:'

'1}-川
r
ι-_
品
('i'
t i
This model is
an
姐
sightful
and
e
fT
ective one. Not surprisingly,
though
,

it
名言
has
been
regul
甜甜甜
dwi
恤
mediaanaly
呦，
mthsthathmoughf77
wo
吋
r
成啦
k
旭
ing
兮'吋
overb
句
yS
缸
ch
沮
1β
郎
si
姐
nge

侃
r
丸'，
whoa
盯
rg
訊
u
泊
est
油
ha
肘
tt
晶
heI
阻
nodelfi
包
or
叩
'ce
臼
sa
組
na
叫
lyst
臼
st

切
;0
rJ
戶、
7
ignore
b
切
ot
晶
h
th
_t'l
processes
by
y
戶\7
1
扭
l
泣
ichs
叩
ot
盯Ir
C
凹
es
c
∞

ont
臼
es
仗
t
for accreditation,
and
y-
the
strate
斟
.es
也
ey
employ to
command
attention
(Schles
姐阱，
1990).As
。盯
discussion
of news
sources
志高志而江那誼妞，
we
would
share
恤
reservation

about
the
notion
of
prim
訂
y
defmition, while
remaining
anxious to
retain
its essential insight
into
也
e
relationship
which
exists
between
the
media
and
power
struβtures
in
society.
o Ö
"0
9
Taxation and

Represen
組
tio
n:
The
Media
,
Poli
位
cal
Co
mmu
凶間組
on
an
:d
the
Poll
Tax
is
an
attempt to explore
the
applicability of a more substantial model ofthis
垣
nd.
The analysis
of
political
communication

函，
of
course, a
well
developed
and
extensive
缸
ea
of
research and discussion. Yet
it
remains a
curiously
un-
helpful one
in
answering the questions
posed
by
this study. There are three
_ reasons for this inadequact.
:P
irst,
po
挂毯
cal
communica
位
on

research has
- í been
.obsessed
wi
也
the
proþess-Qf
~lectionee
且時這
The
natural
experiment
providedby
也
e
spectacle
of
elections has been
just
的
o
bewitching
切
avoid
for generations
of
commentators and researchers,
and
we
readily pleaù

訊Ii
lty
to
sh
訂祖
g
也
is
fascination (Billig et
aL,
1992).
Yet
it
should be
only
個
o
ob
討
ous
that
elections are
anything
but
the
normal
state
of
也
ebody

poli
位
c.
The content and volume
of
public debate, the intensity
of
poli
位
cal
rhetoric, the attentiveness
of
ci
位甜的，
and the energy and partisanship
of
political
media
缸
e
all
切
tally
atypical
in
the periods
fra
血
ed
by

elections.
This
does
not
mean we can learn
nothing
from
也
e
study
of
elec
位。帥，
butit
does
suggest we
would
do
well
to
be
w
訂
y
of
generali
泣
ng
扭曲
e

poli
位
cal
communication process per
se
from
the lessons
of
election research.
于[S
econdlY
，如
tion
research
defmes
伽
nature
of
politics and
po
加
cal
communication
in
é!_
very
closely
fraJll
ed
血

anner.
By
politics
is
me
éUl
t
par
望
J
一-一_ 、」旬-闕_

_ :-"-_J<-_
olitics, and
by
political communication
is
meant
th
墅里
o_!!!
跑單位
veappealof
予
arties
to
electors. Political
co
血
municationresearch

has
much
to
gai
甜苦
Ut
)茁濟問蕊區首品
dli
組
e
，
from
attempts
to
draw
attention
to
也
e
essentially
po
加
c
叫
character
of
all
communicatio
肘，
the ideological

inves
恤
entinall
10
forms
of
public communication, whether fiction
or
non
也
c
位
on
，
whether
dealing
with
the
familiar
artefacts
of
policy
or
the
less
obviously
but
equally
powerful politics
of

the
do
血的啦，也
e
personal, and the mundane.
?
ThirdlyJolitimIcommmimti
凹的捌
rchhasrem
恥
edlargdmh
空空空空
L
inth
泌
country
with the
mβtropolitanandn
甜
on
些!
me
d!
a.
Th
iS
ls
a mistake
for two
compleme

前可話函函;即此也
econth
鼠忌
gaofcen
叫一
local
state relations has been
at
出
ehe
盯
t
of
many
of
the
key changes
in
British
poli
位
cs
over the past two decades. We examine these changes later
in
this
study.
Suβhhasbeen
也
e
importance of these changes

that
m
吋
ordebates
about the role of
the
state have been
generat
吋
bythe
血
within
poli
位
cal~
theory. On the one
hand
it
is
suggested
th
前
we
now
hav(a
dual
sta
詞，
)
。

perat
旭
g
separately
at
local
and
nationallevel (Saunders,
19
'8
1, 1982).
~
The extent to which this
is
a genuine separation
or
a
contingβnt
one
is
important
阻
d
conten
泣。
us.
On the other
hand
theorists have suggested
Chapterl:

口的
zenship
，
Co
mmu
剖開封
on
，
andPoli
位
cs
-
The
Tamished
Ideal
that
primary social divisions
are
no
longer derived from class
positio
間，
but
by sectoral divisions determined by people's
position
的
consumers
of
services
, notably those provided by the local state (Dunleavy, 1989).

The other reason why concentration
on
也
e
national media is a mistake is
more obviously rooted
in
the
media system. This
coun
設
y
continues to have
吋翩翩
ld
崢伽
n
愉叫缸伽
gion
向服心
992
伽
rewereover
2,
000
regional papers, including over 1,
000
freesheets, whose
number~
had

more
than
doubled
in
a decade. But even
the
p
副
d
位
tles
have been
flourishing. Despite the closure
in
November
1988
oftheNorth
West
Times
,
the frrst new regional daily for
100
ye
帥，
t
凶
is
堅堅空姐一旦血[O
US
('1宇

L
~一些空空白
ec
切
r.
Between
1980
and
1992
the number of paid for regional
daily titles grew by
12
per cent,
and
of Sundays by 28 per cent. Nearly
90
per cent of adults
read
a regional paper.
Behind the bald statistics of survival
, however, lies even more impressive
evidence ofthe continued potency ofthe regional press. The readership
and
use made of local papers is demonstrated
in
a wide
u
訂
iety
of research

which conftrms
how
prominently
也
ey
feafure
in
people's overall media
diet
,
and
most of all, of
course
，旭
their
consump
位
on
of news about local
matters.
Despite the high
penetra
位
on
of national newspapers to households
in
general,
na
位
onal

readership
函，
of course,
dis
缸
ibuted
among a
nu
血
berof
titles. Where above
80
per cent
ofhouseholds
旭
a
given
locality
缸
'ereading
a local paper
they
缸
e
all reading
the
same
paper
的
often

as
not
, since local
monopoly is the norm. The power ofthe local press for local
agenda-s
的峙
is
manifest (Golding, 1989).
Thus both policy analysis
and
media research have, by operating
in
splen-
did isolation
, left the
field
clear
切
a
tradition of political communication
'
,
research which
is
itself severely
@l
demouri~ed
by virtue of a steady diet 7
。
f

electoral
poli
位
cs.
To move beyond this impotence we need to
exam
坦
ea
little further the
nature
of media-polity interaction.
Rewriting
the
sociology
ofnews
so
叮
ces:
a typology
of
roles
Al
though
the
mass
media
盯
e
crucial intermediaries between ‘society as
audience'

and
‘society as
so
叮
ce'
(El
lio
仗，
1972)
，
concerns
aboutthesocial
impact of media representations have always exceeded attention to
the
processes by which they are themselves socially constructed. Yet to under-
11
12
T
磁
a
的
onandRepr
田
entation:
The
Media
,
Politi
問
l

Co
mmuni
闊前
.on
and the
Pòll
T
盟
瑚
nd
伽
impact
ofmedia discourses we
mu
恥伽
nd
切伽
iro
叫
ri
蚓
i
Gandyi
油
d
由
.en
吋
t
討

i
盒
fied
i
尬
ta
臼
s
theneed
‘可油
t
切
og
伊
o
bey
卯
O
ll<吋.d
agenda setting
to
determine
whos
鋁
et
俗
s
the
media agenda,
how

and
for
what
purposes is it
s
仗，
and
Wi
th
what
impact
on
the
distribution of power
and
values
in
socie
昕，
(Gan
旬，
op.
ci
ι:
7).
By
exploring the
rela
位
.ve

influence of
in
組組位
ons
也
d
恆
divid
uals
in
the
formation ofmedia agendas, we are Jlllalysing strategic power
旭
our
society, which as Silverstone (1990) perceptively points
0
帥，
isvery
difl'erent from
the
tactical power of audiences to select
and
re-appropriate
JmemMgbmM
叫
dualte
恥
Unfortunately,
prim
前

y
research
旭
to
news
s()
盯
ces
remains scailt
and
intermi
此
ent
(Gandy,
op.
cit.; Ericson
et
a1.,
1989)
,
with
most of
our
undet-
standing derived from 'internaUst' analyses
ofjourn
aU
sts
at
wotk

(Schles-
旭
ger
，
op.
cit.). Nevertheless, several important conceptual
principles
盯
e
到
ready
available which provide
an
invaluable foundation for
t
挫
sbook.
心
he
firS~iS
that
j
叫
Usts
叫出
eirsources
叫跑過空白哩
B
ship, where information
is

bartered for pubUcity
(T
unstall
，即
7
的
.H
仰自
ever,
in
this market place ofideas, certain vendors sell their messages
with
greater ease
and
加
f
訂
greater
volume. Gans (1979) identifies
fo
肘
major
factors
that
influence
the
performance of news sources
in
shaping media
agendas

,
that
enc
呻
sulate
a
range
of
current
debates
around
news sources
andtheir
垣
fluence.
v'
、
'、
t
The
趾呼
hctorbthincenφ
ie
a source
has
to seek pubUcity
through
thè
media/G
阻

s
concentrates
on
the
endemic disposition of institutions
and
individuals towards
the
news media - contrasting
the
‘eager'
sourc~s
who
would suffocate without
the
oxygen of
pub
區
city
(such as pressure groups
andpoUticians)
,
with
‘
recalcitr
祖
t'
sources, who
are
habitually more indif-

ferent
or
fearful of media
scru
位
ny.
However, it
is
also important
to
appreci-
ate
that
the
degree of incentive a news source
has
is contextual. Even
the
keenest news
so
盯
ces
will have certain issues they would prefér
的
keep
private,
not
just
because they
may

have
something
扭扭曲，
but
also be-
cause every
human
being
and
organization requires
privatβspace
behind
their pubUc face - a 'private culture' within which decisions
can
be made
and
confidences respected (Ericson
et
a1.,
op.
ci
t.).
Co
nversely, even
the
most
reluctant source
can
experience
diffic

叫位的
ü
it fails
to
respond
approp
品
ately to media
scru
位ny
，的
t
least
in
risking further dangerous intrusions
into its private affairs.
It
may also, of course, use
the
media to further its
own
poUtical ends
(閱
11
肘，
1993).
chapterl:
ci
位
zenship

，
Co
mmuni
阻
tion
，
andPo
恤
ω
自
TheT
回
nished
Ideal
v
Gans' second
fac
切
r
is
the
power of a source.
Hi
s
point
，也
atthere
心
rui
恤

ent
(l_
and
access ofnews sources
r
恥
tsor
石誨
r
social
and
poUtic~!hierarchi
帥，
is
祉
so
prominen
位
y
emphasized -
albeit
抽difl'
erent
degrees
一姐
olli
誼 
analyses ofjournalists
and
their sources (Sigal,

1986;
Ericson et
a1.,
op.
cit.;
Gan
旬
，
op.
cit.;
Herm
姐姐
d
Chomsky,
1988;
Seymour-
訂閱，
1987
，
Hall
et
祉
，
op.
cit.). Schlesinger characterizes this as t!!e 'cultural capital' of a news
source
一i.
e.
i
的

perceived
legitimacy,
authoritative
閻明
and
甜甜
ectabili
旬，
which is
derived
吐
om
the
location a source
has
姐
thein
咐他
tional
field …
Official sources
m
可
not
always
have
to be beUeved,
but
they do have
to

be
t
述
en
seriously'
(op.
ci
t.:
81). Those with a high cultural capital will receive
coverage as of right
, whereas
0
也
er
sources have to compete
fì
叮阻
βdia
attention by developing media
strat
曙
ies.
From
也
is
work, it is possible to discern several general themes about
the
power
of
姐

stitu
位
ons
and;
旭Çli
viduals
to shape media discourses
that
訂
e
saUent to
our
discussion.
'Eir
鈍，
as
not
all pubUcity
is
good pubUcity,
the
power of news sources
is
not
just
located
in
their abillty
to
a

前
ractmedia
attention,
but
also to
manage
也
e
nature
of
that
coverage,
and
where
necess
缸
y
切
suppress
or
divert media attention. As
Tuchman
(1978)
pointso
前，
the
power to keep
an
occurrence
out

ofthe news is
an
important
aspect of agenda-building power. This
is
也
e
significance of
our
earUer
observation about
the
new
management regime of official
s
個位組
cs.
S
缸
ec
∞
ond
趴訪拘
ow
咐
ers
of
‘池尬油
e
缸

en
肘
lcloωs
肘
e'
閻
d
‘油品
s
叩
d
枷
Oωs
盯
e'
(趾加
ic
臼
so
阻
n
et
a1.
ι
.
，
op.
cit.)
缸
e

difl'erentially available,
and
缸
e
closely Unked to broader configurations of
political
and
economic power. This
is
most evident
in
the
power of sources
to censor media debate
,
such
as
in
the
ability
ofthe
state to impose a
range
ofunique
sanc
位
ons
on
the
media,

and
ofthe rich to employ the legal system
13
F
今
14
T
祖
ation
個
d
Representation:
The
Media
,
Pollti
曲
l
Co
mmuni
開
tion
and the
PoU
Tax
的也
reaten
or
punish
jo

叫
nalis
位
c
transgressions. However, these sanê-
tions
缸
e
used interm.ittently. More significant is
the
ab
也可
to
enclose
discussion by disclosing information -
mis
姐
forming
or
diverting media
debate by
emplo
抖
ng
defensive strategies of 'deception',
or
offensive
strategies of 'selection'
, where media attention is
drawn

towards less
也
reatening
，
or more expedient,
ma
悅
ers
但
ricson
et
al.
,
op.
cit.). As Dôwn-
ing points
out
, 'Secrecy
is
not
used
的
an
impermeable shield blotting
out
all communication,
but
as a device to allow
the
pinnacle of

the
power
struc
仙
e
to communicate
how
and
when it prefers'
(Dow
到時，
1986:
157).
In
this publicity
game-
and
the field
ofpublicrela
位
ons
more gener-
ally - economic power counts for a lot
, whether inrecruiting trained p
ù.
blic
relations personnel or covering the costs of producing
and
distributing
information subsidies. However

, political
and
cultural power also exerts a
significant influence. Those news sources who
can
disseminàte informa-
tionpr
甘
ately
as
well
部
publicly
to journalists (Ericson et
al.
,
op.
cit.), have
a very significant advantage over those
so
盯
ces
who
have
to lobby loud
and
hard
in
the
public

訂
ena.
As
Gandy points out:
‘
Often
也
e
value of
an
information subsidy for
any
source is increased
to the
extent
也
at
the
source
can
disguise
the
promotional,
p
缸位
S
血，
self-
旭
terested

quality of the information. This
is
often accomplished
when
news stories convey
the
desired
informa
位
on
without
identif
抖
ng
its
so
盯
'ce.
In
formation
that
would be accepted only with
càu
位
on
ifits
source were identified as a
p
缸位
san

in
a debate is
much
more powerful
ifit
is
a received objective
fa
仗，
reportβd
by
an
uninterested
journ
叫恤，
(op.
C
Ít.:
14).
These covert mechanisms
of
disclosure
缸
e
going to be more routinely
available to those sources
with
the
greatest 'cultural capital',
who

autc•
maticalIy receive the attention
of
the media, and can trade off
par
位
al
journalistic access
for
confiden
位
ality
and non-attribution.
These points provide an
i
血
portant
context
for
0
肘
analysis
of
the
interac-
tion between news
so
目
ces
and journalists in the construction

of
media
discourses over
the
Co
m血
unity
Charge:-
However, before starting
0
盯
f
substantive
analy
呦;
we
need to introduçè a further conceptual distinction )
that
is
f
恤阻
d
岫阻削
d
均
y
加峙
p
叫
m

叫
tt
切
oou
叫
1
cat
紀
es'
and
‘
arbit
紛
βrs
訢，
In
the 19 50s, Westley
and
MacLean (1957) suggested we should conceive
Chapter
1:
Citizenship
,
Co
mmunication, and
PO
加
ω-
The
Tamished

Id
開
1
21
1_
(ofthemedi
的
s
information brokers
between
缸叫
orma
位
onsee
坦
ngpublic
門交部日臨C('ad
vo
總
es'
姐
society
…凶伽伽
ns
or individuals who have
V something to say (or
some
也
ing
to selI). The notion of advocacy

see
血
sto
的如
be
a useful way of partially conceptualizing
J:1
ews
so
盯
'ces.
In
Our
analysis 'advocates' are
the
sources
血的
journalists
r
豆亟單ZëãS.ll
av
垣
g
竺些也
d
哇哇盟控坐旦旦坐坐坐坐坐坐笠
which
frame
and
inform I

their contributions.
As
such
，也
ey
provide
the
raw
material ofmedia cover-
age: the conflict upon which news depends.
In
the exchange with advo-'
cates,
journalists
缸哇旦旦
tjust
臼
eking
informati
妞，
but
叫
so
opinions
and
assertions.
However
,
the
news media are expected to cominent quickly and

authorita
幽
tively about an uncertain world, plagued
with
complex issues and moral
dilemma~.
If
journalists spend a large proportion
of
位
merepor
位
ngafroth
of
opinion,
co
凶
lict
and conjecture, they never lose
the
impulse to establish
v-a
bed-r
也包住戶，
onw
包
ch
toground
也耐
report

山
deed
，
joutnalism
V remains
0
現坐車坐到
tbas
位
onsofem
控蛇~:
searching
for
the
unvarn-
ished
truth
behind the best possible gloss, clinging
to
也可~
belief
that
'facts'
can be rescuedfromhyperbole.
In
this
se
前
chjourn
到

istso
立
enelectso
叮
ces
who
, because
of
their perceived
e
勾
ertise
，
willingness and
ab
也
tyto
com-
municate
with
journalis
怨，叮
e
used to evaluate assertions
and
interpreta-
位
ons
made
by

advoc
胸
s
in
a political
debate.
的
one
local government
co
叮
espondent
explained
in
an interview
with
the
authors:
句
r
'A journalist is always looking for someone who
can
紀且也
em
that
血呵
're
not
being mislead
or

led by
the
nO
Jß.
An
d [the poll tax]
isn't
merely
just
a soft selI,
but
is
旭
such
a
complex
盯
ea.'
-
.<.\
We refer to these sources
as
也
e
'arbiters' of a particular field of discourse.
電立~間喝一-詞句“即可-、-
(_Ar
bit
的
ap

阿
f
盯
less
frequently
血
an
advo
阻除一倒叫
th
甜
com
臨時
m
叮理
tevmbe
d
臼
d
even
when
contact
has
been
m
帥一
bu
恤金控
J
\且堅空空空些

eis
且起巨型竺但也堅擎的.
Because of
journali
咐，
relianceon th.eir expertise, the evaluations of
arbi
臼
rs
resonate beyond
the
specific moment of contact,
and
far exceed
the
regul
缸
ity
of their
appe
缸，
如此哭也要主要(略成:
84)
那
SMQMjom
恥
ts
view all
SOurCeS
自

'questio
Íl
able'. Our research suggests
an
important qualification
to
血
is
generalization.
Al也
ough
claims
and
assertions by
advocates
訂
e
ritua
lIy
approached with a degree of suspicion
, this scepticism applies far less to
缸
bit
憑自.
This
is
mainly because
ofthe
nature
of the exchange relationship

。、.
15
16
T
臨
ation
and
Representation:
The
Media
,
PO
益6
個
l
Co
mmuni
開
.tion
and the
Poll
T
揖
f1
between arbiters
andjourn
叫
ists.
Firstly
旭

!biters
,don't
p
凹
sue
journalists:
~-
I
they
訂
'e
elected by
jo
盯
nalists.
Therefore,
the
廿
selection
is inextricably
linked to a journalist' s sense of her own political
and
professional
jud
那個
men
t.
By
佐
ust

姐
g
an
arbiter, the journalist is, by
extension
，仕
usting
her
own
迦
itial
judgement.
Second
，訂
biters
訂
e
most highly valued where
issues are
new
, complex
or
uncertain.
This
旭
evitably
places journalists
in
a far more vulnerable
and

dependent
posi
位
on.
The arbiter role here is comparable to
that
ofthe
intellectual,
in
p
缸位
c
叫缸
如
what
Bauman
has
identified
的
the
'legislator'
func
位
on.
Thisis
‘
ma
垣
ng
authoritative statements which arbitrate

in
controversies of opinions
a:n
d
which select those
op
旭
ions
which, having been selected, become correct
and
b
垣
ding'
(Baum
間，
1987: 4). The_perceived
~~ession
空白血，
of
也
~更坦
r
is crucial to their
selec
說凹，
and mirrors
how
tIle
re
函油証

of
journalistic professionalism enables journalists to construct their
own
'objec
位
vity'.
The professional status
of
訂
biters
is seen
to
remove
themfrom
the
vestedp
缸位
ality
ofp
盯
ty
political debate,
and
allow
them
切
comment
dispassionately, intelligently
and
'objec

加舟，
about complex
and
con-
troversial matters.
Beyond
血泊，
the selection of arbiters
is
叫
so
governed by
也
eir
‘
media
friendliness'; assessed,
on
the o
Ii
e
hand
,
in
their
co-opera
位間，
ness,
and
,

on
the
other,
in
an
ability to render complex issues
in
扭扭
gibleto
journalists
and
their audiences.
However
,
if
the
perceived
expe
的
ise
of these sources gives their views a
p
訂也世缸
power
但d_
authori
旬，
it is
necess
肘

y
切
question
也
ena
個
re
of
their 'objectivity'l
There
訂
e
two dimensions to this issue. The first
is
whether these
sources
缸
e
as politically detached from
the
matters
upon
which they are commenting, as journalists
assume
…迦
deed
，
whetherthey
may themselves be covert advocates. For example, several
commen

祖
tors
have recently challen
g;
ed the widespread use offinancial analysts from
the
money markets by the media to adjudicate
on
broader matters offiscal
and
political
policy
但也
ig
et
a1.,
op.
cit.;
Gav
誨，
1992).
In也
e
case
ofthe
poll
tax
,
as we discuss
in

Chapter 6, some ofthe most
influen
位
al
arbiters
in
coverage
;were
the
local government finance
0
血
cers
responsible for
administβring
\;;/
the system. However,
when
we interviewed several ofthese professionals
it became clear they were
f:缸
more
actively engaged
in
也
e
political debate
也
an
many

journalists assumed. For example, they harboured serious
professional grievances against the tax - because it made their work more
problematic
and
seriously compromised
the
financial viability of their
authorities -
and
often communicated their antipathy to journalists
(晶晶
Chapter
1:
ci
說
zens
旭
.p
，Co
mmuni
阻位
on
，
andPoli
位
cs
-
The
Tamished
Ideal

/
privately). Furthermore,
in
some cases,
they
were highly selective
in
the
information
they
gave journalists.
For
example, one fmance
0
誼
.cer
deliber-
ately suppressed information about the level
of
non-payment
in
his
缸
eato
avoid
gi
討
ng
succo
盯

to
local
an
位
poll
t
臨
campai
血的﹒(As
he
put
it
,
'1
always turned their question round into
what
1
wanted
臼
tell
them'
.)
The second
dimensionto
也
is
臨的
epistem
叫
i

喊道
isn
圳
ec
仰
aryto
accuse
every
缸
biter
of
pursuing a hidden agenda to
ques
位
on
their objec-
tivity.
Cle
缸隙，
many
缸
'biters
seek
切
be
部
acc
盯
a
妞，

dispassionate and
imp
缸
tial
as
pδssible
in
the
evaluations
they
provide.
Nevertheless
，也
eir
contributions
盯
en
帥，
and
can
never be, completely value
free.
Ar
biters'
c-_y
erdicts
缸
'e
PI
金色旦旦控堅

al
judgements
derived
仕om
institu
位
onal
而血面
ge
函函
and
personal
句函站前As
such
they
are
咖
ays
potentially
contestable. To
the
social researcher
the
impossib
也
ty
of
absolute value
freedom and
objec

加
i
可
is
not
an alien concept and, indeed,
is
why
the
philosophical culture
ofthe
social sciences is so finely
attune
缸
oquestions
about
the
conditions and production ofknowledge.
,H
owever,
such
notions
訂
e
恤旭
ical
to some
of
也
e

most
cherished
no
御自
ofjourn
祉
is
位
c
profes-
sionalism (Haslam and
Brym
妞，
1994)
and, asaconsequence,
canbeseen
as
hostile to
the
practice and
inte
缸
ity
ofjournalism
as
a craft, rather
than
as
a description
of

the
inextricable
s
甘
uctural
conditions
of
its practice
(Golding and
El
lio
仗，
1979:
12-16).
Throughout
也
is
study
we
explore
the
nature
of
media
-s
our
ç_
e
rela
位

on-
I
sh
恥，
bearing
旭
mind
the
distinction drawn here between&he roles
of
11
advocate and
ar
甜
er.
However to take our model forward a little rurther
we
needtoex
叫
ne
tw,
d
addi
泣。叫
vectors
in
our
an
吻
is

，
thedyn
削
csofthe
policy process and
the
nature
of
media coverage.
The
natural
history ofpolitical
communications
It
remains for
us
to set
out
briefly two conceptual devices which will form
important props
in
the analysis which follows. The first relates to
the
policy
process itself. We have argued earlier
that
the
models
of
血的

process
commonly
on
offer
in
policy studies take inadequate account
ofthe
'envi-
ronme
肘，
in
which policy evolves.
The
仕
ian
guI
ar
relationship between
politics
, public opinion
and
the media
is
a particularly crucial aspect
of
血
is
environment, and
is
certainly the focus of Our discussion

in
this book. Our
model here is distinct from
that
developed by symbolic interactionist re-
searchers who seek a description of 'social problems as products of a
17
門今
18
Taxation and
Representa
位.o
n:
Th
e
Media
,
PO
加開
l
Co
mmuni
間
.tion
and the
POII
T
臨
process of collective
de

fi.區位
on'
個
19
缸
tner
and
Bosk,
1988:
53). The em-
phasis
on
social
problemsðen
位
rely
'a
putative condition
or
situation
that
is labelled a problem
in
the
盯闊的
ofpublic
discourse o
ì:'
action' (i
bi

d.:
55)
rather
detracts from the
necess
缸
y
analysis of the
m.
aterial conditions
which give rise to those problems
,
and
which
缸
e
也
o
the
backdrop for
the
contest required to
force
也
em
to public attention. Equally
the
emphasis
on
the media as one among

many
potential 'carriers' elides the potent cen-
tralityof
也
emedia
扭曲
epo
誼
.cy
process. Nonetheless the
perspec
位問，
while
inadequate
to
血
e
analysis
of
也
e
deliberate mobilization of symbols
on
which politics subsists, usefully reminds
us
of
也
e
cultural component to
the manufacture of politics.

戶…
tyC
凶
ge
泌組叫
s
叩…
u
detectable
b
恤扯蚵
t
也
h
組
d
阻
e
師
ve
阻
n
more pronounced ending\
But
, exceptional
though
t
趾
s
may

be, we wish to suggest
that
any
仰
lícy
initiative goes
也
rough
a sequence of phases.
These
缸
e
primarily de
fi.n
ed
in
terms of
the
legislative process,
but
盯
e
designed to invite
an
assessment of
the
links
between
the
three

po
泊的
of
也
e
P9licy triangle mentioned above.
、
J
The
fi.r
st
phase we
have
叫
led
inceptio
恥!f
his
is
the
v
甸甸
m
蝕
determi
“
nate
period
in
which

percep
位
ons
of the need for
change
前
e
fostered
and
crystallized. This
can
be a lengthy phase
in
which long seated
problems
缸
e
ignored, masked or
un
缸位
c
叫
ated
，
or a brief
and
dr
am.
a
位

c
heightening of
aw
盯
eness
precipi
個位
ng
urgent
action (as
in
‘moral panics'). The second
-L phase
is
presentation
,
andis
the point
atwhich
the government‘goes public'
with plans
or
aspira
說
ons
，
eitherthroughkiteflyingormoreformally. This
merges almost immediately into
the
t

趾
rd
period, of
cons
u1
tation
,
when
interested parties react to the proposals,
and
a dialogue, often unequal,
and
frequently marshalled within the media, addresses
and
sometimes contests
,defmitions
ofthe
newly announced initiative. The fourth period is
that
of
\/
form
u1
ation
, wherein the Government
re
fi.n
es
or
redesigns it proposals

on
the basis of
the
conclusions of the consultative process. However, as we
show
latβr
，
this formulative stage was of negligible
import
扭曲
to
the
introduction of the
Co
m血
U
凶
ty
Charge, which was imposed
in
spite
ofthe
conclusions of
the
consult
甜
ve
process. Therefore,
our
description of

the
media's cöverage of this particular policy combines this stage with
the
consultation period. The
fi.
fth phase
is
legislation
,
in
which the full cycle of
p
缸
liamentary
scru
位
ny
扭扭
s
place with a
v
位
ying
amount
ofpublic
at
但岳
、/位
on.
The sixth phase

is
preparation
, during which
administrative
缸
range
ments
are
organized for its implementation.
The
seventh
phase
is
chapter1:
曰“
zensl
旬，“咽
munication
，
and
Politiω
呻Th
e
Tarnished
姐姐
心肌咖
n
a new piece of
legisla
伽

h
曲
comes
鷗伽此加
stage
may
of course be staggered, as a new policy is phased in. The eighth
stage
is
that
of
ev
a1
uation.
Al
though
polices
盯海
continually
evaluated
throughout
the
policy cycle, it
is
duringthis phase
that
claims
for
也
βpolicy

in
principle
缸
e
assessed against its performance
in
practice,
and
the doom-
mongers
盯
e
congratuIated for their
presctβnce
or
ridiculed for their pes-
simism.
However
也
is
stage
rem
訟
ns
an
ideological as well as empirical
phase
, often characterized by vehement disputes over
the
validity

and
relevan
臼
of
evidence presented. The
outcomβofthis
stage determines
the
fi.n
al stage of the policy cycle,
namely
自宙的
lilation.
In
this phase the policy
becomes invisible
,
p
缸
tof
血
.e
political
rot
芯，
literally
unproblema
恥.If也
is
isnotac

隘的
ed
then
the policy
is
forced
back
恆的
acontinuingevaluation
phase,
and
an
altemative outcome of
abolition
may
resul
t.
This model is
no
more
than
an
abstract description of the necessary phases
of
the
natural
history of a policy process.
1t
does draw attention to
the

presence
at
every phase of a dialectic relationship with a communicative
and
publicity enviro
nIÌl
ent.
In也
is
sense
it
is
not
a single linear sequence
surrounded by
an
environme
泣，
wi
也
feedback
restrained until
the
fi.n
al
phase.Ra
也
er
feedback,
ifthat

is
theright
term, is continuously impacting
on
each
phase of the
sequen
間，
anddβtermines
the
位
m旭
g
andna
個
reof
each
successive phase. The r
l;l
al environmentfor this process is the
dis
仕
ibu
tion ofpower
and
reso
肘
ces
which enables
access

扭曲。記
feedback
flows.
The second
conceptual
切
01
wesh
剖
1
employ is the distinction betwee
Ìl
the
VlP
ev
a1
uative
and
the
interpretative
dimensions of media coverage)(Golding,
~
1990).
In
conventi
個
lal
t
活
rms

the adequacy of a media reporfis judged by
its
fairness
，。旬
ectivity
and
imp
缸
tiality
as
an
account of some event or
person.
1s
the
report pro
or
an
位
somepoli
旬，
p
缸旬，
orinitia
位
ve?
This is the
ev
a1
uative

dimension,
but
it is only one
vecωr.
We need also to examine
the
question of
whatωpects
of the
policy
缸
'e
rendered visible, named
and
promoted. This
is
thβ
interpretative
diníension
and
asks the simple question,
whatis
也
is
issue about?
In也
is
study we shall be assessing both dimensions
in
rela

位
on
to the coverage of the poll
t
蹄，
and
indeed
缸伊恆
g
that
the
process of
‘
pri
血的
de
fi.區位
on'
can
only be
understood
恆
relation
to
也
is
distinction if
we
缸
'e

to make sense of the history
of
也
.e
poll
個
x.
Weshall
also be assessing
the
evaluative
and
interpretative capacity of news
so
盯
'ces
，
and
suggesting
that
the
power of arbiters, for example, is far more
limited
in
defming
the
恆
terpreta
位
ve

dimension of
policy
也
an
it is
in
relation to evaluation.
19
20
Taxation and
Rep
悶
entatio
n:
The
M
ed.i
a,
PO
恤阻
1
臼
mm
iI到個
.tion
and the
Poll
T
，缸
We begin the analysis by

assess
祖
g
the
genes
泌
and
background
of
the
Co
mmunity Charge.
Chapter 2
A BriefHistory
ofThe
Poll Tax
TThhe
恤岫……岫伽叫叫…曲伽
ωωcti
耐…位伽
o
ex
封
te
閒
nd
缸
edwellbey
，仰
ond

吋
dth
加
.es
句
pe
郎
ci
逍
fic
臼
sofloca
叫
19
伊
overnment
宜
financ
閃
e.
In
d
配
.ee
吋
d
，缸
guments
about its technical and financial adequacy
masked

'a
deeper
cons
位
tutional
and
political
缸
gument
about
what
form oflocal government
is
needed
in
the
UK'
(Q
世此，
1986:4).
In也
is
chapter we set
out
the key aspects of this broader
deba
鉤，
as
an
esse

Ii
tial
cont
冶
xt
to
our
general appraisal
ofthe
media' s performance
and
influence
in
reporting
the
poll tax.
British local
and
central
government
relationsω
甜
-1970)
As
wi
也
so
many
Bri
討

sh
political
arr
阻
gements
，也
e
role
and
respo
UØ:::
b
血位
.es
of local govemment
hav~
.n
ever been
cons
仿制位
onally
inscrib~d

Rather, its powers
and
obligation
告-h
ave
been shaped
poli

位
callyandhistori:'
ca
旬，
and
remain contested. At the centre of this dispute
has
been
the
appropriate
relationship
曲的
shoulde
組成
between
central
and
local
g
帥"
ernment,
and
凶
particular
the
degree of autonomy the latter should be
permitted.
Some analyses
, whilst acknowledging
the

value of the devolved
adm
坦
is
“
甘
ation
oflocal services, ultimately insist
that
local
govem
血
.ent
should act
as
the
agent of
cen
甘
al
government: the conduit
rather
than
progenitor of
policy
(Ri
dley, 1988).
In
contrast, others portray the devolution ofpolitical
power

臼
an
essen
位
al
precondition for healthy d
l1
mocracy
(B
l
u.D.k
ett
an:
d
::.一
Jackson, 1987;
Hill
y
缸
d
and
Percy-Smith,
19881
1'扭扭
.troduction
of
the
、
Community Charge was seen by
bo

也
sides
as representing a crucial mo-
ment
恆
this
evolving constitutional debate, whether as heralding a
new
21
22
T
揖
ation
and
Repr
珊
en
個位
.o
n:
The
Media
,
PO
加曲
1
Co
mmunica
說
on

and the Poll
T
也
era
of
local
account
晶晶
tyor
dri
討
ngthe
宜
nal
nails
into
the
coffin
of
local
democracy.
〔
hp
閃閃的叫叫叫
ov
…呵呵叫別
e
political
interventionfrom
national

governmen
叫
The
two
tiers
were
essen-
tially discrete political universes,
with
national
government
concerned
withm
峭的
of
national
security
and
foreign:policy,
and
也
e
manyand
varied local authorities responsible for
the
dis
仕
ibution
of
a1ms

and
the
maintenance
of
local
amenities
坦問
y
manner
they
saw
fit
(D
o
盟，
1986a).
In
evitably, this
laissez-faire
system
oflocal
governance produced
'a
chaos
ofins
位
tutions
，缸
eas
and

rates'
(Ri
ch
訂
ds
，
1980:
15).
The
nineteenth
century
has
been
described
as
the
'golden age'
of
local
government
reform
in
Brit
缸，
with
many
of
the
changes
wrought

d
肘
ing
血
is
period establishlng
the
foundations for
the
modern
system
(Sme
油
.e
，
1968;
Goldsmith,
1979).
The
m
到
nimpe
旭
s
for reform
came
from
出
e
first

industrial revolution
which
transformed
the
demography
ofthe
nation.
As
densely populated
urban
缸
e
也
mushroomed
，
problems
of
social depriva-
位
on
worsened
which
placed
缸
ow
站
g
pressures
upon
the

limited civic
r
ame
副
es
and
welfa
叫
rovisioI
晶血泊，
itw
叫
e
叫
hat
there
was
an
\
urgent
need
for a strategic response to
the
problems
ofpoor
relief,
housing
,
\
sanitation

, policing
and
public health. A
restructured
咖
tem
oflocal gov-
1
ernment
provided
the
principal
means
by
which
these pressing issues
were
I tackled.
(Er
叫
he
叫
y
nineteenth
叫阿伽
0
峭的伽副耐
ιω-1
凹
9

空吵吵針
φ}
伽
ep
闕
a
前
t
t
鉛恤伽
β
且叮
rn
宜沮
ns
姐
血
e
development
of
local
g
伊
overn
血
en
肘
t
旭
the

U:凶
tê
品
a
Ki
ngdom
缸
e
evident.
如此，
levels
of
local government capital
and
revenue
expenditure
increased; slowly
at
first,
but
then
with
a growing impetus. Second,
central
government
influence over local
government
activities correspondingly
姐
creased;

whether
旭
ensur
坦
g
unifor
咽，
minimum
standards
of
service
provision,
or
旭
removing
certain
services wholly
or
partially from
the
jurisdiction of local authorities. Thlrd,
and
largely as a
result
of
this
i
恤
n-
\(

~，的
r
昀
e
叫咖
v
叫
o
囚
E
叫空墮型憋的竺型峙唾哇塑哩聖堅
ov
型愕竺帥
I
s
叩
ou
肘
rc
臼
eofr
間
evenuefl
臼
'orloca
叫
19o
仰
ve
叮

:rnment.
In
the
晶
i
峙均
year
叫
ro
血
1945
，伽叫
ends
ac
耐削
eddram
蜘
all~
In
real
terms
there
was
a
300
per
cent
inc
甜甜
e

in
local government-révénue
expenditure between
1950
and
1970
,
and
a
250
per
cent
坦
crease
旭
capital expenditure (Keith-Lucas
and
Ri
ch
缸缸，
1978:
130).
Control of
血
any
services
such
as poor relief
and
public

health
, along
with
public
cbap
能叫:
ABrief
His切
ry
ofThe
Poll
T
磁
u位
lities
such
as
water
, shifted
to
the
centre.
An
d
by
1974/75
,
66
per
cent

oflocal
revenue
was
provided
by
central
subventions.
/~Thep
血
cipalre
肥
on
for this
ch
組酹
wastge
establishmentofthe
·吋垃皇
之盈鹽
1
旦趾迪瓦
d
伽
the
2nd
World
W
，叮.
Th
e Labour Government's

manifesto
ofl945
血
arked
也
e
first explicitly
national
view oflocal govern-
ment
,
in
which
local
authori
泣的
were
deemed
部
instruments
of
central
government
,
rather
than
semi-autonomous agents. This diminishlng
of
local
帥的

nomy
and
change
in
也
.e
texture
of local/
cen
仕
al
relations
w
部
部臼
pted
or
ignored as
the
standards
of public services increased
(划時間，
der
,
1990;
Golding
and
Mi
ddle
恤，

1982).
The imroediate post-war years also
saw
a qualitative
transformation
in
the
party
politicization oflocal
government
(Goldsmith,
op.
cit.:
18).
Al
though
p
叮叮
po
加
cs
had
assumed a growing
sign
血
cance
in
local
government
over

the
preceding
century
,
it
w
自
during
this period
that
we
see
a
‘
na
位
on
aliza
位
on'
ofp
前走
ya
血垃
a
位
ons
in
local government
with

'repeated
attemp
臼
to
bring
local
and
national
politicians
of
each
p
缸
ty
to
m
缸
ch
旭
step'
已
(GHord
，
1"5:86).TMSMjec
悅。
n
of
party
poli
位

cs
into
loc
叫
goverment/
旭
Mduce4a
si
血泊
cant
potenti
叫
so
盯
'ce
of
tensio~
between
central
and
V
local
gove
也
me
肘，
the
full
extent
of

which
was
oÍÙy
fully
realized
祖
the
1980s
,
when
a
resurgent
municipal socialism
ran
fi
甜甜
tin
切
anational
government
passionately committed
to
the
free-market
and
swingeing
cuts
泊
public
expenditure.

f
「口川
h
岫捌叫
t
凶岫且岫也伽……
e
“叫叫叫
e
闊吋叫…缸吋圳叫
w
圳
ly
19
凹
970
伽
s
伽伽叫…
s
甜吋叫
e
吋山旭凶…
c
a
叩
nd
肛
th
加

eex
旬
ponent
位
ia
叫
li
旭
ncreasei
旭
nloc
侃
algoverrr
虹
mentex
苟
pend
品
it
伽
urea
缸阻
ndcent
佐
ral
I
governmen
肘
t
subvent

位
ions
contin
p.
~d.
However, from
then
onwards
,
the
I
V I
period
of
expansion
in
Bri
位
sh
local
government
，也
at
could be
traced
back
I
more
也
an

a
hundred
and
forty
ye
缸
s
，
w
卸
thrown
旭
to
reverse.
__ J
Local
goverrrment
恆
the
1970s:
'the
p
前旬
'sover'
The unexpected
vic
旬眠。
fa
Conservative
Government

恆
the
1970general
J
election opened
t
恤趾頭
major
fault lines
in
the
locall
central
relationship. J
Al
though
the
political energies
of
the
Heath
-administration were
p
泣
nci-
pally
concentrated
on
their
dealings

with
the
trades
union
movement
,
it
also implemented policies
which
held
m
吋
or
implica
位
ons
for
the
future
form
and
fIn
ance
ofBritish local government.
The
most significant
was
the
ν/
23

24
T
臨
ation
and
Represen
鼠的
o
n:
The
Media
,
Politi
間
1
Co
mmunica
位.o
n
and the
Poll
T
祖
ν1972
L
'O
cal G
'O
vernment
Finance Act, which introduced a

n
主巨型
d
但
已空空
em
'O
fl
'O
cal g
'O
vemance.
At
也
e
sa
血
e
位
me
，
the
issue
'O
f
the
equity
and
adequacy
'O

f
the
e.
洹
sting
system
'O
f l
'O
cal d
'O
mestic taxati
'O
n was als
'O
pt
'O
pelled
'O
n
t
'O也
e
p
'O
li
位
cal
agenda. The
ra

伽
g
system
('O
r
'the
Rates'
，的
it
was widely
kn
'O
wn)
was
a
pr
'O
perty-based d
'O
mestic
tax
that
had
remained
unchanged
in
principle
since
the
intr

'O
ducti
'O
n
'O
f
the
Eliz
abethan
P
'O'O
r Law
in
160
1. L
'O
cal
rates
were set
and
levied acc
'O
rding t
'O
tw
'O
c
'O
mp
'O

nent
calculati
'O
ns. The first
was
the
'rateable value'
'O
f a
pr
'O
perty, which was determined
by
its
es
位血
ated
rentable value. The sec
'O
nd
was the
rate
p
'O
undage,
which
was
set
by
the

lev
抖
ng
auth
'O
rity acc
'O
rding t
'O
the
gap between
its
切
tal
spending
and
its
inc
'O
me fr
'O
m all s
'O
urces,
in
p
訂位
cul
訂
cen

仕
al
g
'O
vernment
subventi
'O郎，
and
l
'O
cal business taxes (which were set
and
calculated
by
the
levying l
'O
cal
auth
'O
rities
in
a
simil
缸
manner
扭曲
mestic
rates). The levying
authöri

位
es
were 'sec
'O
nd
tier'
auth
'O
rities (i.e
ci
旬，
district
'O
r b
'O
r
'O
ugh
c
'O
uncils),
whö
raisedrevenue
'O
n behalf
'O
fthemselves
and
'O
ver

盯
chingc
'O
unty-
叫
deauth
'O
r
隘的
and
smaller parish c
'O
uncils.
T
趾
s
pr
'O呻
pe
叮
rty
“
b
卸
e
吋
d
syst
紛
em

'O
f l
'O
cal taxati
'O
n required
pe
叮
ri
岫'O
d
街
ic
'世
re
叮
va
剋
lu
研
闕
at
位伽
i
站'O
ns'
'O
f
也
epr

'O
p
脾
er
前
ti
切
est
'O
beunde
叮
r
扭
ken
丸
1
，
切
ma
剖
i
且
t
祖
ai
旭
nt
也
he
bu

'O
yancy
'O
ft
血:h
e
l
'O
ca
叫
lta
缸
xbas
甜
e
，
and
it
was
the
last revaluati
'O
n held
in
En
gland
and
Wales
旭
1973

that
shifted the issue
'O
fl
'O
cal g
'O
vernment
financeref
'O位
n
t
'O
the
centre
'O
f the p
'O
litical agenda. The
resul
位
ng
redistributi
'O
n
in
the
l
'O
cal

tax
burden
it
pr
'O
duced, which was exacerbated by the c
'O
st
'O
fl
'O
cal g
'O
vernment
re
'O
r-
ganiza
位'O
nandhigh
扭扭
d
妞，
caused c
'O
nsiderable public c
'O
ntr
'O
versy

and
media c
'O
mment
(Gyf
'O
rd
et
a1.,
1989).
Vari
'O
us
'rates strikes' were
'O
r-
ganized by residents
in
the
hardest
hit
areas,
and
the fur
'O
re
pr
'O
mpted a
manifest

'O
c
'O
m血
itment
fr
'O
m
the
C
'O
nservative
Par
旬，
which
Margaret
Thatcher pers
'O
nally champi
'O
ned,
that
there w
'O
uld
be
a fundamental
ref
'O
rm

'O
f
the
rates
in
the event
'O
f its
re
-e
lecti
'O
n.
It
s subsequent defeat,
h
'O
wever, prevented the
Party
fr
'O
m acting up
'O
n
that
pr
'O
mise.
The immediate resp
'O

nse
'O
f the
new
Lab
'O
ur
administrati
'O
n t
'O
this p
'O
litical
c
'O
ntr
'O
versy was
't
'O
spend m
'O
ney
and
buy
time'
(B
'O
yne

,
1986:
428).
In
1974/75
an
ad
hoc
subsidy
'O
f
:t:l
50
血血
i
'O
n
was
pr
'O
vided t
'O
h
'O
ld d
'O
wn
d
'O
mes

位
c
rates,
and
the
Layfield
C
'O
m
血拙
ee
'O
f
En
q
凶
ryw
自
established
t
'O
rep
'O
rt
'O
n
the
financing
'O
f l

'O
cal g
'O
vernmen
t.
The C
'O
mmittee's deliber-
ati
'O
ns
(Layfie
峙，
1976)
c
'O
ncluded
that
a l
'O
cal inc
'O
me
tax
sh
'O
uld be levied
by l
'O
cal

auth
'O
rities t
'O
supplement
the
exis
伽
g
rates. Crucially,
the
Layfìeld
Chap
紀
r
2:
A
Brief
His切
ry
ofThe
Poll
T
，祖
rep
'O
rt's
supp
'O
rt

f
'O
r a l
'O
cal
inc
'O
me
tax
'w
郎
specifically
ass
'O
ciated
wi
也
the
wider
ques
泣。
n
'O
f relati
'O
ns
between
cen
仕
al

and
l
'O
cal
g
'O
vernme
瓜，
(Ri-
ch
缸曲
，
op.
cit.:
109)
,
and
旭
p
訂位
c
叫缸
that
greater p
'O
wers
'O
f decisi
'O
n

sh
'O
uld be given t
'O
l
'O
cal
auth
'O
rities. The additi
'O
nal
revenue needed f
'O
r
suchamaj
'O
r
仕
ansf
'O
rma
位'O
n
w
'O
uld be
pr
'O
vided by this additi

'O
nal
inc
'O
me
tax.
The Lab
'O
ur
G
'O
vernment
叫
ected
the
c
'O
nclusi
'O
ns
'O
f
也
e
Layfìeld rep
'O
rt
,
and
s

'O
ught
instead t
'O
exert greater c
'O
ntr
'O
l
'O
ver l
'O
cal expenditure. As
Ri
ch
盯
ds
'O
bserves, Layfield' s 'l
'O
calist'
VÏSi
'O
n was
'thr
'O
ttled
by
也
erequire

ments
'O
f
macr
o-
ec
'O
n
'O
mic planning'
(幼
i
iL:
163).
Thr
'O
ugh
'O
ut
the
1970s
,
extensive
di
錯
culties
with
the
c
'O

un
仕
y's
ec
'O
n
'O
my
, exacerbated
bytheinter-
nati
'O
nal
'O
il
cri
呦，
had
f
'O
rced
the
Chancell
'O
r t
'O
seek
extemal
assistance
fr

'O
m
the
In
ternati
'O
nal
M
'O
netary
Fund, which
had
placed
great
pressures
up
'O
n
G
'O
vern
血
ent
spending. One
'O
f
the
maj
'O
r c

'O
nditi
'O
ns
'O
f
IMF
support
was
血的
public
expenditure w
'O
uld be reined in.
In
1976
,
the
Secretary
'O
f
State f
'O
r
the
En
vir
'O
nment
warnedl

'O
cal g
'O
vernmentthat
'the
p
缸旬
's
'O
ver'
，
and
扭曲
e
Lab
'O
ur
adminîstrati
'O
n's
fmal years significant reducti
'O
ns were
achieved
in
aggregate l
'O
cal expenditure.
By
1978179,

the
percentage
'O
f
l
'O
cal g
'O
vernment expenditure c
'O
vered by
cen
仕
al
g
'O
vernment
grants
fell
m
'O
re
也
an
5 per cent t
'O
61 per cen
t.
Al
th

'O
ugh
these
harsh
financial realities
hit
l
'O
cal
au
也'O
rities
heavily,
the
cutbacks were generally achieved
in
a spirit
'O
f grudging c'O-operati
'O
n.
H
'O
wever,
the
C
'O
nservatives'
vicωry
in

the
1979
General
四
ec
位'O
nmarked
the
beginning
'O
f a period where the
latent
tensi
'O
ns
between central
and
l
'O
cal g
'O
vernment
expl
'O
ded
int
'O
a p
'O
litical c

'O
nllict
that
t
'O
re
their l
'O
ng
established
rela
說'O
nship
t
'O
shreds,
and
called
the
wh
'O
le
structure
'O
f l
'O
cal
g
'O
vernance

in
Britain
int
'O
ques
位'O
n.
Thatcherism
缸
ld
local
government
(1979-90):
‘
Where
there
is
「
~gr
'O
wing
∞
n
吭哩哇阻
1
'O
nly
with
the
accessi

'O
n
'O
f Margaret Thatcher
that
central government
mo
叫i.J;!
~_~ystema
恥句空空白川紅些聾啞世型幽怨
re.Thenew
g
'O
vernment's
ideologiβal
c
'O
mmitment t
'O
wards
'r
'O
lling back
the
仕
ontiers
。
25
Taxation and
Repr

宙間
tatio
n:
The
Media
,
Politi
臼
l
Co
mmuni
個組
onand
也
ePo
lI
T
盟
說
1
H
.';1
吋
川
叫
泛
l
句，
J
玄

E
訂了
1
刊
l
z/
<…
of
血的組
te'
，只
oupled
with
th
甜
antipa
出
y
臼
W
缸
ds
扭曲個
xationandru
也
lic
區可
endifiire
，
brought

many
of
the
fóunding precepts of
the
welfare
sta
扭
」祖師研酒喝
n.
As
the
cause of
ne
缸
lyaqu
叮
ter
of public
e
勾
endi
旭
e
，
and
in
the context of a public sector borrowing
cris
函，

it
was inevitable
that
local
government would be a
prime
個
rget
for Government cuts.
Loughlin (1990) describes one of
thβdefining
features of
the
Thatcher
period as being
the
juri
再
fication
oflocal
and
central government relations.
Previously
也
isrela
紋。
nshipw
由
governed
by conventions of

co
n:
sulta
泣。
n;
with
bo
也位
ers
of government broadly interacting within a framework of
consensus. However
,
throughout
the
1980s
, central
government
切
ok
precipita
位
ve
，
unilateral
ac
位
on
to control
the
activities

and
expenditure of
local authorities by legislating sweeping powers. Nowhere
was
this process
ofjuri
你
cation
more evident
than
in
the
realm oflocal finance.
/?Jl?The
趾
st
到那
iflmtFea
阻四
taken
to
叫
FoI
Local
e
耶吋
ture
were
\/".旭御自
din

也
e
198q
Planning
and
Land
A
吵Al
ongs!
生旦捏捏捏聳聽
upon
capital
expenditu
妞，
the
Act added a
néw
'Block Gran
t'
component to
~區函話詩
ateS
晶晶
Grantsy
御
m.
Councils' expenditure
w
叫
inked

to a central Grant
Relat
吋Exp
enditure
Assessment
(GREA)
to discourage
high spending.
An
y expenditure
in
excess of this
GREA
1βd
的
a
decrease
in
也
.e
gr
個
t
paid to
an
authority
and
也
e
greater the overshoot,

the
more
punitive
the
penalties became
(Sills
, Taylor
and
Golding,
1988).
/μ
ì/
fjì
Thism
吋
or
change was immediately strengthened
by
an
addi
位
onal
set
of
expenditure
t
盯
gets
based
on

actu
a1
levels
of
expenditure rather
than
悶，
sessed expenditure needs,
as
it
was
fe
缸
'ed
that
those authorities
whose
expenditure were below their GREAs
might
take
the
opportunity to 'spend
up'
to this assessment.
To
the Government' s view, these targets offered
the
basis
fo
叫做恆的

le
expenditure reductions, and between
1981
and
1986
也
e
grant penalties
for
spending
胎
excess
of
these estimates became
pr
心
gressively harsher.
T
趾
s
method was finally abandonedin
1986/87
,
when
the
underlying Block
Grant
缸
Tangements
were altered

so
也
at
authorities
automatically lost grant
when
也
ey
increased spending (instead
of
only
losing grant
when
expenditure exceeded the
designated
個
rgets).
r
斗
The 198
去Lo
cal
Government Finance
A
昀
provided
greater governmental
leverage
0
立

local
authority finance by/removing
the
right
of
councilslo
~一一~一一一一一~一一一一一一
一些血旦控
lR
些空空且強吵
roughout
a financial year to
cover
個
y
short-
fall.
This represented a
si
伊
ificant
step
in
10caV
central
relations
也
itwas
! 1 (the
frrst

位血
e
a limit had been placed
on
authorities' freedom
of
access
to
the
、、、/"
26
Chapter
2:
A
Brief
His
tory
of
The
Poll
T
也
~ra
切
S
扭扭扭
dependent
so
叫
ce

of taxation
(Bl
air
, 1989)} The Ac
_t
also
(r
'e
moved
the
right
枷叫叫你
ori
御的
appoint
their
0
咐
au
品
tor~ì
ap. J
po
垣伽
g
油
th
你做
ad
0

盟空些些空位也迅
PA
咄
t
Commissio
心.Al個
though
the
Commission' s remit has been to encourage good practice,
assess
the
impact of
new
local government legislation
and
improve
the
valuβfor
money of local
servic
郎，也
eir
principal
raison
d'être
is
to achieve
si
但
ificant

cost
cut
位
ng
扭扭
y
盯
d
and
Percy-Smith,
op.
ci
t.).
,
的)~
Af
ter
the
Conservative
P
缸旬
's
victory
in
the
1983
Gener
叫毆，
ectio
且，

Gov-
ernment
legislation
aga
祖
st
local authorities gained
momen
個
m._!!scom-
凶
tmβnt
was bolstered by increasingly
ac
rirrÍ祖
aG
而前示函
ons
with
several Labour authorities
, who
not
only sought
to
企
ustra
師也
e
Govern-
ment'

s economic
s
仕
ategies
but
also foster 'some sort of socialist alterna-
ti
間，
at
a
locallevel
徊。
ddyandFudg
潭，
1984:
14).
、
CP\~
The
1984
哇
~ates
Ac~
introduced
twofì
肘也
erm
吋
or
controls oflocal

au
惱，
odtyhmcal.The
趾
stwas
as
組組如叩開的
m
封底1õéãï混血
oritiesto
consult with businesses 'and other
non-dome
討
ic
rate
pa
ÿers before setting
their business levy
, thereby increasing the accountability of local
auth-
orities to their non-domestic payers. The second
was
也
e
introduβtion
of
'rate
limitation', widely
known
as

'rate-capp
油
g'.
This involved
the
Depart
戶
血
ent
ofEnvironment setting optimum levels for domestic rates which local
authorities were
not
permitted to exceed. The Act provided
the
Govern-
ment
with
the
option of
capp
坦
g
the
rates of
spec
過
ed
authorities or all
councils;
but

after widespread
opposi
位
on
from
Conserva
位，
ve
ranks,
the
σ0
.f/字'6
Government only
ex
前
cised
the
selective option.
In
1985/86
, eighteen
I
卅也
j
highest spending
au
也
orities
were rate
-c

apped,
sixt
海
enofw
趾
ch
wereLa-
bour
controlled.
In
response several capped authorities
set
血
βgalbudge
怨
- which
flouted
也，
e
new
res
trÍ
c
位
ons
，
but
this defìance was short lived. As
these authorities teetered
on

the
brink of bankruptcy,
errant
councillors
capitulated
when
threatened with personalliability for all excessive expen-
diture.
As
the
political tensions between central
and
local government increased, \
and
the
fmancial
co
甜
ols
on
local authorities tightened,
the
issue of i
reform
旭
gthewhole
也!ll
of
扭曲
nan

凹，
which
had
laid dormant since \
the
report
百
1lle
'L
ayfìeld
Com
凶
ssion
，
~eturned
切
the
旦旦哩哇豆豆吧
~a.
I
During his fìrst period of tenure as Secretary of State
for
也
e
Environment
, /
Michael Heseltine published a Green Paper
on
rate
reform

姐
1981
which
explored
the
reform
op
位，
ons.
This Paper
(Do
宜，
1981)
outlined several
27
28
T
揖
ation
and
Repr
臼
entatio
n:
Th
e
Media
,
Poli
位問

l
Co
mmu
凶間
tionand
也
ePollT
缸
reform options, including a local inconie
t
眩，
a sales
tax
, a poll
ta
玄，
asys
師
m
ofcen
仕
ally
assigned revenues,
and
areformed rating system. However
the
consul
祖位
on
process produced

no
consensus
on
a preferable altemative,
and
in
the subsequent
W
姐
.te
Paper, it was concluded
that
the
rating
system 'should
rem
剖
n
for the foreseeable future'
(Do
盟，
1983:
14). More-
over
,
the
problems
~血也
e
poll

tax
option were e
:xp
licitly ßtated:
'The tax would be
hard
to
enforc
也!f
Jhe
electoral register
wer~
used
as
theb
的
isfor
扭曲也
tyitco
叫
.dbes
臼
asataxon
也
e
right to
vot~.
A
new
register would therefore probably be iieeded.

But
this
woula
make
the
tax
expensive to
run
and
complicated,
p
訂位
c
叫缸
ly
if
it
incorporated a
rebate scheme.
Wi
血
out
a rebate scheme a poll tax would
bear
harshly
on
people with low incomes

The Government agrees with
the

En前，
ron
血
ent
Co
mmittee
血的
this
option should be rejected' (i
bi
d.,
1983:
12).
As a statement of political intent, the Paper could
not
have been more
categorical. Yet within a matter ofmonths
the
Government chose
to
renege
on
both its general
resolu
位
on
to keep
the
existing system
in

place,
and
its
adamant
rejection
ofthe
poll
tax
op
位
on.
-::1
The
return
of
the
poll
tax
/
t
The
main
reason for the
Govemm
叫倘
ddmMhintwis
itsincreasing
frustration
at
也

e
failure of its fiscal con
Ìì
ols to secure
dramatic
正面而話
f
-白白一一-巴巴血可一一一月戶戶戶戶\一一一的一-峭的-一一-戶、、一一-一
一、一-一一-戶戶，一一一-一-一
0/
in
local expenditure
In
its view, there
had
been liniited successes:
the
品面在誼
trate-öfgrδ
耐
h
in
local revenue expenditure
had
been restricted
to
under 1 per cent (compared with levels in excess of 3 per
cent
during
the

1960s
and
1970s); there
had
been major reductions
in
local
govemment
employment levels;
and
the proportional
contribu
位
on
of exchequer
grant
to local expenditure
had
fallen from 61 per cent to
47
per cent
(D
unleavy
and
Rh
odes,
1988;
DoE
, 1986a). However, these limited victories paled
alongside the

18
per cent increase
in
local authority
current
e
:xp
enditure
for
也
e
same period (Ridley,
1988;
Do
日，
1986a).
~里她矗立堅
e
of
the
廿
incremental
凹的盯
'es
was
!ink
ed
to
也
.e

defensive
responses oflocal authorities. Before rate-capping
,
manyauthorities
∞
m
訴區組織
ìôrpe
回協副站碼
in
central
grant
by increasing their levies
on
4
ch
旬
ter
2:
A
Brief
間
S
紛
ry
of
Th
e
Poll
T

，誼
local ratepayers. Other local
au
也
orities
chose
的
consistently
'spend
up'
because they rightly recognized
that
compliance
wi
也
the
Government's _
expenditu
削
a
耶
tswould
油
nply~
壁壘
tofu
抽
er
decreases
in

sub
叫1i
ent
expenditure targets. Furthermore,
many
au
血
orities
e
:xp
loited
the
coin-
plexities of
the
fmance
可駒
m
to mjnjmjze
the
effects of
grant
penalties
(組
d
，
latterly, rate-capping) by
emplo
抖
ng

~
incre
自旭
gly
söphisticated
range of creative acéountancy
technique(In
1984
,
an
Audit Cöininissioil
report suggested
that
the complexities of
the
Blo
c;
k Grant system were
inflating
rather
than
reducing
血
e
amounts raised locally
through
the
rates.
It
was

t
恤
s
全
ustra
位
on
at
也
e
thwarting of macro
-e
conomic
objec
位
ves
，
coupled with a series of increasingly acrimonious confrontations with
veral Labour councils
,
that
encouraged
也
e
Government to reconsider
伽
reformop
伽
At
the

Conservati
叫吋叫
eren
臼仰的
ber1
卿，你山
the
Secret
呵。
f
State for
the
En
vironment announced
that
r
啞巴盟缸聽戶
可行
was back
on
th
型體
da
and
a new review
ofthe
reform options would take
place.
The key
decision-ma

蚵
ng
conceming
也
is
review was made
at
也
e
姐
ghest
level of
Govemme
帥，祖
d
involved secretive consultations between senior
government
m垣
isters
and
their policy advisors. The task of reviewing
possible reform options was delegated to two junior
environmentm
扭扭
ters
組
d
then
onwards to a secretive 'task
for，間，

convened
by
Lo
rd
Ro
也
schild
，
former
head
of
Ed
ward Heath's Policy Review Staff.
How
啊，
evenatt
伽
ta
俱伽闊的叫
ght
have come to
no
恤峙的
~ot
been for
the
political impact ofthe
1985
rating revaluationin Scotland.
In

Scotland rating revaluations
had
to be carried
out
every five years,
and
the effects of the
1985
revaluation proved
par
位
cularly
h
缸血，
wi
也
a.
substan
伽
1
percentage of
the
burden for local taxation shifting from
nO
Íl-
do
臨的前
c
to domestic properties. The resulting public outcry created con-
sternation among Scottish Conservatives

,
and
stirred
p
訂
anoic
projec
位
ons
about
the
likely
politi
叫
effects
of a
simil
叮
revaluation
姐
England
and
Wales (which was well overdue). Against
such
a prospect, abolition
甜
emed
a far preferable
op
位

on
切
revision.
The rehabilitation
ofthe
poll tax as a
r~form
option
w
的
crucially
aided by \1'/
a
帥
er
仰川州
bl
岫
i
r
昀
ev
吋
iew
period.
In
it the
author
chaf
站一

against
the
'po
旭
tless
pursuit of
perfi
叫
io
叭
n
previous reviews
and
concluded,
'It
is
cle
缸血的但雙
ι
29
T
磁
ation
and
Represen
個位
o
n:
The
Media

,
PO
加個
l
Co
mmu
函個
.tion
and the
Po
lI
T
也
~Jp
more nearly matches
the
requkemen
的
than
aily
other
po
鉗制旬，
做
ason
，
1985:
23).
Theforcefully
缸那

ed
case for
the
poll
tax
proved very
in
f1
uential
on
the
deliberations of
the
policy
think
tank
(MacGregor,
1988).
Despite
in
臼
rnal
disagreements between members of
the
secretive task
force
，伽均叫做曲
s
的副吋切~車回艷旦旦控扭扭扭
gent

ka
針。
ca
伽
g
th~
坐監旦胞，
was enthusiastically
receiv
吋，
and
the
- supporting
m
姐
isters
proposed
切
seek
its adoption as GovernmeIÌ.t policy.
In
cabinet
discussio
自由
e
proposals
had
to
wea
也

er
fu
此
her
opposition,
P
缸恥叫前
lyfromthe
吐
easury
and
the Chance
lI
or
ofthe
Exchequer (Law-
son
,
1992).
Howev
肘，
bymid
“
1985
the policywas
0
盤
cially
accepted,
and

inJanu
缸
y1986
琴~
Green Paper
entitled
‘
P~yingfor
Lo
calGovernme
Ilr，
was
released, which
sta
話
ãffië
苗
vernme
帥
'8
intentlon to
replacet
區正前
swith-/
apolltax
一
or
as
it
had

beenrenamβd:the
旦旦哩
mun
局部泣聶
~一~一一
一
一一
一一一一'_.一一一一~卅一…
r
F?
qr
'The
way
forward':
the
c
個
efor
血
e
Community
Charge
Whatever subsequent judgements
may
have been made about
the
clai
血
s
made by the

1986
Green Paper, it
st
沮
remains
the
most comprehensive
and
categorical exposition
ofthe
Government's rationale for replacing
the
乙且堅型
tlla
p.
o
lI血﹒一
At
the heart
of
也
e
document rested the
proposition
也
at
there was a
mal~sej
p.
loc

叫
demoç
x:
a
旬
，
the roots ofwhich could be directly traced back
些學愕蟬臨凹的懊悔哩坐坐些世間會且扭扭扭扭扭
b
crisis of
'accou
且
tabilify'
,__.an
d revealed several dimensions.
F
扯到，
in
an
/inv
首頁
on
of
the
historical
ev
挂
oftaxa
位
on

without representation,
it
黨~
主乙_cla
j
盟edJ;
hat
too
many
people could vote
for
姐
gher
local
r
帥
s
without
having to pay
for
them.
As
a
co
凹
equence
of
血泊，
pro
f1i

gate authorities
could continue their excessive expenditure
sec
盯
e
恆
the
knowledge
曲的
出
e
local tax burden would be borne unevenly, and
thatmany
local electors
v benefitted from services they didn't have to pay fo(.
SecQ
且也_IlQ!!::曲回路且
ι
些些空空空
~eresubjec
叫
topu
堅堅且堅空空空
hizIom1
臨姐
l.
，
whilst
1hav
詣。

poppo
助別
ty
0
1!_(l主!1l
~~JlUhe
l!壘的空空.
Third,
th
仔哩
pl~
:x甜的
v
巫血色別及世且使拉扭扭且
were
so
gre
的
that
也
ey
helped obscure
the
( I consequences
of
local expenditure decisions. Fourth, these factors werè
\
. compromising
the
power

of
cenj
哩l-g
o
Jl
ernmentto
pursue important
川、
v macro
-e
conomic
objectives
旭
controlling
public spending.
』司_
30
cbapter
2:
A
Brief
History ofThe
Po
lI
Tax
Î
~\
To rectify this
cri
呦，

four
ma
i:g_ch研
ges
were
propose
也
_!?irst
，
the
domestic
rates would be replaced
'\'Í
th
~f1
ji
仕
ate
tax
on
all
a
過
s
over
the
agè
ofl8
, /
levied

by
each local
authori
苟高高司苗訂前
tsexpendi
純正
Ie
耐高
I
而言在于
income from other
so
肘
ces.
People wi
tl).,
low income could
b_
e
eligib
峙，
(世伽
O
叩叫
ug
拉
hame
叩酬
ste
郎叫

s
l
忱
O
∞
ca
叫
lc
∞
on
仕肋
olofnon
叫 d
o
血
e
剖
st
伽
i
泌
cra
前
te
臼
swouldber
，扭
'emo
可
aι.

Al
thoúgh councils
would still co
lIect this
revenue
，也
e
amount levied would be set nationally
and any further increases would be index-linked. The resulting revenue
would be pooled centra
lIy and
then
re
-dis
tributed back to local authorities
according to the size of their population. Third
, there would
be
缸控
na
位
cC
(revisions
個也
e
local government
gr
甜可如~
with
a

simplified
咖
temof
Sþ
ending assessments (later dubbed Standardized Spending Assessments)
d
血帥咖
t
紀枷
β
缸削:rI咖
ir
恤峙
n
時
19t
伽
he
恤
e
閒
a
lI必
l
巨勘
10
∞
c
胸
noft

枷
hene
帥
e
帥
wRe
帥
nueS
旬
u
呻
pp
酬
o
叮
ort
此
tG
伽
ra
阻
a
缸
n
叫
1
t
甘
ra
阻

ns
討
it
伽
i
泊
ona
剖
1
mechanisms would
0
呻
pe
缸
ra
滋
te
to
ameliorate
扭
mpo
叮
r
缸
a
即
y
the
_
m

吋
O
叫
r redis
甜
t
仕
ri
跆
bu
位
on
恤
grant
alIocations and individual
tax
burdens
that
wou
幽
l
姐
doωc
∞
c
叫
u
盯
run
江

nde
缸叫
E
where the
po
lI
ta
缸
xwo
uJ
drun
a
叫
10
叩
ng
酹
s
討
id
，品
.e
the rating
sy
戶
st
峙
q
血
for

a
t
紛
en
必
-y
抑
e
缸
period, and only accretively take over from
the
old system. The second was
for
a system
of
‘safety nets', where those local authorities
who
ga
恆
ed
旭
come
through
商品函
ñges
would temporarily have these benefits redis.
甘
ibuted
to authorities
who

lost
ou
t.
J
As
part
of
the
process of increasing
the
accountability oflocal
gove
I'IlDi
e
剖，
月
líepap
前
asserted
that
people
needed
的
redefine
how
血
ey
thought
about"\
<:>_

(fl
ο()'-'
lòcal domestic taxation.
Rather
也
an
measuring
也
.e
fairness of a
local
個
X
according to
the
'redistributive' principle (i.e
i
臼
relation
to
thβab
也
ty
to
pay)
,
it
should be tested against
the
'benefit' principle (i.e

the
extent to
which people who benefitted from services contributed to their cost).
In也
is
respect
，也
esemantics
of
血
eGQ
同盟堅
ent's
decision
如
referto
也
eimpost
-
<Q
ρ
隘
的
a
'charge~
函Ile
r
than
att
堅:)w

ere
very
sì
直追但且J3
y
con
c::
eiving of
一
local taxation as a charge for services,
!t
was
claim~~J
也
at
the
new
levy
聖
as
一
h
_
fi
叮
fairer
也
an
tE:訂前忌，
as

everybodyw
話石抖吋
ωco
耐
bute
so
m.
e-
'0
，-
∞
thirlg to
the
public
services
也
ey
benefitted from.
Fur
也
ermo
峙，
thiswould
give
them
a fmancial stake
in
local governmen
t_
and

a vested interest
in
mo
到切
r
坦
g
local expenditure decisions. _, _
It
was claimed
thβremoval
oflocal control ofnon-domestic taxes from local
gov
前
nment
and
thβsi
血
plify~g
of the
gr
ap.
t allocation process would
further enhance
the financial accountabili
cyJ
of councils, as
any
expendi-
/

ture
above Government spending assessments would have to be met by
31
T
酪
ation
and
Represen
組
.tio
n:
The
Media
,
Political
臼
mmu
凶間
.tionand
曲
ePollTax
的
increases
in
Charge levels. Local
au
血
orities
would
,@

longer be able
to
use
也
ecompl
創設
es
ofthe
Block Grant
sys
恤，
orpuni
位
ve
也
esMq
些空堅堅二/
tiQ_
睦扭
s
，
to
bide
也
βir
overspending. This would
mβan
that
local electors
lNo

叫.d，
for
the
趾
st
time, have a
s
仕
aigh
由
rw
盯
d
measure of
the
relative
efficiency
and
expendi
個
reof
也
βir
local authority.
Criticisms
of
血
e
Green
Paper

From
the
outset
it
was clear the
Gove
rnm:
ent
had
taken
on
a
m
吋
ortaskin
promoting such
an
ambitious policy.
Al
though
the
Green
Paper
姐姐
ally
received a positive response from Conservative
M
恥，
the proposals were
widely

and
intensively criticized from other sources.
I!l
Chapter 4 we
iden
位
fy
the
main
sources
of
也
is
opposition
and
describ~
how
they
politi-
cally mobilized to challenge the Govemment's reform
prògramme.
In
this
[,
section we concentrate
on
the
main
aspects of their
objec

位
ons.
These
l criticisms
centred
缸
ound
the equity and
redistribu
位
ve
implications of
the
,
new
system; its
e
血
ciency;
its implications for personal privacy; its impact
i
on
the franchise;
and
its
cons
位
tutional
impact
on

local
and
central govern-
I ment relations.
3
、
Equity:
'winners
and
losers'
32
As
with
any
major
t
也
reform
，
considerable attention focused
on
the
redis
仕
ibu
位
ve
implications of
the
new

system. The
cri
位
cisms
made
on
this
issue related both to specific components of the reform package
,
and
切
its
overall operation.
The
main
cri
位
cisms
of the Community Charge concerneß its manifest
r'egressiven~ss.
Al
though the Green Paper projected
that
'winners
anâ
losers'
under
也
.e
new

syst
冶
m
would be roughly equivalent
(DoE
,
1986a:
41),
critics
缸
gued
that
these
fi
郎.ll'
es
were
calculated
垣
a
way
that
best
supported the Govemment's case'
and
masked
the
structural
inequities of
thenβwsystem.

~
Thβseinequitiβs
had
several
intersec
位
ng
dimensions.
At
a most basic level,
__
the
f1
at
rate
levy would
bit
lower
姐
come
groupings severely, particularly
the
'nearly
poor'
…
tho
個
individuals
whose modest incomes prevented
them

from qualifying for rebates.
As
a consequence of tbis,
it
would dis-
•
Th
at
1s
,
by
quan
吋
ingw
泌
ners
and
losers
by
household
rather than
on
扭扭
dividual
basis.
'1
1
Chapter
2:
A

Brief
Hist
ory
of
祖
ePo
lI
T:
缸
crimin
……叮
~dvar
叫
ed
soc
心。恥
Many~th
叫_)
v
nority communities would be
hea
討
ly
bit
by
the
t
a.x，倒也
eytend
切

livein
larger adult households (Brown, 1984); are more
likely
個
beb
由
edininner
city
訂
eas
where it was projected the poll t
a.x
would be bighest
(ALA
,
1988);
and
缸
e
more
likely
抽
e
耳>e
rience
economic deprivation
(Op
p.
en-
he

恤，
1987).
Sim
挂
arly
，
the policy was seen
as(~exually
discriminative~as
women
缸
e
more
at
risk from poverty
due
切
lO
We
r
levels of
pay;
缸
'e
nÍ
ore
reliant
upon
income support; are more likely to be unemployed;
and

were
specifically disadvantaged by the
ru1
es
on
p
盯恤
ers'
'joint
and
several
liab
血旬，
for
~ach
others charges
(αPFA
，
1987). The
t
a.x叫
so
penalized
~
young peopleìfor
s
旭沮缸
re
品。肘，
and

because a disproportionate
n:
umber
ôfthe
new
additions
扭曲
e
local t
a.x
base would be adults
under
24
years of
age
(Lo
wPayUnit
, 1987).
臼倒
t
伽
i
包凶
c
臼
s
曲咖
o
re
郎

C
呻叫伽
p
附
a
叫吋仗句
ypo
叫
l
叫
d
伽
i
誼油
m
帥酬叫
ne
閻蝴
e
缸
m
酬
n
i
伽
oωse
的
r
臼
s

issue. The Govemment made
no
apologies for'the fact
that
1t
an
恥
i-
pated poll t
a.x
levels to be very high in areas
run
by 'bigh spending' Labour
authorities.
In
a
BBC
interview, a junior environment minister anticipated
the system would
'run
a coach
and
horses
through
血
e
control
that
[L
a-

bour
authori
出
s]
have got
in
many
缸
eas
where,
at
the
moment,
not
enough
people
缸
e
ma
垣
ng
a contribution towards
the
cost,
and
don't
understand, as a
res
帥，
thebighpricethatLabourcouncilsimpose'

(Chr
函，
topher Chope,
On
the
Record
,
BBC1
,
17/9/89).
Opponent
s.
é
缸邵
ledthat
也
is
am
叫
edtoacrude
間耐抖
poli
位“
gerrym
空白型
crea
伽
ga
糊~
a

位
on
where individuals couldùotafford to vote for
ad
呵
úaúβservice
provi-
sion. One commentator described this as
an
abuse ofthe concept ofpolitical
accountabili
旬，
wbich
not
only concerns fiscal
decisio
肘，
'but
also
the
relationsbip between the substance of local policies
and
local preferences
When the
humbug
about accountability
is
stripped
away
from the Green

Paper
, the proposedreforms
emerge
臼
an
attemptto
restrainrate
revenue'
(Boyne
,
1986:
431).
Apart from criticizing
the
Community
Charge
旭扭曲仕
ibutive
terms,
critics also attacked its fairness
in
relation
切
the
‘benefit principle'. For,
unIike charges for other services, individuals could
not
opt-out of paying
the Charge by declining the services it provided
,

and
this compulsion to
pay
prevented
it
仕
om
qualifying as a charge. Furthermore,
the
untested as-
sumption
in
the Green Paper
that
也
osewhopaid
也
e
least for local services
benefitted from
them
the
most was challenged as illfounded, with evidence
、/
33
cbapter 2: A
BriefH
樹
ory
ofTbe

Poll
T
盟
T
磁
ation
and
Repr
四
en
個
.tio
眩Tbe
Medi
血，
Politi
開
I
臼
mmuni
間
.tionand
也
.ePoIIT
臨
provided
that
those who paid
the
most

under
the
rates
叫
sotended
切
have
greatβst
benefit from local services
and
a
血
enities
(B
ramley
et
al.
, 1989).
t
~
v
c
It
was also
claimed
血
at
the
particularly regressive aspects
of

也
e
domestic
組
xation
changes, would be exacerbated
by
the
new
methods for
grant
allocation
and
non
domestic taxation. This was because these accompany-
旭
g
reforms would
s
凶't
revenue away from poorer,
indus
出
alized
inner
city
authorities
，
ωwards
more affiuent suburban

and
rural
regions
札
G
泊，
1989;
Es
am
and
Oppenhei
血，
1989).
For businesses,
the
rating
burden
would shift from
Nor
血
to
South, from
the
manufacturing to
reta
設
sector
，
andfrombig
的

small
business.'
The efficiency of
the
new
system was also questioned. By
扭頭
ng
people
rather
than
property,
and
thereby nearly doubling
the
local
tax
base,
the
administrative
logis
位
.cs
and
costs of local taxation were substantially
妞，
creased,
with
也
e

prospect of widespread evasion of
the
tax. The
fact
也
at
( these additional adminstrative cosjs,
and any
shor
呀
'all
in
revenue due to
non
payme
前，
would
have
切
bé
paid by the charge payers themselves,
added a further
piquancy
旬出
ese
objections.
uu
n
OLM
FLU

R
4tad
E
It
w
卸的。
cl
訟
m
仙
hat
the
reform package
wou
旭
sqhuSKQ
扭扭控
ι
___
/
theind
吧空空間
ceoflocalg
的空但雙吱
ycen
甘
alizing
control ofbusiness
區
te

revenue,
the
proportion of local authority revenue
met
from local
t
磁
es
would be reduced from
around
ha
If
to a
qu
前慨，
w.
恤
ch
significantly
increased
也
.e
importance of
grant
assessments
in
the
setting of charge
levels (Blair
,

op.
cit.). Whereas the Government
saw
th
泊
as
a virtue …
enhancing
the
fmancial
account
抽出
ty
of local
authoritiβs
by exposing
Privacy implications
A further concern raised by
the
increased administrative demands of
the
system,
was
曲的
it
might encourage greater
in
個lS
iveness
by

councils
in
people's private affairs
in
their e
fl'
orts to enforce
the
個
x.
In
1988
,
the
National Council for Civil Liberties
co
血血
ented:
ond,
that
councils might hold secret
files
behind their public register, '
recording
也
e
notes, anec
!ló
tes
and

suspicions
the
authori
可
has
about
旭
dividuals'
(ibi
d.:
2). Third,
that
re
斟
stra
位
ono
血
cers
would have unregu-
lated
access
切
alllists
oflocal residents held
by
council departments -
such
as families
register

吋叫
th
social
s
削
C
賦
locallibrary
card
ho
隘的哩哇
JV
council house
lis
t(.
Fo
叫出，也
at
individuals wouldhave only limited
acc
臨
to
the
information held
on
them
held
by
也
e

local authority. Fifth,
thatthe
nationwide implementation
of
也
e
poll tax would
mean
the
crea
位恤，
forthe
first time, of a complete list
ofthe
names
and
addresses
ofthe
whole adult
population.
Al
though
the Government maintained
that
each
locallist was
sep
缸
a妞，
there would be strong

argu
血
en
郎，
to
ma
封閉
ize
efficien
呵，
for
ma
蝦
ngtheda
個姐也
e
registers compatible to allow transfers
of
姐
forma.
崗
位
on
when
people moved.
In
conclusion,
the
group requested further safe-
那訂

ds
to protect personal priyacy,
but
also identified
an
'ïrreconcilable
conflict between
the
need
for
也
e
efficient
collectionl
。扭扭
x
ofthis kind
and
叫做位
onfPri
叫仰
:d.~)
正
/
Francmse
implications
H
、
Constitutional
implications

出于
'The Government's plans to replace
the
domestic
rates
based
on
property with a
f1
at
rate
tax
is
not
姐
itse
If
a civilliberty issue.
But
the
way
in
which
the
new
tax
will be administered
and
enforced will pose
serious threats to the privacy ofthe entire

ad
叫
tpop
叫甜凹，
andcreate
thepoten
位
al
for greater control by central
and
local government over
the
individual'
(NCαJ
，
1988:
1).
The concerns of the influential
press
肘
e
group were fivefold.
Fir
泣，也
at
there was
no
safeguard
in
either

也
e
legislation or
the
Data
Protection
Ac
t
to prevent local authorities from gathering unnecessary information.
Se
c-
*
In
addition.
it
was
feared
that
cen
仕
allzing
business
rate
con
仕
01
would
undermlne
the
par

個
ership
between
local
authorities
and
their
business
sectors.
35
34
Taxation and
Representation:
The
Media
,
Poli
位開
l
Co
mmu
剖開
tion
aiJ.
d
也
èPo
lI
T
，阻

charge payers to every
pound
也
eir
council ‘over
spent'
一
critics
clai
血
ed
也
at
because all expenditure above Government assessments would
have
個
be
raised from only a
qu
盯
ter
of the authorities revenue base (i.e domes-
位
c
revenue), excess expenditure would have a powerful distorting effect
on
Charge levels,
leading
如
dispropor

位
onate
increases for
mar
斟
n
aI
over-
spending (the so-called
‘
ge
自祖
g'
effect).
T
趾
sw
自
seen
切
seriously
com-
pro
m.is
e
the
accountability
訂訊lID.
ent
，

and
expose
the
exercise as a cynic
aI
attempt
to
use electoral resistance to higher taxes
切
force
savage cuts
in
loc
aI
expené
加lI'
e.
Fur
也
ermore
，
the
greater importance of central government assessments
恤
determining
loc
aI
taxation
levels
隘的

itably
raised concerns about
the
accuracy
of
也
ese
grant
assessments.
In
p
盯位
c
叫缸，
that
'simplifying'
the
needs assessment equation, would
make
也
em
less
sensitive
旬出
epar
位
C
恥
lar
needs

and
conditions of
different
缸
e
臼.
九/
A chronology
of
chaos:
the
ri
田
and
demise
of
血
e
Community
Cha
培
e
'Theh
胸
ryofthepoll
t
扭曲伽
tesh
叫
oliciesc

叫
aVI
鈔鷗
nded
consequences
that
give
them
a dynamic beyond
the
ima
斟
na
位
onofthe
origin
aI
proponents. The Government became
caught
in
a
10
蟬
c
of
events of which
it
lost
c
甜甜;站前

ould
no
longer direct towards its
desired ends'
(St
詣
r
，
19
訂了三
03-204).
?21'
,/
Jdr
nyfu
:1
-dJiJi
These
then
were the
main
criticisms
and
claims made for
the
Community
Charge
,
and
are important to

be
訂旭
mind
when
apprais
恆
g
the
terms of
public
and
media debate
on
the tax. However, before addressing these
ma
位
ers
one important contextual task remains. This is briefly to
map
the
main
events
in
the inglorious
c
缸
eer
of the Community
Ch
缸

ge
，
fromits
f
趾
st
presentation
區別
6
to its
abolition
姐
1993.
}
Following
也
e
publication of the Green
Paper
隘
1986
，
the
Government
moved
quickly
切
introduce
the legislation for Scotland.
At

the end of
that
ye
訂
legislation
for
也
e
accelerated introduction of the system
in
Scotland
(T
he
Abolition ofDomestic Rates
Etc.
[Scotland] Bill) entered Parliament,
and
received its Royal Assent the following March. Unlike
the
le
斟
slation
for England
and
Wales, this
B
也
passed
with
comp

叮
ative
ease, with
no
Co
nservative
P
缸
ty
back bench rebellion.
Le
gislation for
En
gland and Wales was held
in
abeyance until after
the
36
Chap
紛
r
2:
A
Brief
Hist
ory
ofThe
Poll
Ta
玄

1987Gener
叫El
ection
，
which the Conservatives
won
in
June with a barely
reduced majority ofnearly
100
MPs.
In
the
post-elec
位
on
Cabinetreshu
血
e
，
KennethBaker, who
had
been one ofthe principal architects ofthe reforms,
was replaced by Nicholas
Ri
dley
由
Secretary
ofState for the Environment
for

England.
Ál
though
initially Ridley
had
been sceptic
aI
about
the
fea
叫“
b
也
.ty
ofthe
poll
tax
option
(L
awson,
1992)
, by
the
time
of
旭
sappo
旭個
.ent
r

he
was fully
in
favour
ofthe
proposals,
and
如
ok
切
promoting
the
tax with
“
l
也
e
enthusiasm of a convert (Ridley,
op.
cit.).
The triumphal post-election Conservative
P
叮
ty
conference of
that
ye
缸
血缸
ked

a crucial turning point
in
the
implementation
ofthe
policy.
Party
ac
位
vists
urged the Government to abandon the plan to
run
the
poll
個
x
alongside
the
existing system, and
introduce
也
e
Co
mmunity
Charge
區
one go. Byadoptingthe‘big bang' approachit was argued
that
those people
exploited

by
也
e
rates would benefit immediately from
the
redis
仕
ibutive
effects of
the
new
system. The
P
缸
ty
leadership willingly acceded
ω
也
is
app
缸
entunanimity
ofp
缸
ty
opinion
and
agreedωintroduce
the
tax

in
one
goin1990
,
ap
訂
t
from ln those London authorities
that
'would be
h
缸
dest
hit
by
the
new
叮
rangements.
•
However
,
when
the
1987
Local Government Finance Bill entered
P
缸油"
ment
s

戶。凹的
omedupM
恤伽臼
nserva
泣的吋
:??emd/
川、.c
-
(;
Readin
拭
was
marked bv
an
acrimonious debate
on
the fairness
and
effec
昀
of
the
poll
t
臨
proposal.
While the proposing
m
垣
ister

clai
血面
1he
new
t
可
stem
w
。“官豆
ood
for loc
aI
democracy' (Hansard,
16/12/87:
叫
1119)
，也
e
血
ain
opposition
p
缸
ty
described
泌的
'a
threat
怕也
mocracy

itself (Hansard,
16/12/87:
coll131).
Senior
fi
♂lI'
es
on
the
left of the
Conservative
P
訂
ty
also voiced
s
位
ious
concerns - most noteably the ex-
Environment Secretary,
Mi
chael Heseltine
and
ex-P
訂
ty
lead
肘，
Edward
Hea

由.
/
•
The
decision
to
introduce
the
tax
over
four
ye
訂
s
in
Lo
ndon
wω
aI
so
subsequently
rescinded.
37
T
盟
ation
and
Represen
個
tion:

The
Media
,
Politi
，個
1
Co
mmunica
位
on
and the
Poll
T;
也
I! by a system of 'banded' poll
tax
肘，
that
would link the
sys
切
m
more direcdy
…且
rLL
主o a
bili
tj:_!旦
pa~
A vote

on
the
amendment was held
on
the
19
April19 8 8,
/作
;μqprior
切
the
Bill's Third Reading,
and
fears of its success prompted
the
;-,
-!
Government
to
announce
個
additional
í13o
million for rebates to
1
函面前
ow
恆晶磊五函
ies
fr~the

站站
ofthe
new
石方
he
con

?、
38
cession bought
o
fl'
a
su
血
cient
number of
Co
nservative
rebels
切
defeatthe
amendment with a reduced Government majority of 25.
As
the
B
世
passed
to the
Lords

，也
ere
was anticipation
that
也
e
upper
chamber might impede its progress to the statute books
, or
at
least force
the
Government into major revisions. However, a rebellion headed by Conser-
vative peer Lord Chelmsford was swamped by Government whips
who
dragooned various 'backwoodsmen' (Peers who rarely
or
never attended
\theHousedLords)intotheHouseofLordstDSUpporttheGovernment-The
Finance Bill passed through the Lords with a huge Governmentmajority of
134
, following the highest
turnout
ofConservative peers since
197
1.
Al
though
political controversy over
the

poll tax intensified
in
Scotland
dur
恆
g
1 9 8 9 , there
fol
lo we d a h i a
tu
s i n
th
e
p
仰
oli
位缸
ca
叫
ld
由
eb
加
at
扭
einE
啤
lar
吋
an

Wales. However,
the
issue
re
吟
merged
once again
in
early
1989
,
wi
也
the
introduction of the Community
Ch
訂
ge
in
Scotland
and
the
st
缸
t
ofthe
registration
process
垣En
gland

and
Wales. Here
ag
訟
n
，
m
吋
or
也血
c
叫做
s
emerged for the Governmen
t.
First, as we discuss
in
the
next chapter, a
m
吋
or
Government publicity o
fl'
ensive timed to coincide with these events
went
dram
諸位
cally
awry, causing considerable embarrassment to

m
姐
is
ters. Second, concerns about the intrusiveness of
the
new
tax
system
seemed to be borne
out
by the conduct
ofthe
re
斟
stra
位
on
process. Despite
ass
盯阻
ces
from the Environment Secretary
that
'strict limits' would be
placed
on
也
e
姐
forma

位
on
which registration
0
誼
cers
could obtain about
恆
dividuals
(DoE
News
Release
,
17/3/89
, No.
145)
,
many
local authorities
requested excessive
or
irrelevant information
on
their registration forms.
Out of the
403
forms examined by the Data Protection Registrar, only
37
were passed
and

304
author
闊的
were
asked to clarify the purpose behind
some oftheir questions (Liberty
,
1989
a).
In
response to
the
controversy
the
Secretary of State directed local authorities to avoid being too intrusive
on
their registration forms,
but
admitted he
had
'no
power to prescribe the
content
ofany
form'
(DoE
News
Release
,
No.

344
,
19/6/89:
2).
The
也
ird
problem
concerned
血
e
proposals for a self-financing system of
'safety nets' which were intended temporarily to cushion the profound
可
'.
Chapter
2:
A
Brief
Hist
ory
ofThe
Poll
Tax
redistributive e
fl'
ects
ofthe
new
tax system. The scheme - where 'winners'

had
their gains redistributed back to
authori
位
es
who lost
out-
had
already
been criticized
as
a smoke screen
that
would cynically obscure the full
extent of
the
redis
甘
ibution
of income from poorer local
authority
缸
easto
more affluent authorities (Esam
and
Oppenhei
臨
，
op.
cit.;

Le
e,
1989;IβIU
，
op.
cit.). However, the
thrust
ofthe
con
仕
oversy
on
this occasion originated
from
the
Government's
own
阻
pporters
，
who criticized the system for
apparently requiring
pars
旭
0
到
ous
Conserva
位
ve

authorities to
subsidize
可
'.profligate' Labour
counci
弘In也
e
face of this criticism, even Margaret !
Thatcher publicly conced@_that 'the transition period
is
flatly contradic- \
tory to the basic philosophy
, so we have got to find a
way
through'
(Daily J
Express
,
7/9/89:
9),
and
at
the
Conservative
P
缸
ty
conferen
臼
it

w
的
announced
血的
the
safety nets would be dropped after the first
ye
缸，
and
that
也
e
Tr
easury would fund the
costs
切
losing
authorities over
the
ensuing three years,
at
a cost of
í600
m
到
ion.
Furthermore, a new
syste
血
。

f
仕
ansitional
relief
was
隘
troduced
for households who were
h
缸
desthit
bythenewt
缸，
atanaddi
位
onal
cost of
í3
75 million
(Gi
þs
妞，
1990).
A Cabinet reshuflle
in
July
1989
replaced
the
rightwing

Nicholas
Ri
dley
的
Secretary of State for the Environment with
the
more
modera
臼
figure
of
ChrisPa
此
e
且，
whose less combative political profile it was hoped wouldhelp
ea
田
the
pathway to implementation. However,
he
had
not
been
in
oflìce
long before
he
w
個

confronted
by
an
escalating political crisis over
the
Community Charge which made all the preceding difficulties pale into
旭
sign
的
cance.
The
troubles
seriously
began
in
January
1990
, following
the
an-
nouncement of the outcome of the revaluation of business
prope
的
ies
and
the first realization by
many
businesses of
how
much

more
taxation
出
ey
wouldhave
切
pay.
Matters took
an
even more serious
t1.玟
n
in
late Feb-
m
缸
y
，
when local authorities were notified
of
也
eir
grant
allocations
and
started setting the first Community Charges.
These initial charge levels greatly
e
:lf
c~eded

the Government' s prior projec-
戶戶
位
ons
of probable taxation levels. ìú November
1989
，也
e
Government f
ff
announced
血的
the
average
Communi
可
Charge
in
England
and
Wales
wouldbe
￡
278i:providedlocal
au
也
orities
met central government spend-
ing assessments.
Al

though this figure itself represented a considerable
姐
crease
on
previous oflìcial
es
位
mates
，
the actual average charge level
exceeded this
projec
位
on
by more
than
í80.
Furthermore
many
Conserva-
_;
39
T
阻
ation
and
Representation:
The
Media
,

Poli
封閉
l
Co
mmuni
個組
on
aIi
d
也
ePollTax
tive as well as
Labo
盯
authori
位
es
levied charges
in
excess of
f4
00
per
person.
(,'\
ν./
The impact
of
也
e~~J!

9-
bxpectedly
];lÏ
gh
charge~
were twofold. Firstly,
the
bitter wrangling
onthe
policy within the Cónservative
P
叮叮
over
the
,_'
policy turned into open
warf
盯吉它站前宣部的百
ëkbe
吋
ers
，
from
the
right as well as the left
ofthe
Party, openly turned
on
the
Govern

血
.entand
exhorted
them
to repeal such
an
unpopular policy. At local Government
level
, anger was even more
vocifero
肘，
and
there followed a spate
ofhigh
profile resignations
and
defections among
Co
nservative councillors
and
ac
位
.vists.
\'/'
Secondl public
demonstr
枷
ns
were held across England
and

Wφ
〉
against
也
e
個
x
and
its
harsh
impact.
In
Conservative
個
well
as Labour
areas
, people demonstrated their disafIection
with
也
e
policy
and
the
Gov-
ern
血
ent.Ons
臼
eve

叮
r
阻
a
叫
loc
∞
ca
卸
si
切
ons
泌
st
也
herewer
肘
e
叮
r
切
1
凶
1
泌
sb
伽
re
侃
ache

臼
sofpubli
切
Cωo
肘
;rde
賦
r
巳
,
, the most violent of which occurred
on
31 March
1990
,
when
a public
q
óì
':)
- l
')
r
demonstra
位
on
in
the
centre of London
disi

帥
grated
in
如在且也包些
(巴
which
led to
many
缸
Tests
and injuries
and
millions of pounds
worth
of
damage. So intense was the controversy over the policy
,
the
Government
was forced to make several immediate concessions
,
and
instituted
an
inter-
nal
review
ofthe
policy
an

前后鼠忌站~
The
combination
of
public outrage
aga
姐
st
the poll
t
紹，
internecine strife
ν
、、 巴-唱
wit
坦
n
the
Conservative
p
前旬，
and a rejuvenated politicãl oppositíon
)l
ad v
adrama
位
c
impact
upon
the

P
缸旬，詢服服司1'õït聞自
7
缸站前
clrt
到
íOthe
(Cl
C{"
，)、
印
nserva
位
.ves
句時
hold
of
Mi
d
Stafli
。他
hirefell
旭
a
by-election to Labour
、
J
with
a swing o(
2J

型
rce
時! l\f
ationa
峙，
Labour's opinion polllead rose to
unpr
凹函區
ïïféd"
Ii
eights
，
and
the
Pri
血
eM
姐
ister's
叮
edib
血
ty
s
ank:
to
an
all
time low.
In也

e
May local government elections
the
Labour
P
盯
tymade
sweep
坦
gg
訟
ns
at the
Co
nservatives' expense, although
they
failed to
secure
two
ofthe
Tory' s 'flagship' boroughs,
which
had
levied particularly
low Community Charges.
In
October
1990
, another Conservative strong-
hold

fell
迦
a
坤
'-election.
In
Eastbourne a
Co
nservative majority
of
nearly
17
,
000
w
的
converted
旭
to
a
妥，
500
majority
for
the
Liberal Democrats.
Thisw
部
followed
the

next
month
by
an
appalling showing
for
the
Cons
缸"
vatives
in
the Bradford North by-election, where
they
came
in
a poor third.
In
March
1991
,
the
Conservatives also lost
the
Ribble Valley by-election,
withavo
位
ng
swing
of
2 5 per cent

to
也
e
Li
beral Democrats.
The Governmen
t'
s persistent diflìculties
wi
也
the
policy was a
key
factor
40
/
v
Chapter
2:
A
Brief
Hist
ory
ofThe
Poll
Tax
behind
the
1990
Conservative

Party
leadership contest. For, although
Margaret Thatcher's stance
on
European policy was the catalyst for a
serious challenge to
her
leadership, the
main
reason for
her
defeat
lay
融
the parliamentary
party's
concern about
her
dogged defence of a
tax
that
was seriously
compromis
旭
gtheP
缸旬
's
electoral
credib
血

ty
(Gibson,
op.
cit.;
MacGreg
肘，
1991).
仁岫岫
gJ
伽峭的
victory
祖削吋
r
的∞臨今
the pros
伊
ct
of/
the repeal of
the
poll
tax
became a very real
poss
晶晶
ty.
Mi
chael Heseltine
was appointed as
Environment Secretary

and
embarked
on
a fundamental
review
ofthe
struc
個
re
and
finance oflocal government. Over
the
ensuing
months rumours circulated about the reform options
under
consideration
and
whether
the
poll
t
阻
would
be abandoned completely. However,
the
P
訂旬
's
disastrous showing
at

the
Ri
bble Valley by
-e
lection finally severed
the Government' s
com
血
i
位
nent
to the policy.
/賞。
llowing
也
e
setting
of
the
second
典型
's
poll
t
缸軾的
urp
恥的
lanket
I
l reduction

in
C
個
nnunityCh
叫
es
o(t14
Q)v
as announced
in
the
Chancel- I
"lor' s budget speech,
which
was to be funded
by
an increase
in
也
e
standard
, 1
rate
of
Value Added
Tax
from 15 per cent to 17.5 per cent. This
w
部
followed a few weeks later

by
a Commons statementfrom
the
Environment
(
Sec
闊的血的
the
poll
t
阻
W
唔;些控旦
hhk
豆豆握主盟主扭
d
replaced
with
~/
'a
new
local tax. It took several further weeks
for
the
Govèrnment to present
the
particular details
ofthe
replacement to Parliament. On
23

April19
91
,
after days
of
informed media
specula
位
on
，
Mi
chael Heseltine let
the
House
ofCommons
in
on
the worst kept secret
in
politics:
that
th
世
Qlac
空空空吧?
vfGZY
_t
heCom
血
U

凶
ty
Charge would
be
a
new
property based
'Co
uncil
Tax
九?
、‘、
_ 也『風向旬，
一、 間_-也也包個問-圍區旬 叫-"_間-﹒ 囡-
Under these new arrangements, every domestic property would be
帥"
sessed as to its capital value,
and
placed within several bands. The Council
Tax would be levied according to the
band
in
which a property fell (the
more valuable the property
, the higher
the
band
,
and
the higher

the
Council Tax levied),
and
the
number of adults living
in
the property (single
adult households could claim a 2 5 per cent reduction
in
their Council Tax).
The
new
business taxation
and
central
grant
缸
rangements
remained
essen
位
ally
unchanged. The
consulta
位
on
period
for
也
e

Council Tax
w
部
very brief
and
the
legislation was forced
through
parliament where
the
proposals met with no back bench
oppositionj:
五
March
1992
the Counclll
Tax became law
,
and
on
1
April1993
repl
成
ed
the
poll
個
x
in

England,J
Scotland
and
Wales.
J
r'lf)
咱
3
2γyι~-'
、
41
42
Taxation and
Representatio
n: The
Media
,
Poli
位叫Co
mmuni
阻
tion
and the
Poll
Ti
揖
h
也
e
final two

ye
盯'S
between
the
announcement
and
actualrepeal
ofthe
Co
mmunity Charge, the fmancial pressure
on
local
a
q，
thor
峙的
intens
血
.ed
♂
s
1
缸
ge
numbers of people continued
not
to
pay.
耳
y

April
1993
,
:t:1
.5
billion was still owed
in
poll
tax
arre
缸
s
(Br
∞血，
1994). Furthermore,
disturb
坦
g
evidence emerged about the detrimental impact
non
“ 'payment
may have
had
on
the electoral process.
0
血
cial
figures published by
the

Office
of Population Census and Surveys
(OPCS)
祖
1991
estimated a
shortfall of 1 million people between those registered to vote
and
those
eligible.
Al
though a
drop
恆
electoral
rolls
had
been
app
訂
ent
since
1
9.
8~
色，
it accelerated appreciably between
1988
and
1991

, coincident with
the
arrival of the poll tax
(Pop
u1a
tion
Trends
, 1991: 2). Ov
er
this
three-ye
缸
period, the proportion of
adul
個
eligible
to vote and who
had
registered
in
Britain
fell
from 97.9
per
臼
nt
to 95.6 per cent,
with
也
e

decline most
evident amongst young people who
had
just
attained
the
right
切
vote
(ibi
d.).
According to one academic study, more
than
a third ofthis discre
p-
ancy was due to people not registering to avoid the poll
t
阻
(Smith
and
Macle
阻，
1992).
Poll
個
x
dodging also seriously affected
the
t
間

-yearly
national census survey, conductedin
1991
,
wi
也
the
姐姐
al
canvas under-
estimating the actual population by
an
estimated 1.8 million people
(Ind
e-
pendent
on
Sunday, 13/9/92).
Widespread concerns about the state of the electoral register
in
1991
prompted
many
local authorities to conduct voter
re
斟
s
仕
a
位

on
drives,
which partially arrested
the
decline
in
electoral rolls before
the
1992
General Election
aen
恆的，
1992). For example, research by
the
Electoral
Reform Society found
that
229
,
064
voters in a sample of
300
local
auth-
ority
缸
eas
旭En
gland
and Wales

had
surrendered
th
耐
right
的
vote
，
against a
pr
吋
ected
decline
(b
ased
on
1991
figures) of
280
,
000.
Even so,
也
e
Society' s spokesperson commented, 'It
is
still a sad day for democracy
when people have decided to forego the right to vote because
it
would cost

them
切
o
much money'
(Independent
,
25/3/92:
2).
The
凹
-election
of a majority Conservative Government
in
the
April1992
General Election, which confounded both political
expecta
位
ons
and
opin-
ion poll projections
, raised questions about the hidden influence poll
tax
di
闊的
anchisement
may have
had
on

the
election outcome
by
discoura-
g
垣
g
potential Labour supporters. According to Butler
and
Kavanagh
(1992: 232) it isn't possible to argue
that
Labour lost the
election
也
rough
the deliberate non-registration ofits supporters, because those areas where
poll
t
位
motivated
deregistration was most
app
缸
ent
were already Labour
Chapter
2:
A
Brief

Histo
ry
ofThe
Poll
Tax
controlled. However, a Warwick
U
凶
versity
study
扭扭
the
effects of non-
registra
位
on
for
the
poll
t
也
on
the election produced less
sangt
曲
econclu
sions.
According
to
the

study's
'central
estimate'
,
had
poll
tax
disen
全
anc
凶
emepg
涉
been
a factor during
the
election,
the
Conserva-
ti
冊，
majority would have been reduced to only
five
seats (eight less
than
its actual majority). This would have seriously increased the political
叭血
er
晶晶
tyof

也
.enewad
血恤
istration
(Smith and Maclean,
op.
ci
t.).
Beyond the possible influence
that
poll tax dodging may
have
had
for
the
outcome ofthe GeneralElection, the main opposition parties also expressed
concerns about the impact the low registrations might
have
for
the
deliber-
a
位
ons
of
the
Bound
訟
ry
Commission, which by law

had
to base
the
p
缸"
liamentary boundaries from
1996
onw
缸缸，
on
the figures from the
1991
electoral rolls a
en
旭肘
，
op.
cit.;
Smith and
Macle
妞
，
op.
cit.).
Concerns about local
authority
旭
trusions
凶
to

personal privacy also
間，
mained, despite the earlier intervention of
the
Data Protection
regis
仗
ar.
In
1988
, it was announced
that
British Telecom
had
estaölished a
f4
million
computer system to enable local authorities to exchange
infor
血
ation
about charge payers,
and
track
individu
的
across
local
authority
盯

e
部
(Thornto
且，
1989).
By
late
1991
，也
e
Co
mmunity Charge
Inf
ormation
Ex
change
(CC
閱
was
used by
107
councils throughout
En
gland
and
Wales, and
had
handled
in
excess of

120
,
000
charge payer records
in
the
previous
ye
缸扭
ritish
Telecom Print
and
Di
spatβh
Bureau promotional
literature [1992]
Customer
Systems).
In
1990
，油
a
flagrant disregard of
conventions on
pe
位
tioners'
rights, Charnwood Borough
Co
uncil cross

referenced
the
names
and
addresses
on
an
anti poll
tax
petition it received
with its own Community Charge register
to
仕
ack
down non-payees;
and
in
199
1,
the civil rights group Liberty challenged severallocal authorities
who were threatening to withdraw services to persons
not
registered
on
their
Co
mmunity Charge register
伊拉油，
1991).
Summary

and
conclusions
In
this chapter we have outlined the
his
切
rical
origins of the Community
Charge
and
described its ignominious progression from inception through
to abolition. We have also demonstrated
how
the political debate about
the
policy's practicality and propriety operated
on
a range of different levels,
43