ANALYSING INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS *

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Abstract
The study of central–local relations in Britain is in a state of flux. Traditionally the subject has been the preserve of Public Administration but work in this tradition has been incisively criticised. However, no cogent alternative framework of analysis has been offered. This paper briefly reviews the existing British literature before assessing the contribution of recent theoretical developments in the sociology of organisations to the understanding of intergovernmental relations. It concludes that the literature on interorganisational analysis has become pre‐occupied with methodological questions and in its most common manifestations will not facilitate the analysis of intergovernmental relations. However, if interorganisational analysis is located within a theory of intra‐ and interorganisational power, it can provide a series of concepts of considerable utility. Although the paper focuses on understanding British practice, recent work on interorganisational relations in France, West Germany and the United States of America is discussed.

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