The casual observer could be forgiven for thinking that Labour in 2014 has been entirely won over to the cause of the devolution of power. “Top-down” control is decried in favour of “bottom up” approaches, the regions/nations of the UK are to have much more control of their own affairs (the a panic quality of this regarding Scotland is all too evident), “local control” is extolled in every direction from regional banking, business strategy to schools.

But what does “local” actually mean?

The emptiness of much of the rhetoric should ring alarm bells. The abstract contrast of top-down (bad) with bottom-up (good) is nonsense. Any complex system needs both. If there is no need for top-down one is not dealing with a system. On the other hand a system which runs without lower level feedback will be unresponsive and problematic. A little thought soon shows that a national system requires both top-down steering and bottom-up implementation. The top-down versus bottom-up rhetoric is used by politicians who don’t believe that ordinary people are capable of understanding the issues or, more likely, don’t care to say what they really mean. Continue reading →