Big Society of the United Kingdom: New Governance Options for Armenia

Several studies have been performed to measure the Big Society effectiveness and to identify ways in which it is different from other decentralization efforts. This research examines that through a public opinion survey of the London borough of Sutton, one of the four communities where the policy was piloted. Then, using a second public opinion survey conducted in the Arabkir administrative district of the Yerevan municipality in the Republic of Armenia, this research explores the possibility of adopting select provisions of the Localism Bill in Yerevan. Our main findings show that the respondents who are well informed about the U.K. government's domestic policies recognize the freedoms and flexibilities that are transferred to local governments. The level of satisfaction with the Council has increased considerably among the citizens of Sutton. Our analysis also demonstrates that respondents to the second survey were willing to champion and/or support local government reforms in Yerevan. Nonetheless, the majority of them did not believe such reforms were feasible at this time. The research, however, concludes that overall positive results outweigh the negative ones.

Autorentext

Arman Gasparyan is a Fellow at USAID's Support to the Armenian National Assembly Program (SANAP). He received his MA in Political Science and International Affairs at American University of Armenia. His research interests include public policy and urban planning.