“Networked governance and the post-regulatory state?: Steering, rowing and anchoring the provision of policing and security”

Source: (2006) Theoretical Criminology. 10(4): 449–479

This article engages with insights from the ‘(post-) regulatory state’
literature in critically exploring the changing face of policing and
security. It subjects notions of ‘networked governance’ and
‘responsive regulation’ to empirical examination in the British
context. The article illustrates the manner in which state anchoring
constitutes a distinctive characteristic of contemporary security
governance. It suggests that far from state withdrawal, in relation
to the regulation of social behaviour, the British state is engaged in
ambitious projects of social engineering in which the deployment
of hierarchy, command and interventionism are prevalent. Recent
trends in social regulation have seen hyper-innovation against a
background of the politicization of behaviour. In this context, the
article highlights concerns about the feasibility of ‘responsive
regulation’.