Playing to the gallery? From performative to techno-statecraft in the age of power without capacity

This article explores how the statecraft of post-Brexit UK governments—across both the ‘politics of power’ and the ‘politics of support’—has been shaped by an incoherent governance system marked by the presence of power over decision-making but a lack of capacity to deliver policy. Analysing the trajectory of two policy priorities, namely delivering Brexit to ‘take back control’ and reducing immigration, the authors argue that successive Conservative administrations pursued a ‘performative statecraft’ to maintain public approval within these constraints. While performative statecraft sought to foster the appearance of delivery to maintain support, Labour, in contrast, has sought to address this context through a ‘techno-statecraft’ politics of power. This approach opts for technical fixes to address intractable policy problems and enhance the centre’s capacity to co-ordinate, reinforced by a politics of support centred on professional and administrative competency. Contributing to literatures on government statecraft, policy failure and performative governance, the authors contend that neither of these approaches proposes the necessary changes to UK governance needed to address the problem of ‘power without capacity’.