Successive governments, in embracing a neoliberalist ideology of decentralization and privatization, have radically reformed the nature of community-based, comprehensive state education. The transition from 'government to governance' (Rhodes, 1997) combined with the ideology of academization (DfE, 2010a) has created a democratic deficit1 (Corbett,…

This article describes how a gaping democratic deficit has emerged in the English schools system as both local authorities and school governing bodies have been degraded by academisation. In arguing that a comprehensive school can only be truly comprehensive if it is based on democratic principles, the authors make the case for re-establishing…