Correspondence Jane Wills Email: J.Wills2@exeter.ac.uk A nation's geo‐constitution – its spatially uneven political institutions – plays a critical role in mediating change. This paper explores this in relation to local government responses to austerity. The paper presents original research collected in Cornwall, United Kingdom, to highlight the scale and impact of asset transfers to town and parish councils. This degree of institutional switching was possible because of a willingness to use legacy constitutional institutions to mediate the trajectory and impact of reform in response to austerity. Town and parish councils have taken on important assets (public toilets, parks, and libraries) and raised local taxation to pay for them. This has reconfigured relationships between local government institutions while also incentivising innovation in service organisation. The research highlights the role of political institutions and their personnel in mediating responses to austerity, as well as raising broader questions about the rescaling of the social contract, and the scope for further constitutional reform.

中文翻译：

---

地缘构成和对紧缩的回应：英国的制度创业、转换和重新调整规模

通讯简·威尔斯电子邮件：J.Wills2@exeter.ac.uk 一个国家的地理构成——其空间上不平衡的政治机构——在调解变革方面发挥着关键作用。本文探讨了地方政府对紧缩政策的反应。该论文介绍了在英国康沃尔收集的原始研究，以突出向城镇和教区议会转移资产的规模和影响。这种程度的制度转换是可能的，因为愿意利用传统的宪法制度来调解改革的轨迹和影响，以应对紧缩政策。市镇和教区议会接管了重要资产（公共厕所、公园和图书馆），并提高了地方税收来支付这些资产。这重新配置了地方政府机构之间的关系，同时也激励了服务组织的创新。该研究强调了政治机构及其人员在调节对紧缩政策的反应中的作用，并就社会契约的重新调整和进一步宪法改革的范围提出了更广泛的问题。