bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
ECONOMICS AND THE POVERTY OF SOCIAL PLANNING
Authors: BOOTH TIMOTHY A.
Published: April 2007

This article examines the reasons for the dismal state of social planning in Britain today. Several different explanations for this situation are discussed including its poor track‐record, official reluctance to contemplate the future, the circumscribed and narrowly conceived way it is approached, and the ill coordinated and fragmented structure of the social services. While all these are seen to offer part of the answer, it is argued that the main obstacle to social planning lies in the subordination of social goals to economic objectives; a fact itself rooted in the persistence of the ‘public burden model’ of social expenditure. Finally, the implications of this analysis for social policy research are discussed.
WORKING IN WHITEHALL: CHANGES IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 1952–1982
Authors: DELAFONS JOHN
Published: April 2007

There have been significant changes in public administration over the past thirty years, both internal to Whitehall and in its relationship to the outside world. The author offers a personal assessment based on his working experience. By taking a series of ‘landmark reports published over that period he charts the extent to which they influenced, or reflected, changes in the character and style of public administration and in the general climate of public opinion within which the civil service works. He concludes that Whitehall today is better equipped than it used to be in its range of professional expertise and management techniques, but that it also faces a more sceptical and demanding audience. The next ten years may see the development of a style of public administration in which the traditional administrative skills are merged with the newer managerial concern for efficiency and effectiveness. But greater competence also requires improvements in the ways in which policy is formulated and its effects evaluated.
LOCAL BROADCASTING AND THE LOCAL AUTHORITY
Authors: WRIGHT ANTHONY
Published: April 2007

The development of local radio in Britain was expected to have significant and positive effects on local political communication. This article discusses the extent and character of local radio's engagement with the local political system, drawing upon some of the evidence obtained from a wide‐ranging study of what radio stations are doing. The nature of local government coverage is discussed, with appropriate examples. The limitations of local radio's engagement with the local political system are highlighted, reflected in both the quantity and quality of its coverage. Some reasons for these limitations are suggested (size of local radio areas, lack of expertise in local government matters, attitudes of broadcasters) and the need to overcome them is stressed if the original promise of local radio in this field is to be fulfilled.
THE POLITICAL REVERSIBILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM: A CASE STUDY OF THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE.
Authors: WERNER SIMCHA B.
Published: April 2007

Studies of administrative reform have neglected or underestimated the tenacious nature of opposition. Vested interests first seek to obviate reform and, if unsuccessful, force reversion to the initial status quo. Such nullifying behaviour is discussed and illustrated with a case study of the incorporation of the United States Post Office Department.
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND POLICY IMPLEMENTATION: THE CASE OF COMMUNITY CARE
Authors: WEBB ADRIAN , WISTOW GERALD
Published: April 2007

This article explores the contention that the conventions of public expenditure accounting conceal, rather than reveal, the real nature and implications of resource trends. A benchmark — a constant level of service output — is established as a basis for examining the relationship between trends in expenditure inputs and service outputs. Changes in unit costs are identified as the major source of deviation between expenditure and output trends. The impact of resource constraint on policy and policy‐implementation is then examined in relation to one, essentially stable, area of policy in the personal social services: community care.

The meaning of the term‘policy’ is far from straightforward and community care is best understood as the interaction of relatively independent streams of policy, towards service outputs and resource inputs, extant in both central and local government. Mechanisms by which policy streams could be reconciled are of particular interest and an innovative example — joint finance — is examined in some detail.
IMPLEMENTING PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE
Authors: DEMARCO JOHN J. , NIGRO LLOYD G.
Published: April 2007

The 1978 US Civil Service Reform Act required federal agencies to design and implement new performance appraisal systems. The CSRA intends that these reformed systems produce accurate ratings which may be used as the basis for a wide variety of personnel actions, including decisions regarding pay, promotion, and retention. In this article, we describe and analyze the responses of civilian employees at four Navy research and development laboratories where CSRA appraisal systems have been in operation since 1981. These data were obtained through questionnaires and on‐site interviews. Overall, reactions to the CSRA systems were supportive. However, signs of potentially serious long term problems may be appearing in the form of supervisory resistance to the significantly increased workload and potential for conflict associated with the new procedures. Recent changes in Office of Personnel Management policy suggest that this is a problem throughout the federal bureaucracy. The administrative‐organizational‘costs’ of CSRA appraisals and radically changed political priorities are likely to present formidable barriers to the complete implementation of the CSRA.
CHANGING PATIERNS OF BUDGETING IN ENGLISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Authors: GREENWOOD ROYSTON
Published: April 2007

Worsening financial circumstances have prompted local authorities to review the appropriateness of traditional budgetary arrangements. Using Wildavsky's concept of incremental budgeting as a guiding framework this paper examines how and why authorities have altered their budgetary processes. Results indicate that underlying incrementalism is the assumption of growth, although certain aspects of incrementalism are more affected than others by declining revenues.
CAREER SERVICE: A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE ON CIVIL SERVICE PROMOTION
Authors: RIDLEY F. F.
Published: April 2007

This article looks at some of the ambiguities in the commonly‐used phrase‘career service’ and considers what the essential elements of a true career service might be. It raises questions about civil service organization that may interest the reformist practitioner. It draws attention to an under‐researched field (British textbooks are virtually silent on the subject of promotion) that deserves further academic study. British arrangements are placed in a comparative perspective. Until recently it could be said that the British civil service better resembled the ideal of a career service than that of any other western democracy. As a result of Thatcherite changes, we may in future look more like the rest of Europe.
DECENTRALIZATION IN MITTERRAND'S FRANCE
Authors: KEATING MICHAEL
Published: April 2007

The French governmental system comprises a mixture of central and local power. The Socialist Government came to power pledged to decentralization. This is being achieved through a series of laws. Yet separating central and local affairs has raised major problems. There are contradictions within the Socialists’ ideology with regard to decentralization and the implementation of the programme has been slowed down. The reform is likely to produce a redistribution of power within the system which is neither unambiguously centralist or decentralist but a mixture of the two.
PLANNING: LESSONS FROM THE PORTS
Authors: WILSON G. K.
Published: April 2007

The National Ports Council, created in 1964 and abolished in 1982, was engaged in one of the rare sustained attempts at planning in Britain. This article explains the Council's decision not to carry out full‐scale planning because of the difficulties of collecting information, assessing technological and economic changes, and reconciling rational economic planning with short term political pressures.
JAPAN'S BUREAUCRATIC DECISION‐MAKING ON THE TEXTBOOK
Authors: KIM PAUL S.
Published: April 2007

In social theory as well as in common folklore, the childhood years have been recognized as critical for the development of the individual's personality, social attitudes, and cultural values. In most societies, the school stands with the family and peer groups as one of the most significant agents of political learning. In Japan, school influence is much greater than the other two factors because of the educational system. The myths and legends of the past, the policies and programs of the present, and the goals and aspirations of the future are taught selectively. Consciously or not, textbooks justify and rationalize the political practices.
RAYNERISM IN PRACTICE: ANATOMY OF A RAYNER SCRUTINY
Authors: WARNER NORMAN
Published: April 2007

Rayner scrutinies have become a regular feature of life in government departments. It takes only a few months to conduct a scrutiny but implementation is a far longer process which can absorb much ministerial and official time. This paper describes one of the first Rayner scrutinies — on arrangements for paying social security benefits — from inception to implementation. It relates the scrutiny team's reports to the social security system it was in part reviewing and then traces the way that ministers and officials handled the controversy that the scrutiny team's proposals caused when leaked in an inaccurate form. It concludes by speculating about some wider lessons that might be drawn about the validity of the scrutiny technique; the value of the Rayner label on reviews; the need for independent reviews in bureaucratic organizations; civil service responsiveness to reviews: the political dimension to management issues: public debate and open government considerations, and the indirect consequences of scrutinies.
POLICY‐MAKING WITH A DIFFERENCE? THE TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION INITIATIVE
Authors: MOON JEREMY , RICHARDSON J. J.
Published: April 2007

In this study we focus on the emergence of the technical and vocational education initiative. The formulation of the policy is found to differ from that of the conventional British policy style, in that it was announced without prior consultation with the education policy community. Further, overall responsibility for the initiative lies outside the traditional sphere of education — with the Manpower Services Commission. However, in the subsequent processing and implementation stages of the initiative, the established educational interests (local and national) are seen to move from the auditorium back to centre stage. The reasons for the original departure from the conventional policy style, those for the return to normality, and some implications, are examined.
PLANS AS PROMISES: WHAT DOES ‘CORPORATE PLANNING’ MEAN IN A PUBLICLY‐OWNED CORPORATION?
Authors: CHAMBERS DAVID
Published: April 2007

Some planning activities of organizations operate happily; others are muddled or ritualistic. A review of the activities which operate happily suggests a useful distinction between the performative sense of planning as doing something (plans as promises) and the indicative sense of planning as describing something (e.g. plans as forecasts). This distinction is important in the context of the management of public enterprises, where an inaccurate view of what‘corporate planning’ can achieve has distracted attention from unresolved problems of gaining commitment to agreed targets.
REGULATION BY COST‐BENEFIT ANALYSIS
Authors: BALDWIN G. R. , VELJANOVSKI C. G.
Published: April 2007

Executive Order 12291 requires that all US federal executive agency regulations should pass a cost‐benefit test before promulgation. The Reagan Administration's procedures for implementing the Order are described and the strengths and problems of using cost‐benefit analysis to restrain and reform regulation are examined. The article then goes on to examine the feasibility of introducing a similar cost‐benefit approach in Britain. It is concluded that, apart from the inherent practical and administrative difficulties of using cost‐benefit, its introduction would pose special problems. Radical changes would have to be made in British central administration, in judicial training and attitudes and in regulatory law if cost‐benefit testing was to be used in anything other than an ad hoc form.
TAKING STOCK OF THE LOCAL AUTHORITY ASSOCIATIONS
Authors: ISAAC‐HENRY K.
Published: April 2007

This article examines the achievements of the local authority associations in the period from 1974 to the present. In particular, it considers whether the associations have met the major objectives set by their predecessors. The conclusion indicates that there are a number of factors which have inhibited the achievement of these objectives.

Two of the main inhibiting factors are the close connection between the associations and central government, and their readiness to respond to every move the centre makes. The associations might now consider adopting a weaker connection and a more discriminating response in relation to central government.
BUILDING SOCIETIES: A QUESTION OF ACCOUNTABILITY?
Authors: McLEAY E. M.
Published: April 2007

The investment and mortgage policies and practices of the British building societies affect individuals, neighbourhoods and the economy. Their activities have been subject to serious criticisms. Building societies, however, are scarcely accountable to their members, despite their position as‘mutual’ organizations; nor are they politically accountable to the electors through the government. The British building societies present a public interest problem. This article questions whether and how they ought to be made accountable for their actions in order to ensure that they further the public interest.
THE CITIZEN AND THE ADMINISTRATION IN FRANCE — THE CONSEIL DETAT VERSUS OMBUDSMAN DEBATE REVISITED
Authors: CLARK DAVID
Published: April 2007

The purpose of this article is to reappraise, in the light of recent French experience with the ‘Ombudsman’, the prevailing orthodoxy, shared by élite opinion in both France and Britain in the 1960s’ that the Ombudsman and a system of administrative courts applying ‘droit administratif’ (a body of autonomous rules separate from private law), were mutually exclusive modes of securing redress for citizens aggrieved by administrative action. The thesis is advanced that in the contemporary welfare state, irrespective of particular political, administrative and legal traditions, a system of administrative law and an Ombudsman are complementary not competitive institutions.
BRITISH ‘WAR CABINETS’ IN LIMITED WARS: KOREA, SUEZ AND THE FALKLANDS
Authors: SEYMOUR‐URE COLIN
Published: April 2007

In crises leading to a limited war, the Cabinet assigns responsibility for its detailed management to a ‘War Cabinet’. For Korea the standing Defence Committee was used; the Cabinet's role was effectively limited to parliamentary and public relations. Smaller, ad hoc committees were used in the Suez and Falklands crises. At times of greatest pressure the Cabinet in each case had the formal opportunity to take major decisions; but in practice, especially during Suez, this amounted to an opportunity for a veto which was unlikely to be used. Two dangers facing a War Cabinet are those of tunnel vision and of the undue influence of military or technical considerations. The full Cabinet, best suited in principle to relate the problems of the war to the Government's other problems and goals, risks finding itself flanked by a War Cabinet too close to the war and by a Parliament which is too far away and too excitable.
COMPUTERIZING THE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM: AN OPERATIONAL STRATEGY IN LIEU OF A POLICY STRATEGY?
Authors: OHIGGINS MICHAEL
Published: April 2007

The operational strategy for social security — how to computerize one of the largest manually‐dominated ‘sort, act and file’ operations in the country — is the emerging product of work which began in 1977 and has thus far produced a discussion document (DHSS 1980), a strategy proposals document (DHSS 1982), a high‐level seminar (DHSS 1983) and a wide range of consultations. A ministerial response to the strategy — likely to be the go‐ahead with only marginal amendments — was due before now but was delayed because of the general election. What are the insights which the development of this strategy provides for those interested in public policy analysis? What are the questions which its nature and prospects poses for public administration? This paper is concerned not with the technical issues involved in the development of feasible database strategies but with the issues to which the strategy gives rise. After a brief outline of the main features of the operational strategy, it discusses the possible implications of the strategy for clients of the social security system, and then examines some issues of policy co‐ordination, inheritance and flexibility thrown up by the exercise.
BUREAUCRACY TRIUMPHANT OR DENIED? THE EXPANSION OF THE BRITISH CIVIL SERVICE, 1919–1939
Authors: LOWE RODNEY
Published: April 2007

The power of central government in Britain increased significantly in the inter‐war period, but did Britain become bureaucratic? This article examines the expansion of the civil service as a whole through a detailed case study of one particular department (the Ministry of Labour) in the light of traditional critiques of bureaucracy. It concludes that previous over‐concentration on the role of the Treasury has distorted analysis. The inter‐war civil service became bureaucratic in terms not of rationality, inefficiency or power but only of size and increasing complexity. In this it reflected a general trend in British society, which also affected industry and the trade union movement.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THATCHER GOVERNMENT'S ‘GRAND STRATEGY’ FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE: A PUBLIC POLICY PERSPECTIVE
Authors: FRY GEOFFREY K.
Published: April 2007

Since the Thatcher Government came to office, the policies which it has pursued towards the civil service have been characterized by its determination to emphasize political control over the work of government departments and to‘de‐privilege’ the civil service. The paper traces and evaluates the development of the Conservative Government's‘grand strategy’ for the civil service which was eventually given the form of the financial management initiative in 1982, an attempt to universalize MINIS and institutionalize Raynerism. Among other things, this policy study considers the cuts in civil service numbers and the changes in its hierarchy, the dismantling of the Priestley pay system, the civil service strike of 1981, and the disbanding of the Civil Service Department, involving as it did the dismissal of the Head of the Home Civil Service.
THE REGIONAL OFFICES OF THE DOE — POLICEMEN OR MEDIATORS? A STUDY OF LOCAL HOUSING POLICY
Authors: HOULIHAN BARRIE
Published: April 2007

The article begins with a review of the existing literature on the regional level of government and the ‘regional state’, and proceeds to focus on the range of linkages which are found between the centre and local authorities. Seven linkages are identified and after an analysis of the regional level of government it is suggested that professional and technical linkages predominate. The roles of the regional offices of the DOE are then examined within this framework with particular attention being paid to the professional involvement in the housing investment programme negotiations. The article concludes with suggestions concerning the role and influence of the regional officers of the DOE on local authority housing policy.
WOMEN AS ‘ANOMALIES’: THE ANOMALIES REGULATIONS OF 1931, THEIR BACKGROUND AND IMPLICATIONS
Authors: TOMLINSON J. D.
Published: April 2007

In 1931, the fraught government discussion over the unemployment insurance scheme resulted in the introduction of a set of Anomalies Regulations which greatly restricted the nights of certain categories of workers to claim unemployment benefit. The group most affected by these Regulations were married women, 320000 of whom had been downed benefit under these Regulations by the end of 1936, out of a total of 650 000 insured married women.

Recently (Benjamin and Kochin 1979) this measure has been cited in the revived arguments about the effects of unemployment benefit on the level of unemployment. Important as this issue is, the Anomalies Regulations are also of much broader interest in that they open up the whole question of the place of women in the unemployment insurance system.

This article is divided into four sections. The first outlines the position of women in the unemployment insurance system prior to 1931. The second looks at the immediate circumstances of the Regulations enactment. The third looks at their immediate consequences. The fourth looks more broadly at the problems of women and the unemployment insurance system.
THE IMPACT OF THE EFFICIENCY STRATEGY: POLITICAL CLOUT OR CULTURAL CHANGE?
Authors: METCALFE LES , RICHARDS SUE
Published: April 2007

The initial impact of the efficiency strategy owed much to the determined backing of the Prime Minister. A lasting change in public management, however, relies on a more fundamental Change in the culture of Whitehall, not only to give more attention to management, but to redefine the concept in terms appropriate to government. One of the obstacles to change is that the civil service operates with an impoverished concept of management which over‐emphasizes routine control and understates other dimensions, such as managing change and managing relationships within organizations. A broader concept of public management pushes up against the limits of the existing framework of constitutional myth and ritual.
THE CHANGING ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF LOCAL AUTHORITY CHIEF OFFICERS
Authors: LAFFIN MARTIN , YOUNG KEN
Published: April 2007

This article argues that recent political change in Britain has brought about a crisis of adjustment for local government chief officers in their relationship with the elected members. Key aspects of this political change are the break‐up of the post‐war political consensus and the passing of the earlier period of growth. As the ideological distance between the two main parties has widened and the end of growth has intensified conflicts, the professional stance of neutrality towards partisan politics has become more difficult to sustain. So for chief officers the crisis of adjustment has taken the form of a search for new ways of work with the politicians as the earlier, relatively harmonious relationship has passed into history.

Against this background of increased politicization, the impact of current changes on the three aspects of the chief officer role is examined: as professional adviser, as departmental manager and as a ‘bureaucratic politician’. Finally, some of the changes that have been proposed to ease this crisis for chief officers are discussed.
SCALE ECONOMIES AND IRON LAWS: MERGERS AND DEMERGERS IN WHITEHALL 1971–1984
Authors: HOOD CHRISTOPHER , HUBY MEG , DUNSIRE ANDREW
Published: April 2007

Between 1971 and 1984 there were ten cases of merger or demerger in British central government departments, ranging in importance from the massive DTI demerger into four distinct departments (1973) to the absorption by the Lord Chancellor's Department of the Office of the Public Trustee (1982). By analysis of changes in aggregate indices of ‘top staff‘, ‘middle staff’, ratio of administrative grades to total staff, salary costs relative to total budget, budget relative to total Government budget, and staff relative to total Civil Service staff, some common hypotheses about the rationale and effects of such bureau‐shuffling are explored. It is found that, if anything, like attracts unlike (in terms of these indices); that change in scale creates neither economies nor diseconomies; that reorganization does not inevitably produce cost escalation (the ‘Iron Law of Prodigality’); but that the ‘Iron Law of Inertia’ (reorganization in practice has little observable effect on bureaucratic structure and working) is supported by the observed results.
CHANGE IN THE CIVIL SERVICE: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECTS
Authors: JOHNSON NEVIL
Published: April 2007

The type of civil service modelled on the principles of the Victorian reformers survived virtually unscathed into the post‐1945 era of the welfare state and managed economy. Criticism of its qualities and performance resulted in a programme of changes associated principally with the Fulton Report (1968). This initial reform phase identified a shift to more active management of personnel, resources and policies as the primary need, but its practical effects were muted by optimistic assumptions relating to the rate of economic growth and the benefits to be derived from continued extension of governmental responsibilities. Since 1979 the context of civil service reform has changed, imposing much stronger pressure in favour of a managerialist view of civil service functions, of a career in the civil service, and of the ethos of the profession. Despite ambiguities of purpose and constraints within the political system the course of change is likely to continue in the direction, pointing towards a civil service substantially different at the end of the century from that which has been familiar in British thinking about the character and status of officials.
AUSTRALIAN ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: INSTITUTIONS, REFORMS AND IMPACT
Authors: GRIFFITHS JOHN
Published: April 2007

Over the last decade the Australian Government has enacted a package of legislative reforms dealing with administrative law, some aspects of which are radical and innovative. The reforms comprise the establishment of a general appeals tribunal to review certain administrative decisions on their merits, the appointment of a Commonwealth ombudsman, changes to the procedures and principles concerning judicial review of administrative action, the enactment of freedom of information legislation and the creation of an advisory body to monitor the new system of administrative law. The key features of these reforms are described in this article and some general observations are also made on the impact that the reforms have had on federal public administration.
DOCTORS AND DEFICITS: REGULATING THE MEDICAL PROFESSION IN FRANCE
Authors: GODT PAUL J.
Published: April 2007

This paper seeks to analyze the political factors involved in health care delivery in a modern industrial welfare state and to illustrate how the transformation of the French state has affected the policymaking environment surrounding this particular issue. Cultural traditions rooted in the nineteenth century seriously circumscribed the role of the state in de‐the conditions of medical practice. Nonetheless, pressures emerging since 1945 for the provision of a wide array of social services have drawn the state into ever closer regulation of the health sector. The economic constraints of the past decade resulted in state‐imposed cost‐containment policies which accentuated the trend toward politicization of health care. In consequence, and despite the rear‐guard defensive tactics of the medical profession, the French state has succeeded in firmly establishing its primacy in this major area of public policy.
THE ROLE OF POLITICIANS AND ADMINISTRATORS IN DEPARTMENTAL REORGANIZATION: THE CASE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Authors: RADCLIFFE JAMES
Published: April 2007

This article examines the history of the Department of the Environment from its creation in 1970 to the formation of the Department of Transport in 1976. Its main approach is an analysis of the roles of the Permanent Secretary and the Secretary of State in the development of the organization. The strong organizational relationship between these senior members of the department is an important factor in structural change both at the time of the initial reforms and throughout this period.

The influence of different personalities and their approaches to policy and management is considered as a determining factor in the evolution of the department. Additionally, the attempts at reorganization and reform are to be seen as largely developing within a traditional Whitehall framework, based on this relationship, which restricted its effectiveness.
THE EDUCATION OF THE TREASURY: THE MEDIUMTERM FINANCIAL STRATEGY 1980–84
Authors: THAIN COLIN
Published: April 2007

The first Thatcher government introduced an innovatory macro‐economic plan – the medium‐term financial strategy (MTFs) – in March 1980. It was the most notable example of how the Government sought to change the direction of post‐war policy. This article traces the origins and formulation of the strategy, noting that it was Treasury‐imposed, and monetarist in orientation. During its implementation however it was substantially modified. The phrase ‘pragmatism and continuity’ best describes this process. Aspects of macro‐economic policy are introduced to develop this theme. There is clear evidence that the Treasury was ‘educated’ by the problems encountered: the objectives of the MTFS were not uniquely achievable simply because they were deliberately limited in scope. Nevertheless, the strategy has survived as a policy framework and freed from its monetarist dogma remains a useful means of co‐ordinating objectives.
CORPORATISM, PAY NEGOTIATIONS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Authors: RHODES R. A. W.
Published: April 2007

The era of the ‘Social Contract’ between 1974 and 1979 has been seen as the epitome of ‘corporatism’ in British government. This article explores the utility of the concept of ‘corporatism’ for the study of intergovernmental relations, examining pay negotiations in the fire service between 1976 and 1980. It identifies the central characteristics associated with a corporatist system; describes the institutional and procedural context of pay negotiations in the fie service; catalogues the events surrounding the firemen's strike of 1977; and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of corporatism in explaining these events. It concludes that the concept of corporatism has now acquired so many multiple and contiguous meanings that it adds little to the analysis of relationships between government, local government (employers) and the trade unions. Such terms as network, compliance and executive authority are of greater use than the corporatist terminology of hierarchy, regulation and order.
PRIVATE INITIATIVE AND COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY: A STRATEGY FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY
Authors: JACOBS BRIAN D.
Published: April 2007

In Britain black leaders are generally less well integrated into community agencies and local administration than their counterparts in the United States. This is partly explained by reference to the American ‘arms length’ approach to funding community development which, in contrast to the more centralized British approach, enables black leaders to work ‘within the system’ apparently without sacrificing too much of their political independence. In this context the paper views the activities and funding of the US community action and development agencies and British community relations councils.
COUNCILLOR/OFFICER RELATIONS IN IRISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT: ALTERNATIVE MODELS
Authors: COLLINS NEIL
Published: April 2007

The models of Irish local politics that dominate the literature offer inadequate explanations of the elected politiciad officer relationship. This article analyses the behaviour of the most senior local officer (the county or city manager) vis‐à‐vis elected representatives by first reviewing the relevant parts of four current models and then offering an alternative explanation by way of a fifth ‘divergent interest’ model. This final model is in part an amalgam of the other four though it also aims to disaggregate the notion of policy as it is currently used. In particular, it seeks to compromise between the neglect of substantive policy concerns inherent in the brokerage explanation and the epiphenomena1 model's ambivalence on the initiatives available to the manager. A feature of this model is that both managers and councillors have policy and administrative interests but in largely non‐competitive areas. The divergence of interests between official and politician arises from differing perspectives established by both consideration of time‐scale and socialization. The stability of their relationship is reinforced by the temporal fragmentation of the formal policy making process, and b the non‐competing resources over which the manager and his councillors seek command: It is hoped that the divergent interests model offered here will be a useful tool in understanding the relationship between Irish politicians and bureaucrats at the local government level.
EXPLAINING THE PRIVATIZATION BOOM: PUBLIC CHOICE VERSUS RADICAL APPROACHES
Authors: DUNLEAVY PATRICK
Published: April 2007

Public choice theories of bureaucracy, especially the budget maximization thesis, have been influential in stimulating the drive towards privatization in Britain and the USA. But these accounts are strangely silent about why changes in state agency practices have come about under‘new right’ governments. They apparently attribute the scope of change entirely to‘virtuous’ political direction overcoming previously inherent features of bureaucratic behaviour and democratic politics.

By contrast, a radical reconstruction of instrumental models of bureaucracy explains the privatization boom in terms of the primacy of bureau‐shaping motivations in the welfare functions of policy‐level bureaucrats. Privatization is seen as a development of earlier strategies (such as the separation of control and line agencies, the creation of‘dual state’ structures, and automation) by which the class interests of senior bureaucrats have been advanced at the expense of rank and file state workers and service recipients. An examination of divergences in the internal and social costs of public agency functions explains why legislators and policy‐level bureaucrats (especially in control agencies) push ahead with the‘inappropriate’ privatization of public service delivery systems where overall social welfare is reduced.
BY VOLUNTARY AGREEMENT: THE POLITICS OF INSTRUMENT SELECTION
Authors: BAGGOTT ROB
Published: April 2007

There are many ways in which policies can be sanctioned, and legislation is only one of a number of alternatives. This article examines one such alternative: voluntary agreements. After outlining the major characteristics of this policy instrument there is an examination of the various factors which appear to influence their selection in favour of legislation. This is followed by an attempt to trace a pattern of policy succession by examining three particular cases where there has been a change in the principal policy instrument. Finally, the discussion as a whole is set in the context of the executive domination of Parliament. The implications of the use of non‐statutory instruments, such as voluntary agreements, for this relationship are noted.
SOCIO‐ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, CENTRAL POLICIES AND LOCAL AUTHORITY STAFFING LEVELS
Authors: BOYNE GEORGE A.
Published: April 2007

This paper analyses whether central pressure on local authorities to cut staff has resulted in greater efficiency by concentrating reductions in the more heavily staffed authorities. A measure of staffing levels is derived which takes into account the different socio‐economic conditions faced by different authorities. The relationship between this measure and changes in staffing levels since 1980 is then analysed. The statistical results show that staff cuts have not fallen systematically on the more heavily staffed authorities. It is concluded that the indiscriminate impact of central government pressure to reduce staff indicates that a more informed and more selective policy towards public sector employment is required.
CONTROLLING LOCAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE: THE CASE OF NORTHERN IRELAND
Authors: CONNOLLY M. E. H.
Published: April 2007

The purposes of this paper are twofold, namely to outline the basic features of local government finance in Northern Ireland and to discuss how this financial system has been affected by the concerns of central government to control public expenditure. It will be argued that there has been no radical revision of the local government financial system but that central government used traditional methods of moral suasion and capital controls to induce councils to restrict their spending. The reasons for this include the small size of local expenditure and the political risks involved in further curbing local government in Northern Ireland.
JUDICIAL REVIEW OF ADMINISTRIATIVE DECISIONS – A BACKGROUND PAPER
Authors: BOYNTON JOHN
Published: April 2007

Judicial review is now the normal route for anyone seeking to challenge an administrative decision, unless there is a separate statutory right of appeal as for example in town planning matters. Grounds for challenge have been variously described by the courts but include (a) that the decision was wrong in law, (b) that it was unreasonable or irrational and (c) that there was procedural unfairness. Those who seek review must understand that the court will not substitute its own view for that of the decision taker. The adequacy of the remedy of judicial review has been challenged by some on the grounds that leave to proceed has to be sought from the court within three months. There is too the difficulty in some cases of establishing that the plaintiff has a sufficient interest to sue. Whilst it is too early to talk of a distinct body of public as opposed to private law, recent decisions have widened the concept of public law and have interpreted the circumstances in which a private right may be pursued against a public authority.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW AND JUDICIAL REVIEW – THE PRACTICAL EFFECTS QF DEVELOPMENTS OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS ON ADMINISTRATION IN CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
Authors: KERRY MICHAEL
Published: April 2007

The writer of this article served in the legal civil service from 1951–1984, mainly in the Board of Trade and its successor departments but from 1980–1984 as Treasury Solicitor. The article reflects his personal views based on this experience. Its theme is that, although access to the courts has been made easier for the citizen aggrieved by an administrative decision, and court procedure has been greatly improved, the course of administration has been less dramatically affected – in fact little, if at all, by some important earlier cases. Nevertheless the spirit of administrative law is now becoming more widely diffused, the areas which are not subject to review are becoming less and a number of specific doctrines have been developed which affect administration. The following are particularly emphasized: (1) the courts’restrictive view of the ‘Wednesbury’ doctrine and their tendency to find other grounds to overide decisions which they find objectionable or unreasonable – a tendency which causes real administrative difficulty; (2) the recently enunciated doctrine of legitimate expectation whose limits are uncertain but which may have considerable effect on administration in future; and (3) the requirement that a person affected by a policy should be given an opportunity to show that he is a special case.

Finally the writer has to emphasize that his personal experience ended in August 1984 when he retired. In a large organization such as the civil service a change of ethos is slow. He is assured by some, particularly Mr John Bailey cb, his successor as Treasury Solicitor, who has read this article in draft, that he understates the degree to which concepts of administrative law are infusing the whole spirit of administration, and even more directly, the short‐term effects in individual departments such as the Department of the Environment which has been the subject of long‐running campaigns directed by other bodies against it through the courts.
PUBLIC LAWYERS AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATORS: PROSPECTS FOR AN ALLIANCE?
Authors: DREWRY GAVIN
Published: April 2007

There is in Britain a longstanding gulf between the study and practice of public administration on the one hand, and the study and practice of public law on the other. This state of affairs contrasts sharply with the situation in many other countries of Western Europe, where public administration is underpinned by well‐developed systems of administrative law. Recent procedural and substantive developments in the field of judicial review of administrative action, together with intensification of debate about constitutional issues, such as the desirability of enacting a new Bill of Rights, have increased the urgency of improving communications and collaboration between these two cognate areas of activity. The burgeoning literature of public law, and the law reports of cases in this subject‐area, constitute a potentially invaluable quarry of source‐material for students of British public administration.
CHANGES IN JUDICIAL REVIEW: AN OUTSIDER'S REFLECTIONS
Authors: ERRERA ROGER
Published: April 2007

Public Administration has asked me to comment on the articles discussing recent developments in judicial review contained in this special issue. This is a most generous invitation, for which I would like to thank the editors, in particular Professor Michael Lee. This is a daunting task too. Before I attempt it, I wish to say that the following are the comments of an outside and foreign observer who had recently the opportunity to study the English legal system.

I propose to consider the questions raised in three parts; firstly, the manner in which the recent reforms have been introduced and their likely consequences; secondly, the practical effects of judicial review on the administration; and thirdly, the cultural, social and political factors that influence the shape and role of administrative law.
DEVOLVED RESPONSIBILITY AND CENTRALIZATION: EFFECTS OF EEC ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
Authors: HAIGH NIGEL
Published: April 2007

The European Community is still a community of nation states in the sense that the obligations created by Community legislation fall on the member states who then have to implement them.

A point much commented upon is that this involves a loss of sovereignty or power for national parliaments and governments. What is less frequently noticed is that it can also centralize into a national government's hands some powers that had previously been devolved to local and other authorities. Since the Community deals largely with national governments, what had previously been local functions have to become national government functions the moment they fall within a Community policy.

This process can be seen at work as a result of the Community's environmental policy. In Britain a variety of administrative agencies have exercised considerable discretion in handling pollution matters. Some functions are handled by district councils, some by county councils, some by specialized regional authorities, eg water authorities, and some by specialized national agencies, eg the Industrial Air Pollution Inspectorate. As a result of the Community's environmental policy, the central government now has greater powers. If the erosion of the tradition of devolved responsibility is not to be resented, it must be justified on the grounds that some larger purpose is being served.
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM – GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND THE AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE
Authors: WILENSKI PETER
Published: April 2007

Failure to understand the political nature of administrative reform and to develop a political strategy to overcome resistance lies behind the failure of many reform attempts. The prerequisites of reform include political will, time, resources, an ongoing institution promoting change, and a strategy which concentrates on the implementation stage when resistance is strongest. Such a strategy must use the principal levers of change, including legislation, which directly affect administrative behaviour. In Australia in the 1970s administrative reform proceeded only slowly with the exception of changes in some States and the introduction of a new body of Federal administrative law. A better reform strategy in the past two years has resulted in extensive legislative change at the Federal level including greater ministerial control over certain senior appointments, open public competition for the top one per cent of civil service jobs, affirmative action and industrial democracy. There has thus been a further shift towards a unique Australian model of public administration.
INTRA‐ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS IN LOCAL AUTHORITIES: TOWARDS A NEW APPROACH
Authors: STOKER GERRY , WILSON DAVID
Published: April 2007

Much of the recent literature on local government has emphasized the impact of non‐local factors on local authority decision‐making. This article argues that the administrative processes, power structures and conflicts of interest inside local authorities can often affect policy processes by mediating external influences and providing an internal dynamic of their own. We suggest that most of the current literature concentrates too narrowly on officer‐councillor relationships and invariably emphasizes the total dominance of an officer‐councillor elite. Our new approach identifies six possible arenas of policy influence within local authorities (of which the officer‐councillor elite is just one) and emphasizes the dynamics of intra‐organizational politics inside local authorities.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE IN NATIONALIZED INDUSTRIES
Authors: WOODWARD S. N.
Published: April 2007

Tracing the links between managerial performance and performance indicators reveals the limited quality of information provided by those indicators. There are two reasons. First, aggregate indices in their composition and assumption provide only a starting point for analysis and evaluation. Second, the political context inhibits publication of informative indicators of the kind which a competent organization might use for internal purposes. Part of the problem resides in misapplication of a private sector analogy. We conclude that both understanding of the nature of managerial performance in nationalized industries and conditions for working towards a more appropriate evaluation have been largely lacking in the public forum.
DECISION‐MAKING IN CENTRAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE ABSENCE OF POLITICAL MAJORITY
Authors: WENDT ROBIN
Published: April 2007

A possible outcome of the next general election is that no party will have a majority in the House of Commons, a situation experienced only briefly in recent central government. In local government, by contrast, more than half the county councils in England and Wales and many district councils have no overall political majority. Some have been so for many years. This paper examines the style of decision‐making in one such local authority, Cheshire County Council, in terms of the roles of politicians and officials and the relationship between them. Recognizing the constitutional differences between central and local government, it goes on to discuss how much of this experience would be relevant to central government in the event of no overall parliamentary majority. The paper argues that many of the working practices developed in local authorities would be valid in a central government context, though they would not necessarily take the same form. To avoid value judgments, the absence of overall majority, whether in a local authority or in parliament, is referred to simply as ‘no‐majority’.