Abstract
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Politicians, Bureaucrats and Administrative Reform |
| Place of Publication | London, UK |
| Pages | 35-44 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Publication status | Published - 2001 |
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Keywords
- organizational change
- public administration
- civil service
- politicians
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Agencies, ministers and civil servants in Britain. / Hogwood, Brian W.; Judge, D.; McVicar, M.; Peters, G. (Editor); Pierre, J. (Editor).
Politicians, Bureaucrats and Administrative Reform. London, UK, 2001. p. 35-44.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
TY - CHAP
T1 - Agencies, ministers and civil servants in Britain
AU - Hogwood, Brian W.
AU - Judge, D.
AU - McVicar, M.
A2 - Peters, G.
A2 - Pierre, J.
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - Huge variations exist in the relationships between politicians and agenciesin Britain, from very frequent contact in a politicised atmosphere to thecomplete absence of a direct relationship at all. The nature of therelationship appears to be determined less by agency status as such as bythe political sensitivity of particular policy issues. While politicians are notinvolved in the day-to-day running of most agencies, they have beenconcerned with operational matters in a small number of agencies. Whilemany agencies have no direct input into policy issues (and there are fewdirectly concerning them), in a limited number of cases the agency is themain source of policy advice because it is the repository of expertise, andin others the agency has the right to be consulted about any policyproposals affecting them, and to make policy proposals. The British NextSteps agency form, because of it relatively informal status, is relativelyadaptable to new purposes. Thus, agency status as such has provided littlehindrance to the new Labour government. Similarly, while agencies wereoriginally set up and largely operate with a vertical perspective on meetingtheir own targets, the form is adaptable to cross-organisational targets,though it cannot solve conflicting objectives or policies.
AB - Huge variations exist in the relationships between politicians and agenciesin Britain, from very frequent contact in a politicised atmosphere to thecomplete absence of a direct relationship at all. The nature of therelationship appears to be determined less by agency status as such as bythe political sensitivity of particular policy issues. While politicians are notinvolved in the day-to-day running of most agencies, they have beenconcerned with operational matters in a small number of agencies. Whilemany agencies have no direct input into policy issues (and there are fewdirectly concerning them), in a limited number of cases the agency is themain source of policy advice because it is the repository of expertise, andin others the agency has the right to be consulted about any policyproposals affecting them, and to make policy proposals. The British NextSteps agency form, because of it relatively informal status, is relativelyadaptable to new purposes. Thus, agency status as such has provided littlehindrance to the new Labour government. Similarly, while agencies wereoriginally set up and largely operate with a vertical perspective on meetingtheir own targets, the form is adaptable to cross-organisational targets,though it cannot solve conflicting objectives or policies.
KW - organizational change
KW - public administration
KW - civil service
KW - politicians
M3 - Chapter
SN - 0415234433
SP - 35
EP - 44
BT - Politicians, Bureaucrats and Administrative Reform
CY - London, UK
ER -