Policy-making and implementation Flashcards
what is bureaucracy?
a system of government in which most of the important decisions are taken by state officials rather than by elected representatives. The Telegraph suggests that the UK is becoming more bureaucratic. The Guardian suggests that Britain is becoming increasingly ruled as a bureaucracy, as the civil service and their paper work overtake the work of debate in the commons.
what reform of the civil service has taken place from 1979-2005?
Civil service often seen as ineffective and obstructive, in recent years many of their roles have been given to executive agencies (of which there are now around 130, such as the HM prisom service and DVLA– these people are held accountable for policy, going against principle of CS) and special advisors. The Fulton report 1968 criticised the CS, and under Thatcher it was reduced by 100,000 staff. David Cameron has published documents outlining further reform to ‘nurture talent, flatten management structures, reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, and improve services while reducing costs’ within the civil service.
what are the three (or five) principles of the civil service?
- impartiality– in theory CS should serve crown and not perform party political functions, however this principle has been undermined by the rise of political special advisors such as Alistair Campbell and the politicisation of the service since 1979.
- anonymity– an individual servant should not be identified publicly, due to the doctrine of ministerial responsibility and their impartiality, however this has become increasingly difficult as ministers have undermined their duties (ASK!!) and the rise of agencies where head civil servants seem now responsible for policy not MPs.
- permanence– civil servants stay in office even following a change in gov (impartiality again), however many (heads of agencies, special advisors) are now on fixed-term contracts.
(4. confidentiality– bound by official secrets act (see Ponting, released to the media that the Argentinean warship the ‘Belgrano’ may well have been attacked by a British submarine outside of the exclusion zone imposed during the Falklands War and 5. meritocracy also apply)
what are the five roles of the civil service?
Research– engine room for gov, specialists provide detailed research essential to policy, a crucial role as MPs do not usually have expertise in their dept.
Policy advice– top 1000 bureaucrats in senior civil service advise MPs
Policy execution– CS implements policy, much of this work is now done by executive agencies such as HM Prison Service.
Departmental admin– CS responsible for record-keeping in each dept
Ensuring smooth transition of gov– provides continuity through ministerial reshuffles and changes in gov, helped by principles of impartiality, anonymity & permanence
what are the four models of minister/civil-servant relations?
4 models derived by Kevin Theakston in ‘ministers and mandarins, in 1991
Formal constitutional model– CS provide info for MPs and preserving the three principles of the CS.
Adversarial model- ministers and civil servants in struggle for power, as CS has own agenda.
Village life in Whitehall model– ministers provide vision and drive whilst CS provide knowledge and details of information.
Bureaucratic expansionism model– CS serve own interests by creating bureaucratic empires that obstruct gov and waste money.
are the civil service servants or masters?
Tony Benn felt that CS had its own agenda, where they control information given to MPs to deny them essential facts, give ministers too many other commitments, outnumber ministers by 10:1, and network, holding informal meetings that see awkward minister outmanoeuvred. He said ministers can ‘go native’ after being cut off from outside world, and due to the CS tendency to ‘outlive’ ministers, they are smug and all-knowing. The ‘Yes Minister’ model claims that civil servants are actually controlling ministers rather than the other way round. In the comedy the minister is constantly outwitted by his permanent secretary. Many saw this as reflective of real life.
what are special advisors?
most special advisors are civil servants, but they are not tied by CS principles. They are appointed by and tied to the gov of the day, meaning they are partisan, often public figures who are appointed on fixed-term contracts. Special advisors make gov less reliant on civil service, and help PM keep up-to-date with the work of depts. Each cabinet minister traditionally has 2 special advisors– by 2003 there were 108 advisors (27 for PM and 81 for ministers) compared to just 5 in 1990.
what are spin doctors?
name coined during Labour gov in 1997, spin doctors often face criticism for the way in which they seem to serve a party-political function while being funded by the taxpayer. There have been many spin-doctor scandals, leading to great mistrust from the public in the work they do (eg problems over policy and management in 2002 led to resignation of Martin Sixsmith and Stephen Byers). Tony Blair was said to be too reliant on spin doctors, after it emerged that he ran most of his decisions past them rather than cabinet.
is the civil service becoming increasingly politicised?
the telegraph certainly think so, they claim ‘The government is trying to politicise the Civil Service by appointing expert advisers from outside Whitehall’. it is true that in recent years there has been a number of more political appointments who have been relied upon more than the traditional civil service, from the legacy Blair left behind from 1997. Blair in 1999 had 21 special advisors, such as his chief press spokesman Alastair Campbell, who were used to advise him rather than the politically neutral CS.
