More Than 'Counting Manhole Covers': The Evolution Of The British Tradition Of Public Administration

This article is a revised version of an inaugural lecture, delivered at the University of Leeds on 30 April 1998. The focus of the lecture and, thus, of this article is concerned with administrative history and the civil service. The first part of the article is about the pioneers of the academic study of public administration, and the subject's relationship with political philosophy. The second part examines the role of the Webbs and the British approach to public administration. The third part evaluates the contribution of the academics of the 'Golden Age' of public administration. The fourth part deals with changing perceptions of public administration, with a particular emphasis on developments in the civil service; it is deliberately self-referential. The final part briefly considers the future of the academic study of public administration, concluding that it has one.     

Aesop With Variations: Civil Service Competency as A Case of German Tortoise and British Hare?

Among the most widely used stereotypes in the contemporary literature on public management reform is to portray German administrative policy as that of a slow-moving 'tortoise' in contrast to the fast-moving reform 'hare'. Taking civil service competency as a point of analysis, this article questions the validity of these widely held assumptions. It does so in three steps. Following a brief comparative narrative of competency initiatives in the German and British higher civil services, the article explores to what extent the observed 'Aesop with variation' pattern can be explained. It suggests that the variations can only to a limited extent be explained by 'civil service competency exceptionalism' and that there therefore seems to be something wrong with the way that Germany and the UK are conventionally categorized in the international public management reform literature.     

Post-Soviet Civil Society Development in the Russian Federation: The Impact of the NGO Law

The passing of the Russian NGO Law in mid-2006 set clear parameters for Russian NGO activity and civil society development. In this paper we assess the impact of the NGO Law on both NGOs and Russian civil society. Our findings illustrate that the NGO Law has led to a reduction in NGO activity and curtailment of civil society development. We conclude that Russian civil society appears to be dominated by groups funded and thus controlled by the state. This has implications for Russia's on-going democratic development.     

Civil service reforms in British India and united Pakistan

Nearly 200 years of British rule of the Indian sub-continent clearly and significantly affected the society and people in the region. One of the continuing legacies of the British rule has been in the area of civil administration. The Indian Civil Service (ICS) characterized by centralization of authority and elite nature symbolized the British domination of the Indian people. From time to time attempts were made to reform the ICS. These reforms included introduction of competitive examination as a mode of entry, provision for systematic training and Indianization of the service. Pakistan inherited and continued with the British administrative system. The Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) was modelled after the ICS. A number of attempts were made to reform the CSP but all failed due to lack of political will and bureaucratic resistance to major administrative reforms.     

Subsoil Law Reform in Russia under the Putin Administration

This article examines the political economy of subsoil law reform under the Putin administration. Despite repeated promises of imminent reform, the overhaul of the main legal basis governing some of the most important sectors of the Russian economy was subjected to repeated delays during the eight years of Putin's presidency. This article shows that the interaction of three major influences—the Kremlin's shifting policy priorities in its relations with subsoil management; the activities of the relevant state bureaucratic institutions; and the interests of the state-controlled mineral extracting companies—added to the complexity and delay.     

The Civil Service Under Stress: The Fall in Civil Service Power and Authority

The failures of governments of both parties in the 1970s had prepared for radical changes in the nature of government under Margaret Thatcher. Among them were that ministers resumed greater power over their civil servants. While various aspects of the relationship between ministers and officials changed and despite the introduction of special advisers, close partnership — the Haldane relationship — was largely retained between them until the end of the 1980s. In the 1990s ministers began to operate less closely with the civil service, largely because they found they had less time for departmental work under the Major and the first Blair administrations. Many of the skills for which civil servants had been trained became less in demand because of the ending of the Cabinet style of government, the reduced importance of ministers appearing before parliament and the greater involvement of spin doctors and media handlers in preparing public documents. However, new skills were required: more rapid accessing of information and more skill in implementation and responsibility for it. The Wilson reforms of 1999 were in large part aimed to remedy these shortcomings. There remains a question whether enough of the Haldane relationship survives for government not to be driven towards greater definition of the rules in which civil servants operate.