MARKET IDEOLOGY AND PUBLIC SECTOR EFFICIENCY: INTRODUCTION TO SYMPOSIUM ON THE MARKET AND THE STATE

The four papers of which this symposium consists, together with the papers prepared by discussants, were part of a workshop organised by the Academy of Social Sciences over two days at the end of October 1989. The purpose of the workshop was to stimulate debate on this important public policy issue and to generate findings as well as point to material for further research. This introduction highlights the objectives of the workshop, its program, logistics and findings. It is regretted that one commentator was not able to present a contribution in time for inclusion in the journal. I take the opportunity in this introduction to thank the Academy of Social Sciences for sponsoring this workshop, three of its senior officers for their active participation (President, Peter Karmel; Director, Bruce Miller; and Treasurer, Stuart Harris) and the editors of the Australian Journal of Public Administration for providing this forum for the wider dissemination of the discussion it generated.     

CONTAINING REFORM: THE UK STANCE ON THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY ElA DIRECTIVE

After a decade's deliberation, the European Community EIA Directive bccomes operative on July 3, 1988. Member states spent 7 years refining the proposals and were given 3 years to devise implementation procedures. In this paper the attempt by the UK government to contain the impact of the Directive on domestic policy is reviewed. While the UK government was successful in eroding many provisions during formulation, it has been prevented from exempting many projects from mandatory EIA in its im- plementation procedures. The most significant reform is that many projects are subject to formal EIA for the first time.     

THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN THE COMMONWEALTH PUBLIC SERVICE: THE CREATION AND REPRODUCTION OF A DUAL LABOUR MARKET*

Abstract: This paper examines the history of the employment of women in the Commonwealth Public Service (CPS) and attempts to explain the discrepancy between the meritocratic principles on which the personnel practices of the Service have been based and the lack of attainment of women in the Service. It demonstrates how the perception of men's and women's merits was structured by the division of labour current at the turn of the century when the CPS was established, and how, with the routinization and feminization of clerical work, these perceptions have helped create and ensure the continued reproduction of a dual labour market within the Service which is proving difficult to eradicate despite the removal of formal impediments.