PUBLIC POLICY

Public policy is not simply a subset of public administration, but draws on and contributes to a number of aspects of public administration, political science and other disciplines. This article traces the growth of interest in a policy focus in Britain during the 1970s and early 1980s, and its subsequent partial displacement by the emphasis on public management. Despite this partial displacement, the policy focus is now institutionalized in academic research, textbooks, journals and teaching. The recent lack of interest in generic policy analysis by British central government is reflected in the way in which the policy aspects have been an afterthought to managerial and organization changes. There is plenty of scope for further refining the skills of those who research, teach and are taught in public policy.     

Governance in Whitehall

Governance theory raises conceptual and theoretical questions about the coordination of complex social systems and the evolving role of the state within that process. A central aspect of the governance debate focuses on the ability of national governments to address salient social issues. This article examines the British Labour governments' attempts to facilitate cross-departmental inter-organizational collaboration within Whitehall in an attempt to develop innovative responses to seemingly intractable social problems. The government's desire and strategy to increase its capacity to orchestrate 'joined-up' government can be interpreted as both an acceptance and a response to the challenges of modern governance. The article locates the structural, procedural and cultural responses to this challenge within the theoretical and analytical framework of governance theory. It concludes by suggesting that meaningful change in the way public policy is designed and implemented may well demand a more deep seated reappraisal of the structure of Whitehall and the dominant values of the British political elite than is currently anticipated.     

REGULATORY REFORM IN BRITAIN: THE CHANGING FACE OF SELF-REGULATION

Self-regulation has been at the centre of a number of public and academic debates in Britain in recent years. This article enquires into the nature of self-regulation and attempts to improve our understanding of it in a number of ways: by attempting to define self-regulation; by assessing certain trends and developments in self-regulatory systems; by trying to explain these trends and developments; and by outlining the implications of self-regulation for policy making and public accountability. The main conclusion reached is that, from a public administration perspective at least, concern should not centre upon whether or not self-regulation is increasing or decreasing. Instead, the main focus should be upon the ability of such systems to respond to pressures for reform and provide effective regulation within a broad framework of public accountability.     

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND THE INFORMATION POLITY

Within the debates in Britain about changes in contemporary public administration insufficient attention has been focused to date upon the significance of new information and communication technologies. In particular, the operational importance of computer networks to government organizations, and of the information flows supported by them, have hitherto been given scant attention. A primary focus for understanding the current transformation processes in both services and organization occurring in public administration should be upon the role and significance of these new information flows. Informational capabilities are increasing throughout government organization and have considerable implications for the reforging of that set of organizations which comprise British public administration and for the relationships between and within them, as well as for the quality of publicly provided services. The shifts occurring in contemporary public administration can be usefully analysed and understood by reference to the new concept of the 'information polity'.     

Local Government Modernisation in England: A Critical Review of the LGMA Evaluation Studies

New Labour has subjected English local government to an unparalleled period of reform. This article reviews the Local Government Modernisation Agenda evaluation studies commissioned by central government. The review identifies valuable insights from the studies into the contemporary state of English local government, central government and central–local relations. However, the studies also illustrate the need for research on public service reform to include analyses of the political origins of reform policies and the political–bureaucratic issues involved in their implementation. It is also argued that future research needs to rediscover the value of studying local politics ‘in the round’, the impact of socio-economic and non-local factors on local policy outcomes and the role of new sources of policy influence in the channels of central–local relations.     

BUREAUCRACY TRIUMPHANT OR DENIED? THE EXPANSION OF THE BRITISH CIVIL SERVICE, 1919–1939

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.     

HOW POLICY NETWORKS CAN DAMAGE DEMOCRATIC HEALTH: A CASE STUDY IN THE GOVERNMENT OF GOVERNANCE

This article examines a detailed case study of implementation networks in England using the example of the relocation of the Norfolk and Norwich hospital, which became a flagship PFI project for the Labour government after 1997. The case study illustrates the workings of the new order of multi‐layered governance with both local and national networks from different policy areas interacting. However, it also sheds light on the governance debate and illustrates how in the world of new public management, powerful actors, or policy entrepreneurs, with their own agenda, still have the facility, by exercising power and authority, to shape and determine the policy outputs through implementation networks. It is argued that, whereas policy networks are normally portrayed as enriching and promoting pluralist democratic processes, implementation networks in multi‐layered government can also undermine democratic accountability. Four aspects here are pertinent: (1) the degree of central government power; (2) local elite domination; (3) the fragmentation of responsibility; and (4) the dynamics of decision making which facilitates the work of policy entrepreneurs. All these factors illustrate the importance of ‘the government of governance’ in the British state.     

BRITISH GOVERNANCE IN TRANSITION: A CASE STUDY OF THE NORTHERN IRELAND CIVIL SERVICE

ABSTRACT

In comparisons of the internal governmental arrangements within states, the United Kingdom (UK) is ordinarily categorised as a unitary state conforming to the ‘Westminster model’. However, this article contends that the changing nature of British governance over the last two decades means that the UK is better viewed as a ‘union state’ that conforms more readily to a ‘differentiated polity model’. Nowhere is the reality of differentiation more clearly exemplif ied than in respect of the British civil service. To illustrate the extent of differentiation, the article presents a case study of the characteristics and trends in the civil service of Northern Ireland for, while the politics of the Province have received great attention, its system of public administr ation has been chronically under-reported. The article considers the changing structures, policy process and impact of public management reforms as well as the restoration of devolved government. Finally, it summarises how the evidence from Northern Ireland informs theoretical understanding as well as its implications for the rest of the UK and beyond.     

Balancing revisability and robustness? A new institutionalist perspective on local government modernization

This article focuses upon one particular aspect of new institutionalist thinking – that which analyses the scope for, and constraints upon, deliberate interventions in institutional change. New institutionalist insights are used to illuminate the challenges faced by the British Labour government in its programme for modernizing local government. The focus is upon two core concepts: robustness and revisability – a pairing which highlights the potential contradictions that exist within the new institutionalist approach to design. It is argued that New Labour struggled to achieve a balance between these key design criteria during its first term, with revisability increasingly sacrificed in favour of robustness. In its second term in office (since June 2001), Labour has sought to rebalance robustness and revisability, largely through the principle of 'earned autonomy'. In this context the values informing the institutional redesign of local government have become less clear and more contested, and there has been a progressive shift from commitment-based to control-based strategies for change.     

Exploring Social Capital Debates at the World Bank

This article explores the ways in which discussions of social capital have emerged within the World Bank, and how they interacted both with project practices and with larger debates in the institution. These debates are understood as a ‘battlefield of knowledge’, whose form and outcomes are structured but not determined by the political economy of the Bank. Understanding the debates this way has implications for research on the ways in which development discourses are produced and enacted, as well as for more specific discussions of the place of social capital in development studies. The article concludes with a reflection on implications of these debates for future research, policy, and practice.     

DRAWING LESSONS FROM US EXPERIENCE: AN ELECTED MAYOR FOR BRITISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Taking as a starting point the suggestion that US-style elected mayors might be appropriate for British local government this article explores the implications of such a development. It analyses the experience of the United States and notes crucial differences between the local government systems of Britain and the United States. These differences require a discussion of certain adaptations and changes that would need to be considered before an elected mayor in Britain could be established. The extent to which such an emulation would constitute an improvement to the current British local government system is considered. The article demonstrates the potential of prospective evaluation. It asks what we can learn from the experience of another country by projecting that experience onto the particular setting an circumstances of our own country. It provides otherwise unavailable evidence about the likely effects of a potentially important reform. The article concludes with an assessment of the general case for experimenting with an elected mayor in British local government and the prospects that such experiments will be taken forward.     

EMBRYONIC ASSOCIATIONALISM: NEW LABOUR AND URBAN GOVERNANCE

This article considers the role of ideas in New Labour’s approach to the governance of urban regeneration and characterizes this approach as ‘embryonic associationalism’. This approach contrasts with the economic rationalism of previous Conservative governments and leads to a more determined effort to empower local community groups within the policy process. We analyse the effects of this shift in approach in practice through a comparative case study of changing patterns of governance in different areas of the English city of Sheffield over a ten‐year period. We conclude that while other factors are important in shaping the nature of community empowerment, New Labour’s approach has promoted a political environment in which it is increasingly difficult for local state actors to ignore the voice of local communities. However, while we refer to this as ‘New Labour’s approach’, we are clear that this relates to a tradition of ideas that is far from new in Labour thought.     

Unleashing Innovation beyond Organizational Boundaries: Exploring Citizensourcing Projects

By using information and communications technologies, public administration encourages external actors to get involved in governmental activities once performed by civil servants. This article seeks to investigate the open innovation phenomenon beyond the entrepreneurial domain in the context of open government. For this purpose, a multiple case study was conducted to explore the current state of open government in Austria. The study first reveals the role of citizens as an active part of the system, then discusses the impact of citizensourcing projects, and finally concludes with giving implications for research and practice.     

Decent work and indecent trade agendas: the European Union and ACP countries

The European Commission has promised to promote decent work in the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries through pro-poor direct investment and livelihood-creating trade deals. Aligning with the discourse of the International Labour Organisation, the European Commission seeks to achieve ‘fair globalisation’ in which economic growth is translated into decent jobs. Applying a moral economy perspective, however, the article argues that there is a disjuncture between the norms espoused under the Decent Work Agenda and the tangible implications of European interventions in ACP economies. Specifically, Economic Partnership Agreements will have deleterious consequences for the lives of many poorer producers and workers in ACP countries. The provision of Aid for Trade for decent work, moreover, may not deliver meaningful decent work opportunities in ACP countries. In this analysis, the article explores the emergent normativity-outcomes gap in this sphere of European Union external relations.     

GROUNDING GOVERNANCE IN DIALOGUE? DISCOURSE,PRACTICE AND THE POTENTIAL FOR A NEW PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONAL FORM IN BRITAIN

Drawing on debates about the nature and significance of quasi‐autonomous government organizations, this article asks what happens when trends towards agency creation by government and trends towards stakeholder participation in policy processes come together. Issues are considered through an examination of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, one of a series of new regulatory bodies set up in Britain after 1997 and given the task of providing national guidance on treatments and care for people using the health service. The analysis points to the emergence of a new form – the dialogic intermediary organization. Such an organization, while maintaining close and informal links with government, attempts to build legitimacy for its activities through multiple and potentially competing engagements with diversely constituted publics. The potential theoretical and political importance of dialogic intermediary organizations, and some implications for their fuller empirical study are briefly explored.     

POLICY DIFFERENCES WITHIN THE UNITED KINGDOM: THE CASE OF HOUSING POLICY IN NORTHERN IRELAND 1979–89

This article examines, through a case study of housing, the extent to which national housing policies under the Thatcher government were modified or deflected at the N. Ireland regional level. Three aspects of housing policy - housing expenditure, public sector rents and the 'right-to-buy' legislation are considered and the roles of key actors within the territorial community described. Although similarities with GB housing policy emerge, there is evidence of a distinctive regional approach. Factors which influenced a N. Ireland-specific policy approach are considered and the potential for variance in the future outlined.     

REFORMING PUBLIC SERVICES IN THE UK: BRINGING IN THE THIRD SECTOR

In the UK, the government continues its project to reform public services. Earlier projects have focused on the modernization of public sector organizations; in the latest round of reform, New Labour has focused on widening choice and the personalization of services. To this end, the government has been working with Third Sector (TS) organizations to expand their role in shaping, commissioning and delivering public services. The government’s vision is predicated on a normative assertion, that, unlike traditional public sector organizations, TS bodies create public value by being more innovative, are inspired by altruistic aims and values, and have greater commitment to their clients. This paper reviews recent policy and questions whether the government’s policy is flawed, contradictory and risks damaging the attributes of the TS admired by New Labour.     

Prospects for Local Collaboration into an Uncertain Future: Learning from Practice within Labour's Partnership Paradigm

Achieving effective local collaboration, a strong theme of the previous Labour government, may actually become more important given Coalition government policies emphasising decentralisation and encouraging alternative providers of public services. Therefore, it remains essential to learn from experiences of collaboration especially as, despite significant research, few studies explicitly identify guidance for improving this practice that is of specific relevance to local policy actors. In order to do so, a decentred and ethnographic approach was adopted to examine collaboration in a case study of a Sport and Physical Activity Alliance in Casetown, a medium-sized city in the south of England. Findings from this case study reinforced those found in other studies that pointed to the constraints of targets imposed by the Labour government, ingrained approaches to public administration and lack of open acknowledgement of power differentials impeding the development of effective collaboration. Drawing on the suggestions of those involved in the alliance, an alternative vision of collaboration is advocated, focused on shared learning and bottom-up implementation within more fluid and open structures in which there would be greater scope for the exercise of agency on behalf of those individuals and organisations involved. As during the period of the Labour government, aspects of current wider policy agendas may impede as well as support the development of this alternative vision of collaboration. Nevertheless, it is argued that reflexive local actors may collectively be able to address the contextual challenges that exist in order to develop more effective forms and practices of collaboration.     

Citizen Participation and Neighbourhood Governance: Analysing Democratic Practice

From the late 1990s the New Labour government implemented changes to local government and, within the context of a discourse of ‘democratic renewal’, also introduced neighbourhood-based participatory Forums. In this paper, a framework is set out for analysing the democratic effectiveness of Area Forums. This framework sees Area Forums as novel social practice entailing interaction and assesses them against normative characteristics for an effective democratic public sphere; the analysis is applied to a case study of Area Forums in a small English city and finds them lacking in this respect. Aspects of Area Forums may even present barriers to effective participation.     

Keeping the aspidistra flying: thatcherite privatization and the creation of the enterprise culture

This article examines the role of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's pnvatization policy in the present Conservative government's effort to establish an “enterprise culture.” The Thatcher government has maintained that the policy would make substantial contributions to altering the anti-business values and behaviors of the English, often characterized as the “British disease” by: (1) permanently altering the boundaries of the public and private in favor of the latter; (2) widening the number I of shareholders in the society; and (3) promoting competition. A look at the results of privatization to date, as well as projections for the future, reveals that the policy has thus far been most successful with respect to the first of these aims and more successful with respect to the second than third goal. The article maintains that privatization appears to be making a significant contribution to achieving a free enterprise society, but that the policy is not in and of itself enough to bring about the transformation that the Thatcher government desires.