Ministers and Ministries A Functional Analysis

by Rose, Richard; Bell, Peter; Parry, Richard; Thomas, Ian

• ISBN13: 9780198274865
• ISBN10: 0198274866
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1987-07-09
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

Ministers and their ministries are the means by which we hold government accountable for providing vital public services such as adequate health, education, and social security benefits. In this provocative book the author systematically examines the persisting and changing features ofWhitehall ministries since 1945. Three case studies - the Scottish Office, the Welsh Office, and the Northern Ireland Office - provide detailed illustrations of the complexity of the issues involved.Professor Rose's analysis raises fresh questions about the priorities of politicians as individuals, and about public priorities involving tens of billions of pounds and millions of public servants. His concluding chapter argues that Mrs Thatcher's attempt to introduce techniques of businessmanagement into government is based upon a fundamental misunderstanding of the priorities of ministers and ministries.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. v
Introduction What Are Ministries About?	p. 1
Notes	p. 12
Functions Across Ministries	p. 13
Matching Ministers And Ministries	p. 15
Maintaining Continuity By Organizational Inertia	p. 32
Allocating And Answering For Resources	p. 53
Promoting Ambitions Of Politicians	p. 73
Variations Between Ministries	p. 93
Introduction To Part Two	p. 95
The Centralization Of The Scottish Office	p. 97
Giving Direction to the Welsh Office	p. 142
References	p. 184
Direct Rule In Northern Ireland	p. 189
The Implications For Directing Government	p. 227
One Head but Hundreds of Hands	p. 229
Getting Priorities Wrong?	p. 251
References	p. 275
Index	p. 285
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.