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Chapter eight: Governing through bureaucracy
- ‘In defence of Civil Service neutrality: the importance of trust and professionalism with Martin Donnelly, Permanent Secretary’
This link provides a great video hearing from a senior civil servant, regarding his views on Whitehall’s role amongst the policy making process. The importance of political neutrality is stressed with independent administration described as the best option.
- ‘Advice in a time of belief: Brexit and the civil service’
Following the sacking of Sir Ivan Rogers based on his advising on Brexit, the question stands regarding if the principle of a politically neutral civil service is under threat. Many pro-Brexit politicians have suggested that the civil service is secretly supporting the very establish they wish to overthrow (the EU). This article is a relevant and interesting read, and links to political neutrality and the integrity of the civil service in times of populism and growing political turbulence.
https://ukandeu.ac.uk/advice-in-a-time-of-belief-brexit-and-the-civil-service/
- ‘The UK state after Covid-19: Britain needs a system of government which is holistic, anticipatory and intelligent’.
This is a nice short read which links nicely to chapter eight’s discussion of new public management (NPM). The argument presented in this article is that government administration, including how the civil service operates, needs to fundamentally change. This argument links to the recent handling of Covid-19 and so is a very relevant case.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-uk-state-after-covid19/
- ‘How democratic and effective are the UK’s civil service and public services management systems?’
This article is jam packed with data and touches on various themes mentioned in chapter eight. One of particular interest regards the representativeness of bureaucracy. This article explores just how representative and in touch Britain’s public bureaucracy is.