Bill Jenkins

Codes of Accountability in the New Public Sector

Elaborates a model of accountability as a relationship of three parties: principal, steward and the codes on which stewardship is established, executed and adjudicated. Describes how the enhancement of accountable management in the public sector, through the Financial Management Initiative, the Next Steps Agencies and, most recently, market testing, has brought changes to these codes and thus to accountability itself.

Democratic renewal in local government: Continuity and change

Assessing the British governments programme for democratic renewal in local government requires a recognition that local self-government is distinguished from other forms of local governance by the elected basis of relatively autonomous multi-purpose authorities. Its contribution to the democratic state may be functional in promoting self-government or dysfunctional in promoting differentiation and inequality of area. Thus New Labour faces an old dilemma. Resolving it may require a consideration of participation and especially alienation and an assessment of the extent to which more or less devolution to local authorities serves the priorities of our time.

Bureaucratic Politics and Power: Developments in the Study of Bureaucracy*

This paper argues that the study of bureaucracy should explicitly recognize the latters essential organizational existence, and further, that explanations of bureaucratic behaviour are promoted by adopting dynamic political models of organization. Various literatures which appear to adopt elements of such an approach are discussed. From this a model of bureaucracy is formulated which draws particular attention to power, political bargaining and historical development. Finally, the paper suggests something of the explanatory potential of such a model in the British context.

Policy evaluation in a time of fiscal stress: Some reflections from British experience

The debate on the use or nonuse of policy evaluation frequently starts from the normative assumption that is a rational and rewarding activity for governments to pursue. Failure to use evaluation is assumed to indicate political and organizational inefficiencies and weaknesses that can, and should, be corrected. This article argues that this is too simplistic an assumption that abstracts evaluation from the political and social context in which it is developed and utilized. In particular, the way that governments develop and use evaluation is conditioned, first by the macroeconomic climate in which they operate and second, by the ways they choose to respond to this and by the microeconomics of the budgetary process. These issues are explored in the context of recent developments in British central government. here a tight fiscal policy and a concern with administrative costs have led to move from top-down rational systems of evaluation to more pragmatic, bottom-up concerns with performance measures and performance indicators. It is concluded that policy evaluation is unlikely to regain and enhance its credibility unless a reshaping of administrative structures and processes take place.

Government and Administration: Fit for Purpose?

In the summer of 2006, the new Home Secretary, John Reid, told a startled Home Affairs Committee that his department was ‘not fit for purpose’. He had just moved into the job (his sixth Cabinet post in nine years) and reported that the leadership, management systems, processes and information technology of the Home Office were unable to cope with the new age.1 Whatever its motivations, the admission was unusual. Reid’s political critics saw it as an attempt to distance himself from continuing problems, especially the Home Office’s inability to keep track of an increasing number of released foreign prisoners. The episode had deeply embarrassed the government and his predecessor, Charles Clarke. In any event, Reid’s response was to initiate a fundamental review of his department under its new Permanent Secretary, Sir David Normington.

Government and Administration: The Quest for Public Value

In October 2005 Lady Thatcher celebrated her 80th birthday with a grand party. The guests included many of the famous from the world of politics and administration including John Major, Norman Tebbit, Lord Carrington, Lord Butler and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Of her former Tory critics, Lord Heseltine, her nemesis, was absent but Lord Howe, presumably forgiven for his treachery a decade and a half ago, praised Mrs Thatcher’s ‘astonishing achievements’ that ‘had shaped the late twentieth century’. His assessment recalled an era when efficiency, markets and choice held sway.

Communications: Annual Report 1999

When the Royal Institute of Public Administration (RIPA) owned Public Adminis-tration, the editors always reported annually on the journal’s fortunes. The practice lapsed when the RIPA went into receivership. Now, with the launch of the journal as a European journal of public administration, we thought it was a good idea to reintroduce an annual report covering the journal’s work in the previous year. It will provide an opportunity to air problems and to tell readers where the journal is heading. The report describes the flow of manuscripts and the contents of the journal before briefly surveying each section. It ends with a resume´ of our plans for the journal and a ‘thank you’ to the many people who have helped during the year.