Policy bureaucracy [[electronic resource] ] : government with a cast of thousands / / Edward C. Page and Bill Jenkins

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910465146703321
• Autore: Page Edward
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: New York, : Oxford University Press, 2005
• ISBN: 0-19-151561-2; 1-280-75594-6; 1-4237-8685-8
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (241 p.)
• Altri autori (Persone): JenkinsW. I (William Ieuan)
• Disciplina: 352.3/4
• Soggetti: Bureaucracy; Political planning; Electronic books.
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. [197]-205) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Contents; Preface; Glossary; A; B; C; D; E; H; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; 1. Government with a Cast of Thousands; Policy as a bureaucratic activity; A cast of thousands; Patterns of policy bureaucracy; Structure of the book; 2. Policy Bureaucrats; Under the hat; Beyond the statistics; Careers in the middle; Pathways into the service; Terminus or stepping stone?; Education and expertise; Qualifications and expertise; Specialization and mobility; Interdepartmental mobility; Job mobility; Experience; Skills and improvised expertise; Conclusions; 3. Policy Work; Views of policy work; The forms of policy workProduction; Maintenance; Service; Giving numbers; Conclusions; 4. More than Embellishment and Detail: The Impact of Policy Work; Embellishing strategic policy decisions?; The bearable lightness of instruction; Taking the broader view; Joining things up; Getting the UK angle; Human rights; Europe; Elaborating policy and detail; The initiation of policy; Conclusions; 5. Discretion, Cues and Authority; Discretion and responsibility; Informality; Dealing with the minister; The minister; Private office; Special advisers; The role of bureaucratic superiors; Cues and discretionThe notion of the 'steer'; Conclusions; 6. ; Controlling Expertise in a Policy Bureaucracy; Improvised expertise and invited authority; Looking through different lenses; The impact of methodology; Different theoretical perspectives; The consequences of the trade-off between hierarchy and expertise; Demand-led authority; The drawback of improvised expertise; Policy officials as 'representative' bureaucrats; Representative bureaucracy and its alternatives; Representative bureaucracy in the USA; Other approaches to policy bureaucracy; The nature of the bureaucratic state; Appendix: The interviewsEndnotes; Bibliography; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y
• Sommario/riassunto: Policy making is not only about the cut and thrust of politics. It is also a bureaucratic activity. In this ground-breaking work, two leading authorities come together to examine the world of the policy bureaucrat for the first time. The volume draws in crucial debates over accountability and democratic ideology, hierarchy and expertise, and should establish itself as a central point of reference for scholars and practitioners alike. - ;Policy making is not only about the cut and thrust of politics. It is also a bureaucratic activity. Long before laws are drafted, policy commitments made, or g