New Labour and the Civil Service: Reconstituting the Westminster Model (Transforming Government)

The first serious study analysing Labour's impact on Whitehall. It offers a theoretical engaged, but empirically rich account drawing from an extensive set of primary interview material to examine a 'New Labour' effect on the Civil Service, including its reforms to improve policy delivery and whether it has politicised Whitehall. It concludes by arguing that New Labour's approach to Whitehall have been part of a broader strategy to reconstitute the power of the Westminster Model. This is the first comprehensive examination of the Labour Administration's approach to the Civil Service. Based on an original account of power relations between the Government, Whitehall and the wider policy-making arena, and drawing on evidence compiled from over three hundred interviews by the author, it provides a unique insight into the approach to governing of the Labour Administration. It explores a variety of themes: the influence of Third Way thinking on Labour's approach to governing; the 1997 transition process; the extent to which Whitehall has been politicised; and the effectiveness of Labour's reforms in improving policy delivery. The book concludes by arguing that claims about the end of the Whitehall model and the emergence of a differentiated polity should be treated with caution. Richards demonstrates that Labour's reforms can be understood as an attempt to reconstitute the Westminster Model and sustain the asymmetric position of the core executive in the policy-making arena Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 List of Tables and Figures......Page 9 Preface and Acknowledgements......Page 10 1 Introduction......Page 14 2 Labour and the Civil Service: Governing in the Shadow of the Westminster Model......Page 25 3 Theorising Whitehall: Labour's Response to the Conservative Inheritance......Page 44 4 Transition in Government......Page 70 5 Labour and the Civil Service: From Managerialism to a Reconstituted Westminster Model......Page 108 6 The Core Executive under Labour: Politicising Whitehall?......Page 154 7 Conclusion: Labour and the Civil Service – Reconstituting the Westminster Model......Page 209 Appendix A......Page 217 Appendix B......Page 218 Notes......Page 239 Bibliography......Page 256 B......Page 274 C......Page 275 G......Page 277 J......Page 278 L......Page 279 N......Page 280 P......Page 281 S......Page 282 T......Page 283 W......Page 284 Y......Page 285 "This is the first comprehensive examination of the Labour Administration's approach to the Civil Service. Based on an original account of power relations between the Government, Whitehall and the wider policy-making arena, and drawing on evidence compiled from over three hundred interviews by the author, it provides a unique insight into the approach to governing of the Labour Administration."--BOOK JACKET This is the first serious study to analyze Labour's approach to the Civil Service. It offers a theoretically engaged, empirically rich analysis drawing from over 300 interviews with key actors to explore the 'New Labour' effect on Whitehall. It considers 1997 transition process and the extent to which reform has improved public service delivery. Transforming British Government provides a summary of all the key findings of all the projects on the Economic and Social Research Council's Whitehall Programme