Introduction

Radical reforms of the civil service during the 1980s and 90s have broken up the old unified hierarchical structures. In their place are peripheral agencies concerned with policy implementation and a central core concerned with policy-making. The radical reforms are described and assessed in terms of the public choice and public management theories which underpin them.

Theoretical Models

Bureau-maximizing and bureau-shaping models are used to predict the directions we should expect the reforms to take and their likely success.

Key Concepts

The key central chapter of the book examines the equivocal use of the term "efficiency" used to justify the managerial changes.

Unique Contribution

This is the first textbook which critically examines theories of bureaucracy together with an introductory and descriptive account of the civil service today.