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Everyday Life in British Government

Rhodes R. A. W.
Innbundet / 2011 / Engelsk

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780199601141
Publisert
2011
Utgiver
Oxford University Press; Oxford University Press
Vekt
702 gr
Høyde
241 mm
Bredde
164 mm
Dybde
26 mm
Aldersnivå
G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
364

Forfatter
Rhodes R. A. W.

Om bidragsyterne

Rod Rhodes is treasurer of the Australasian Political Studies Association, life Vice-President of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in both Australia and Britain, and editor of Public Administration, 1986-2011. He was the Director of the UK Economic and Social Research Council's 'Whitehall Programme' (1994-1999); and of the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University (2007-8). He is the author or editor of some 30 books including: The State as Cultural Practice (joint author, OUP 2010); Comparing Westminster (joint author, OUP 2009); Observing Government Elites (joint editor, 2007); The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions (joint editor, OUP 2006), and Governance Stories (joint author, 2006). He is Professor of Government in the School of Government at the University of Tasmania (Australia) and Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Newcastle (UK).

Everyday Life in British Government

Rhodes R. A. W.
Innbundet / 2011 / Engelsk
Rhodes R. A. W.
Innbundet / 2011 / Engelsk
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847,-
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Beyond these observations, and for the reasons already mentioned, The book makes an original contribution, it is rigorous and highly stimulating for those interested in governance practices and shaping of its elites, even outside Britain.

Mariana Heredia1, Luisina Perelmiter, Perfiles Latinoamericanos 41

One of the best books I have ever read about how the public service works.

Fran Thorn, President of the Institute of Public Administration, Australia

Rhodes skilfully paints a lucid picture of how beliefs and practices create meaning in politics, policy-making, and public service delivery. The reader is left with a firm impression of a story-telling political administrative elite that uses willed-ordinariness, underpinned by routines, rituals, protocols, and language, to domesticate the rude surprises that punctuate everyday government.

Alistair Davey, Public Administration

Se alle

Some will read this fine and engaging book for its sharp observation of ministers and their private offices at work. Others will value it as a detailed and methodologically explicit example of the value of observation as part of the political scholars tool-kit: indeed, it is an excellent case study in using ones research as a showcase or ones ontology and epistemology (in this case, an interpretivist position which emphasises the interaction of narratives and practices).

Andrew Connell, Political Studies Review

Rhodes' writing is personal, assertive, challenging, informed and always interesting.

Evert A. Lindquist, Cana dian Public Administration

Everyday Life in British Government by R.A.W. Rhodes, one of Britains foremost executive scholars, is both an important and a very personal book. This rare combination flows not just from the authors truly passionate interest in his subjects but also, and more importantly, from the particular methodological approach to studying British government ministers and civil servants used in this book.

Ludger Helms, Innsbruck

describing government in terms of social research usefully highlights important yet usually overlooked aspects of how government works, such as the importance of networks (especially informal ones) and the representative role of top civil servants. Highly recommended.

Brian Peddie, Journal of the Law Society of Scotland

one of the "must have" books on politics for 2011... a fascinating and surprisingly readable and entertaining book. Politicians and bureaucrats, believe it or not, are just like us - well maybe not quite. They swear, make mistakes, and bitch and gossip about each other and their enemies (usually the Treasury)... a fascinating insight into the inner workings of the Whitehall.

Dr Steve Coulter, LSE blog

Rhodes has diligently recorded a wide range of exchanges and coversations with some of the big beasts of the Whitehall jungle, coming away with tasty little vignettes

Ivor Gaber, Times Higher Education

This is an accurate and authentic description of the everyday life of Government Ministers, senior officials and their immediate colleagues. Rod Rhodes was given almost unrestricted access to the heart of Whitehall and has used this very intelligently in preparing a narrative which is both rigorous and entertaining.

Martin Stanley, author of How to be A Civil Servant

As citizens, why do we care about the everyday life of ministers and civil servants? We care because the decisions of the great and the good affect all our lives, for good or ill. For all their personal, political, and policy failings and foibles, they make a difference. So, we want to know what ministers and bureaucrats do, why, and how. We are interested in their beliefs and practices. In his fascinating, new piece of political anthropology, Rod Rhodes uncovers exactly how the British political elite thinks and acts. Drawing on unprecedented access to ministers and senior civil servants in three government departments, he answers a simple question: 'what do they do?' On the basis of extensive fieldwork, supplemented by revealing interviews, he tries to capture the essence of their everyday life. He describes the ministers' and permanent secretaries' world through their own eyes, and explores how their beliefs and practices serve to create meaning in politics, policy making, and public-service delivery. He goes on to analyze how such beliefs and practices are embedded in traditions; in webs of protocols, rituals, and languages. The story he has to tell is dramatized through in-depth accounts of specific events to show ministers and civil servants 'in action'. He challenges the conventional constitutional, institutional, and managerial views of British governance. Instead, he describes a storytelling political-administrative elite, with beliefs and practices rooted in the Westminster model, which uses protocols and rituals to domesticate rude surprises and cope with recurrent dilemmas.
Les mer
In his fascinating, new piece of political anthropology, Rod Rhodes uncovers exactly how the British political elite thinks and acts.
List of Table and Figures ; Glossary ; Preface and Acknowledgements ; 1. Observing Government Elites ; PART I: THE SETTING ; 2. The Governmental Setting ; 3. The Departmental Setting ; PART II: THE ACTORS ; 4. The Minister ; 5. The Permanent Secretary ; PART III: SCENES ; 6. The Departmental Court ; 7. Protocols, Rituals and Languages ; 8. Networks and Governance ; 9. The Resignation ; 10. Willed Ordinariness, Being There, and Myths ; Bibliography ; Index
Les mer
`Rather than offering an institutional or public choice analysis of the inner workings of government, therefore, Rhodes offers instead a thick description of everyday life in a Whitehall department. Having secured an extraordinary degree of access, Rhodes followed around his subjects for a year during the second term of the Blair government, paying close attention not just to the things they did, but also why they did them and their feelings and beliefs about their actions. The result is a fascinating and surprisingly readable and entertaining book. Politicians and bureaucrats, believe it or not, are just like us well maybe not quite. They swear, make mistakes, and bitch and gossip about each other and their enemies (usually the Treasury).' Dr Steve Coulter British Politics and Policy LSE blog
Les mer
A compelling insight into the world of top-level government Based on unprecedented access to key ministers and civil servants A revealing and intimate picture of how politicians really think and work
Rod Rhodes is treasurer of the Australasian Political Studies Association, life Vice-President of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in both Australia and Britain, and editor of Public Administration, 1986-2011. He was the Director of the UK Economic and Social Research Council's 'Whitehall Programme' (1994-1999); and of the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University (2007-8). He is the author or editor of some 30 books including: The State as Cultural Practice (joint author, OUP 2010); Comparing Westminster (joint author, OUP 2009); Observing Government Elites (joint editor, 2007); The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions (joint editor, OUP 2006), and Governance Stories (joint author, 2006). He is Professor of Government in the School of Government at the University of Tasmania (Australia) and Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Newcastle (UK).
Les mer
A compelling insight into the world of top-level government Based on unprecedented access to key ministers and civil servants A revealing and intimate picture of how politicians really think and work

Relaterte produkter

Beyond these observations, and for the reasons already mentioned, The book makes an original contribution, it is rigorous and highly stimulating for those interested in governance practices and shaping of its elites, even outside Britain.

Mariana Heredia1, Luisina Perelmiter, Perfiles Latinoamericanos 41

One of the best books I have ever read about how the public service works.

Fran Thorn, President of the Institute of Public Administration, Australia

Rhodes skilfully paints a lucid picture of how beliefs and practices create meaning in politics, policy-making, and public service delivery. The reader is left with a firm impression of a story-telling political administrative elite that uses willed-ordinariness, underpinned by routines, rituals, protocols, and language, to domesticate the rude surprises that punctuate everyday government.

Alistair Davey, Public Administration

Se alle

Some will read this fine and engaging book for its sharp observation of ministers and their private offices at work. Others will value it as a detailed and methodologically explicit example of the value of observation as part of the political scholars tool-kit: indeed, it is an excellent case study in using ones research as a showcase or ones ontology and epistemology (in this case, an interpretivist position which emphasises the interaction of narratives and practices).

Andrew Connell, Political Studies Review

Rhodes' writing is personal, assertive, challenging, informed and always interesting.

Evert A. Lindquist, Cana dian Public Administration

Everyday Life in British Government by R.A.W. Rhodes, one of Britains foremost executive scholars, is both an important and a very personal book. This rare combination flows not just from the authors truly passionate interest in his subjects but also, and more importantly, from the particular methodological approach to studying British government ministers and civil servants used in this book.

Ludger Helms, Innsbruck

describing government in terms of social research usefully highlights important yet usually overlooked aspects of how government works, such as the importance of networks (especially informal ones) and the representative role of top civil servants. Highly recommended.

Brian Peddie, Journal of the Law Society of Scotland

one of the "must have" books on politics for 2011... a fascinating and surprisingly readable and entertaining book. Politicians and bureaucrats, believe it or not, are just like us - well maybe not quite. They swear, make mistakes, and bitch and gossip about each other and their enemies (usually the Treasury)... a fascinating insight into the inner workings of the Whitehall.

Dr Steve Coulter, LSE blog

Rhodes has diligently recorded a wide range of exchanges and coversations with some of the big beasts of the Whitehall jungle, coming away with tasty little vignettes

Ivor Gaber, Times Higher Education

This is an accurate and authentic description of the everyday life of Government Ministers, senior officials and their immediate colleagues. Rod Rhodes was given almost unrestricted access to the heart of Whitehall and has used this very intelligently in preparing a narrative which is both rigorous and entertaining.

Martin Stanley, author of How to be A Civil Servant

As citizens, why do we care about the everyday life of ministers and civil servants? We care because the decisions of the great and the good affect all our lives, for good or ill. For all their personal, political, and policy failings and foibles, they make a difference. So, we want to know what ministers and bureaucrats do, why, and how. We are interested in their beliefs and practices. In his fascinating, new piece of political anthropology, Rod Rhodes uncovers exactly how the British political elite thinks and acts. Drawing on unprecedented access to ministers and senior civil servants in three government departments, he answers a simple question: 'what do they do?' On the basis of extensive fieldwork, supplemented by revealing interviews, he tries to capture the essence of their everyday life. He describes the ministers' and permanent secretaries' world through their own eyes, and explores how their beliefs and practices serve to create meaning in politics, policy making, and public-service delivery. He goes on to analyze how such beliefs and practices are embedded in traditions; in webs of protocols, rituals, and languages. The story he has to tell is dramatized through in-depth accounts of specific events to show ministers and civil servants 'in action'. He challenges the conventional constitutional, institutional, and managerial views of British governance. Instead, he describes a storytelling political-administrative elite, with beliefs and practices rooted in the Westminster model, which uses protocols and rituals to domesticate rude surprises and cope with recurrent dilemmas.
Les mer
In his fascinating, new piece of political anthropology, Rod Rhodes uncovers exactly how the British political elite thinks and acts.
List of Table and Figures ; Glossary ; Preface and Acknowledgements ; 1. Observing Government Elites ; PART I: THE SETTING ; 2. The Governmental Setting ; 3. The Departmental Setting ; PART II: THE ACTORS ; 4. The Minister ; 5. The Permanent Secretary ; PART III: SCENES ; 6. The Departmental Court ; 7. Protocols, Rituals and Languages ; 8. Networks and Governance ; 9. The Resignation ; 10. Willed Ordinariness, Being There, and Myths ; Bibliography ; Index
Les mer
`Rather than offering an institutional or public choice analysis of the inner workings of government, therefore, Rhodes offers instead a thick description of everyday life in a Whitehall department. Having secured an extraordinary degree of access, Rhodes followed around his subjects for a year during the second term of the Blair government, paying close attention not just to the things they did, but also why they did them and their feelings and beliefs about their actions. The result is a fascinating and surprisingly readable and entertaining book. Politicians and bureaucrats, believe it or not, are just like us well maybe not quite. They swear, make mistakes, and bitch and gossip about each other and their enemies (usually the Treasury).' Dr Steve Coulter British Politics and Policy LSE blog
Les mer
A compelling insight into the world of top-level government Based on unprecedented access to key ministers and civil servants A revealing and intimate picture of how politicians really think and work
Rod Rhodes is treasurer of the Australasian Political Studies Association, life Vice-President of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in both Australia and Britain, and editor of Public Administration, 1986-2011. He was the Director of the UK Economic and Social Research Council's 'Whitehall Programme' (1994-1999); and of the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University (2007-8). He is the author or editor of some 30 books including: The State as Cultural Practice (joint author, OUP 2010); Comparing Westminster (joint author, OUP 2009); Observing Government Elites (joint editor, 2007); The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions (joint editor, OUP 2006), and Governance Stories (joint author, 2006). He is Professor of Government in the School of Government at the University of Tasmania (Australia) and Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Newcastle (UK).
Les mer
A compelling insight into the world of top-level government Based on unprecedented access to key ministers and civil servants A revealing and intimate picture of how politicians really think and work

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780199601141
Publisert
2011
Utgiver
Oxford University Press; Oxford University Press
Vekt
702 gr
Høyde
241 mm
Bredde
164 mm
Dybde
26 mm
Aldersnivå
G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
364

Forfatter
Rhodes R. A. W.

Om bidragsyterne

Rod Rhodes is treasurer of the Australasian Political Studies Association, life Vice-President of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in both Australia and Britain, and editor of Public Administration, 1986-2011. He was the Director of the UK Economic and Social Research Council's 'Whitehall Programme' (1994-1999); and of the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University (2007-8). He is the author or editor of some 30 books including: The State as Cultural Practice (joint author, OUP 2010); Comparing Westminster (joint author, OUP 2009); Observing Government Elites (joint editor, 2007); The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions (joint editor, OUP 2006), and Governance Stories (joint author, 2006). He is Professor of Government in the School of Government at the University of Tasmania (Australia) and Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Newcastle (UK).

Relaterte produkter