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Summary Bureaucracy topic GV263
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Long notes for Bureaucracy week of GV263 (achieved a 76, highest in cohort for this module)
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Week 10 – BureaucracyRevision presentation overview:
Power of bureaucracy
Range of approaches to explaining bureaucratic power- Parkinson's law (work expands to fill time,
admirals/ships in navy, internal pressures), Kaufman- bureaucracy as a pandemic, Peters-
relationship between top level of bureaucracy and wider aspects of political system, Dutch civil
servants- bureaucrats constrained
Does this mean bureaucrats are running the place? Are they very powerful? Or less powerful than
the critics seem to think?
Moodle questions:
-In what ways can bureaucracy be ‘out of control’?
-In what ways can bureaucracy be ‘controlled’? ( E )
Class discussion (on British civil servants and Brexit):
-Inhibitors of the public will? (Source 1)- (Watt, 2018, in BBC News). Former chancellor Lord
Lawson felt that civil servants would do their best to “frustrate” Brexit, “bureaucrats by
their very nature loathe radical change of any kind”, only implement it if they are given
strong political direction (e.g. during Lawson’s chancellorship, Margaret Thatcher- managed
to introduce “radical change in economic policy” only because such strong cabinet (under
PM) leadership. Cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood responded- “civil service has always
prided itself on supporting the elected government of the day in carrying out its mandate”,
senior minister said Olly Robbins (senior civil servant, May’s chief adviser on EU) still
resistant to Brexit. <Also Express- civil servants failed to report certain IT problems in order
to hinder operations as they didn't like Brexit. The allegations were made by a former
contractor to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) who claimed
members of the departments Digital Data and Technology Services (DDTS) did not hide their
contempt for Brexit or Boris Johnson. In Feb reports that BoJo targeting 3 permanent
secretaries- Home Office Perm Sec Sir Philip Rutnam- but now launching unfair dismissal
claim against Priti Patel, Sir Tom Scholar from the Treasury (No. 10 views as “offside” on
Brexit according to news reports) and Sir Simon McDonald from the Foreign Office>
-Faithful servants of their political leaders? (Source 2)-(Sir Jeremy Heywood, 2018, in Civil
Service Quarterly), praises the adaptability of the civil service, inc. its production of the EU
(Withdrawal) Bill- “great example of the effective cross-departmental collaboration that has
characterised the Civil Service’s support for the government on Brexit. Even more people
across government will be involved into putting it into practice”. “We knew from the outset
that exiting the EU would make huge demands on the Civil Service and would require all the
accumulated professional capability of civil servants. We haven’t hesitated to provide new
staff and resources to bolster those parts of the Civil Service facing the greatest pressures”
(and quickly realised that UK lacked people like specialist trade negotiators, had prev been
centralised in EU). (Parkinson’s law suggests that these new jobs will not disappear, make
their own work- though the trade specialists just mentioned will obv need to stay, “new
,International Trade Profession that will allow us to make the most of the new opportunities
for the UK having an independent trade policy for the first time in 40 years”) Responds to
public scepticism about the “reliability of analysis and information produced by parts of the
organisation in relation to Brexit. I would only restate that we are constitutionally
committed- and culturally conditioned- to give honest, objective, impartial advice based on
the available evidence”
-Defenders of the public interest? (Source 3) (Dinnen, 2018, ITV news)- Whitehall sources
say that “Brexit Ministers were blocked from starting work on the Government’s future
Brexit plan by the civil service negotiating team who wanted to take charge”
(Current news):
-(Dunton, 2020, in Civil Service World)- A lobby group (Low Income Tax Reform Group) that
works to improve policy and processes in the tax and welfare system to help people on low
incomes has saluted the “invisible cohort” of civil servants engaged in the government’s
policy response
Lecture notes:
Max Weber- sociology of law/religion and so on. But famous for his legacy on bureaucracy (works
led to the popularisation of the term)
The march of bureaucratisation:
Argued that modern societies are becoming bureaucratic, since ~17th century, development of
bureaucratic modes of organisation
Talks about "traditional" authority- society based on personal relationships, ruler/ruled, position
Second form is "charismatic" authority- based on some perceived special gift, obeyed because of
this (e.g. Napoleon- obeyed because believed to be lucky/gifted general)
Third and most common form is "rational-legal" authority- based on obedience to rational
rules/norms which are accepted as legitimate (because made with due process, can be challenged
etc.), in its purest forms this is bureaucracy, modern forms of the state have tended to this
Bureaucratisation as rules, hierarchy, expertise
Reason why it develops it because it creates calculability (e.g. know if someone wrongs you there
are rational-legal channels to remedy)
Like capitalism is a signal of economic development, bureaucracy and rational-legal model is a signal
of political development (and could be related, wiki- existence of monetary economy requires a
more efficient administrative system; development of communication and transportation
technologies make more efficient administration possible; and democratisation and rationalisation
of culture results in demands for equal treatment)
But also criticises bureaucracy
Will take over because:
Bureaucracy based on expertise, but politicians may not be experts in the areas they are supposed
to be administering (bureaucratic experts knowing more about policies than the politicians, will put
them in a weaker position)
Parliamentary scrutiny fails to control bureaucracy (particularly scathing about British
parliamentarians, 'well disciplined lobby fodder')
Politicians become more and more constrained by bureaucratic office
The "iron cage of bondage"- politicians constrained by all sorts of ideas about what you can/can't do,
politicians follow rules as much as parliamentarians (even the politicians becoming bureaucrats)
Kafka- waiting to find out what crime he had committed
,Robert Michels, 1911, "Political Parties"- through creating an organisational structure, you create
positions in that structure, "leadership class" more concerned with keeping their positions than
representing the working class (looks at SDP in Germany at the turn of the 20th century as a radical
left party, moving away from it), with power comes influence over outcomes through ability to
reward loyalty, control information/reputation etc. "iron law of oligarchy"
Metropolis- everything regulated, reflected in German arts scene
Parkinson's law- work expands so as to fill the time available or its completion, decline in number of
ships but increase in bureaucracy, not about the tasks you have, bureaucracy has its own
expansionary pressures within it
More recent pessimism:
Bureaucracy as a principal-agent problem. Principals = politicians, agents = bureaucrats. Have to
leave quite a lot to the discretion of the agents. Bureaucrats as experts --> information asymmetry,
agent knows more, can manipulate to get what they want. Second problem is that of the agent
shirking (because cannot observe agent)
Three levels of bureaucracy-
Top- e.g. Sir Humphrey, top people within civil service
Middle- group about which less is known, sometimes blamed for things by top level civil servants
(e.g. Kate Mingane), how details/nuts and bolts of policy actually works
Street- discretion, implementation week
Now we focus on the top-
If democracy is becoming increasingly constrained by bureaucracy, 3 questions/bases of power and
influence:
Questions of power and influence
-Training and expertise
--> Still traces of generalism in British Civil Service c.f. US more specialised, French have "grande
ecole" training school for senior civil servants, does it make a difference? Specialism not necessarily
all you need in governance
-Social class
--> Top levels of civil service similar to governing political class, Oxford and Cambridge elite etc., how
social class can shape power of bureaucracy different in different countries
-Proximity to decision makers
--> Can routinely tell politicians what to do, political advisors becoming increasingly important to
ministers in how they should manage their department, "cabinet" in France composed of civil
servants. Agent has a lot of influence on the principal.
Bureaucratic bis, 4 takes:
-Narrow social base (assumption that bureaucrats recruited from upper class backgrounds -->
socially conservative values --> behaviour)
-Bureaucratic politics model- Graham Allison (based on his analysis of 1962 Cuban missile crisis,
Kennedy set up committee- excom- way in which you argue as a bureaucrat depends on the agency
you work in e.g. navy reps advocated a naval solution, diplomats a diplomatic solution)
-Self-interest (do people at the top of the bureaucracy get any material benefits from expansion of
bureaucracy? Little evidence for this, only status may be important)
-Status quo of civil service advice (civil service advice based on perspective of world at the moment,
advice based on risk perception of changing the status quo)
Why bureaucratic bias is so hard to establish-
-Surveys very hard to do in most civil services (hard to get permission, and response rates low)
-And asking about bias problematic, have to ask general questions
, -Not a contact sport: do not often directly 'clash' with politicians
-Subtlety of guidance- 'the steer'
-Or some of the decisions so specific within bureaucracy it is hard to determine some sort of
bias/bureaucratic preferences (e.g. whether a specific drug should be banned from horse food if
they then become part of the food chain)
-Part of way you judge yourself as a civil servant is how well you serve your minister
-No point in developing a policy that is going to get hammered by your minister later on
-Policy usually developed with other people
Forms of control (if we assume that bureaucracy is powerful and needs control):
Ministerial (internal) control
-Political appointees, UK civil service unusual in that it is neutral- someone cannot be kicked out for
political reasons. Different forms including US "spoils" system (2 types of bureaucrats in the federal
bureaucracy- political appointees- president can appoint approx 2000 people usually after receiving
nominations and suggestions from party officials/political allies/close advisers/academics/business
leaders- known as the spoils system/patronage and civil servants- skilled experts), German
"politische Beamte" (political official must be in accordance with the basic political views and
objectives of the government. Can be put into temporary retirement at any time in accordance with
the regulations in 54 Federal Civil Servants Act), UK "neutral civil servants" and "special advisers"
-Supervisory bodies - in French cabinet and EU Commission, experiment with EMOs in UK
-Dangers of 'thickening government' (Paul Light)
Forms of external control
-Legislative
-Judicial
-Procedural
'police patrol' approach- someone watching over everything the bureaucracy does (but very
expensive, whole point of delegating is to make things easier), make 'fire alarms' instead (when
other parties think bureaucrats have interpreted something wrong, objection routine of those
affected by regulations, politicians get involved and supervise the bureaucrats more closely)
Conclusions:
Bureaucracy makes a difference to work of government (does the everyday work)
Forms of bias hard to establish, and may be overestimated (deference to political sphere often
extensive, so fears of bureaucratic bias usually overplayed)
But 'bureaucracy bashing' still persuasive
Interactions. What power of the bureaucracy/control instruments might depend on:
-Not always that bureaucrats act counter to public interest, devise their own agenda and
relentlessly pursue, but might fail to act in public interest- no sticks, high job security and
low labour flexibility, loss of control in the sense of holding accountable to certain targets
-EU Directives, quantity/attention and technical in nature (Bevan)
-More power if greater knowledge gap between bureaucrats and politicians (most
specialised parts of bureaucracy might have most influence), lose political control c.f. SPADs,
appointees, Tsars, politicised bureaucracy in Germany- patronage & institutionalised civil
servants (Battis), Alan Walters special adviser, coalition proposed reform
-Differing normative controls- pay/socialisation of civil servants
-Intuition that power depends on amount of work delegated (though why is that work being
delegated in the first place? Exogenous shocks or weakening political power?), but
Parkinson’s law says not the case
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