The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement 1998 resulted in the return of devolved government to Northern Ireland and, with it, a decision by the Executive and Assembly to conduct a radical review of public administration. As the review reaches its final stages this paper considers the likely outcomes. It argues that the parameters of the review will limit its impact and describes the reform proposals as structural changes or administrative rationalisation, devoid of a wider modernising approach to improving public services. The on/off nature of devolution could result in 'one of the major tasks for devolved government' (according to the Northern Ireland Executive) being implemented by Direct Rule ministers.
“This is a damned funny country. There’s one crowd singing ‘Wrap the Green Flag Round Me’ and another crowd sings ‘Rule Britannia’ and there’s a lot of bloody civil servants up there in Stormont drawing twenty pounds a week and laughing at the lot of us.”Comment made in 1939 to Patrick Shea, cited in Shea 1981, p. 205. This paper offers a summary of research on the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) that has been undertaken as part of an ESRC‐supported project examining the changing nature of civil services throughout the British Isles. Not since Gladden’s seminal work in 1967 have studies of the British Civil Services offered sufficient coverage of the long‐existing variations within the UK. The weaknesses in coverage are particularly visible with respect to the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS), which is accorded either footnote status in most work or even ignored altogether. A compelling case for closing the gap in the literature is underscored by the political devolution that was introduced after 1998. Far from being the unitary state associated with the Westminster model, the UK exhibits the features of a differentiated polity in which figure the contradictory impulses of centralization and fragmentation. In illustrating ‘parity with particularity’, the civil service arrangements obtaining within the Province of Northern Ireland clearly exemplify the differentiation with the UK. Moreover, with devolved fora now established for both Scotland and Wales, with associated pressure for more distinctive and even separate civil arrangements in each, Northern Ireland’s experience offers valuable lessons on how the UK civil service may develop in Scotland and Wales.
Although the United Kingdom is usually regarded as a unitary state in the mould of the Westminster model, in reality, complete political integration and administrative standardization have never existed. Recent political devolution consolidates an increasingly diverse and asymmetrical pattern of territorial governance. Frequently, however, notwithstanding some notable exceptions, this differentiation within the UK's governmental arrangements is overlooked in much of the literature. To help correct this oversight, this article reports on the longstanding differences in the public administration arrangements of one of the UK's smaller component countries, Northern Ireland. Specifically, the article focuses on the role of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and charts some of the key characteristics and trends that have emerged under both the period of Direct Rule from London (since the end of the Stormont devolution in 1972) and in the newly-restored devolved settlement that was introduced in 1999, following the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. IntroductionComplete political integration and administrative standardization have never existed within the UK. Recent political devolution consolidates diversity. British public administration has become messy; indeed, it is rapidly becoming a case of all exceptions and few rules. However, such intra-UK differences are seldom acknowledged. Most studies of British public administration have long held that the UK is a unitary state whose governmental system is predicated on the Westminster model, despite evidence that its increasingly variegated governance renders such a model less useful. Insofar as it was ever justified to regard intra-UK differences as aberrations from the (implicitly English) norm, recent constitutional changes make it no longer credible to do so. In the UK's smaller constituent
The devolved government in Northern Ireland set about the task of putting in place 'a modern and effective system of public administration that can deliver high quality public services to our citizens'. It did so through a review of public administration launched in June 2002. This paper offers a formative evaluation of the quest to improve the quality of public services, now being taken forward by a British minister since the suspension of devolution. It argues that the review is being driven by institutional concerns and is devoid of a public service modernising agenda.Additionally, it contends that how people in Northern Ireland perceive public services is contingent on their views on its constitutional status (Direct Rule or devolved government) which, in turn, is linked to their support for the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, rather than the performance of public bodies. As a consequence, the reforms may result in little more than institutional tinkering with doubtful impact on the quality of public services.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.